Last updated: May 2026
Convert times between any two time zones and see the current time in cities worldwide.
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World Clock — Current Time
Updates every 30 seconds. Click a city to use it as your "To" zone.
Meeting Time Planner
Shows your selected "From" time across major business cities. Green = business hours, amber = early/late, red = outside working hours.
UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the global time standard. All time zones are expressed as offsets from UTC — for example, New York is UTC−5 in winter (EST) and UTC−4 in summer (EDT) due to Daylight Saving Time.
Daylight Saving Time (DST) shifts clocks forward 1 hour in spring and back in autumn in most of North America and Europe. Not all countries observe DST — China, Japan, India, and most of Africa do not.
Half-hour and 45-minute offsets: Some time zones are not on the hour — India is UTC+5:30, Nepal is UTC+5:45, and parts of Australia use UTC+9:30 or UTC+10:30.
The world is divided into 24 primary time zones, each covering roughly 15 degrees of longitude (360 degrees ÷ 24 hours = 15°/hour). UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the reference standard — not a time zone itself, but the baseline that all others offset from. When it's noon UTC, it's 7 AM in New York (UTC−5 in winter) and 8 PM in Singapore (UTC+8).
Political borders often override the "natural" time zone lines. China officially uses a single time zone (UTC+8) despite spanning five natural zones. The US has 6 time zones. Russia has 11. When scheduling across borders, always confirm which offset applies — and whether DST is currently in effect.
| City | Standard Offset | DST Offset | DST Observed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York (EST) | UTC−5 | UTC−4 | Yes (Mar–Nov) |
| Los Angeles (PST) | UTC−8 | UTC−7 | Yes (Mar–Nov) |
| London (GMT) | UTC+0 | UTC+1 | Yes (Mar–Oct) |
| Paris (CET) | UTC+1 | UTC+2 | Yes (Mar–Oct) |
| Dubai (GST) | UTC+4 | UTC+4 | No |
| Mumbai (IST) | UTC+5:30 | UTC+5:30 | No |
| Singapore (SGT) | UTC+8 | UTC+8 | No |
| Tokyo (JST) | UTC+9 | UTC+9 | No |
| Sydney (AEST) | UTC+10 | UTC+11 | Yes (Oct–Apr) |
Why does the US have multiple time zones?
The contiguous US spans about 60 degrees of longitude — 4 natural time zone widths. Before standardized time zones (introduced in 1883 by US railroads to coordinate train schedules), every city used its own local solar time. The current US time zones are Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, and Hawaii-Aleutian. Some states like Arizona don't observe DST, adding further complexity.
What countries don't observe Daylight Saving Time?
Most countries near the equator don't observe DST because seasonal daylight variation is minimal there. Major exceptions that don't use DST: China, Japan, India, most of Africa, Singapore, South Korea, and most of Southeast Asia. In the US, Arizona (except Navajo Nation) and Hawaii don't observe DST. The EU voted to end mandatory DST in 2021, though implementation has been delayed.
What is the difference between GMT and UTC?
GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is a historical reference based on the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) is the modern scientific standard maintained by atomic clocks. For everyday purposes they're identical — UTC+0 and GMT are the same offset. The distinction matters in precision timekeeping: UTC can have leap seconds added; GMT doesn't. In common usage, "GMT" and "UTC" are interchangeable.
Why are some time zones 30 or 45 minutes off the hour?
These "half-hour" and "quarter-hour" offsets were established for political or geographic reasons. India (UTC+5:30) chose a middle ground between the natural UTC+5 (western India) and UTC+6 (eastern India) to maintain national unity. Nepal (UTC+5:45) is the only country with a 45-minute offset, set to split the difference between India and the next standard hour. These offsets are permanent and not related to DST.
How do I schedule a meeting across many time zones fairly?
There's no fully "fair" solution when teams span more than 6–8 time zones. Common strategies: rotate the meeting time so the inconvenient slot alternates between regions; target the 9 AM–6 PM overlap window (which is narrow or nonexistent for US-Asia-Europe); or use asynchronous tools (recorded video, shared docs) instead of live meetings. The Meeting Planner section above helps find the overlap window for your specific cities.