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How to Set Different Time Zones in Google Calendar

Nov 27, 2020

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Time might be constant, but your time zone doesn’t have to be. If you’re part of a global team, you might prefer to switch your time zone in Google Calendar to make sure you’re not missing important meetings or events.

Thankfully, Google Calendar offers various settings for Google account users to change to different time zones. You can set a one-off time zone to an event, or set primary and secondary time zones for an entire calendar or account.

Changing time zone settings can be especially useful if your office hours are different from the rest of your team, for instance.

Setting a Custom Time Zone for a Google Calendar Event

If you’re a member of a team that has colleagues across different time zones, it might be worth setting a different time zone for an event or meeting you plan in Google Calendar. This will allow you to stay coordinated with your colleagues, especially if you’re the odd one out.

From a Web Browser

To set a custom time zone from your web browser, open the Google Calendar website in your browser of choice and create a new event or meeting by clicking the “Create” button on the left-hand side.

Alternatively, press the C key on your keyboard to use a keyboard shortcut to open the “New Event” window.

RELATED: Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Calendar: A Cheat Sheet

If you want to edit an existing event or meeting, click on the entry in your Google Calendar window and then press the “Edit Event” button.

If you’re creating an event, click the “More Options” button at the bottom of the new event pop-up menu.

In the event details menu (for new and existing events), tap the “Time Zone” option.

In the “Event Time Zone” pop-up window, select a time zone from the “Event Start Time Zone” drop-down menu.

If you want a different time zone for the event end time, click to enable the “Use separate start and end time zones” checkbox and then select a different time zone from the “Event End Time Zone” drop-down menu.

If you want to remove the custom time zones at any point and return to using the default time zone attached to your Google account, click the “Remove Time Zones” button.

Otherwise, click “OK” to save the settings.

You can then set a time and date for the event as well as other information (including the event name and participants).

Click “Save” to add the new event (with custom time zone settings) to your calendar.

The event will be added to your calendar, using the time zone (or time zones) you specified for the start and end date and times.

From a Mobile Device

You can also change the time zone for a new or existing event in the Google Calendar app on Android, iPhone, and iPad.

To create a new event, click the “Add” button in the bottom-right corner and select the type of event you wish to create.

To edit an existing event, tap on that event in your calendar view and then tap the “Edit Event” button.

In the event details menu, tap the current time zone listed underneath the event start and end dates and times.

Search for a country or specific time zone in the next menu, then tap one of the results to select it as the new time zone.

The time zone for the event will be added immediately after selecting it from the Search menu.

Confirm the rest of the event details are correct, then tap the “Save” button in the top-right corner to save the event with the new time zone details.

Once saved, the event will be added to your calendar with the date and time set using your new time zone.

Setting Primary and Secondary Time Zones in Google Calendar

Google uses the time zone set for your Google account as the default time zone for all Google Calendar events attached to your account.

If you want to change this to another time zone instead, you can do this in the Google Calendar settings. You can also set a secondary time zone to see two different times shown for events. This would be useful if you work in a different time zone to different colleagues, for instance.

From a Web Browser

To do this from your web browser, open the Google Calendar website and click the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner. From the drop-down menu, click the “Settings” option.

The Google Calendar settings menu should default to the “General” tab. If it doesn’t, select this from the left-hand menu.

Under the “Time Zone” category, you can set a new primary time zone for your account as well as set a label for it (for instance, “Work” for a time zone that matches your colleagues). Select a new time zone from the “Primary Time Zone” drop-down menu, then write a new label in the text box beside it.

If you want to add a secondary time zone, select this from the “Secondary Time Zone” menu. You’ll need to ensure that the “Display Secondary Time Zone” checkbox is enabled to see this appear in your event listings.

Any changes you make will be applied immediately. Your new time zone settings will appear for previously added events as well as for all new events you create or to which are invited.

From a Mobile Device

While you can set an alternative time zone in the Google Calendar app for Android, iPhone, and iPad, you can only set one. It isn’t possible to set (or see) a secondary time zone for Google Calendar events in the mobile app.

To change the primary time zone, tap the hamburger menu icon in the top-left corner of the Google Calendar mobile app.

From the menu, scroll down and tap the “Settings” option.

In the “Settings” menu, tap the “General” option.

To set a different time zone to the one currently used by your device, tap the “Use Device’s Time Zone” slider to the off position.

Once this is done, tap the “Time Zone” option beneath it to set a new time zone.

From the Search menu, search for a country or time zone. Once you find the location you’re looking for, tap it to confirm it as the new time zone for your calendar.

The new time zone for Google Calendar on your device will be applied automatically. Any entries in your Google Calendar will now be displayed in this new time zone on your mobile device.