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Working with different time zones

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Posted on by joannalynne23

I have an odd use case for Power Automate, and I'm not sure if it can be done. I work with a team of people that spans US Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern time zones. We work in a SharePoint list with many different date/time columns that represent due dates for specific projects. To make it even more confusing, the due date/times are often specific to the customer, who may also be in any time zone across the world.

This can be confusing enough, but the dates (and times) themselves need to be copied into other lists, emailed, etc. as dynamic fields in Power Automate. I've found that if I have a normal list field that says, say, 4/1/2025 5 pm (I am Pacific time zone), it will show up as 6 pm for Mountain users, 7 pm for Central, etc. However, if I have a power automate flow that updates another list with that date, it shows up as 4/1/2025 5 pm for everyone regardless of the viewer's actual time zone. If I have to copy that field into an email, that becomes an issue as well.

So far, we've just used date-only fields, with a simple text field for time/time-zone. This has also caused problems, though, because even the date field will be skewed if you don't account for UTC and calculate the date to shave off a few hours.

My brain is tired from thinking about it! Any brilliant ideas out there?

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ronaldwalcott 3,847 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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First, all of your dates should be UTC. When you generate emails for users it would be nice to use Convert a time zone - Power Automate | Microsoft Learn to show the different users time zones but you could also show all the time zones whenever you mention dates in an email.

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Ellis Karim 11,684 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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SharePoint stores all dates in UTC, which can cause confusion when these dates are retrieved and displayed across different environments.

SharePoint Storage: Dates are stored in UTC using ISO 8601 format, regardless of the user’s or site’s local time zone settings.

How SharePoint Displays Dates: Dates are displayed according to the site’s regional settings, which individual users can override with their personal preferences.

Power Automate: Dates are read in UTC. To use dates in a local time context, you need to explicitly convert them to the desired time zone. Be aware of your SharePoint site’s time zone setting, as it affects how non-UTC queries are interpreted. When creating or updating a SharePoint list item that includes a DateTime column, always convert the value to UTC before storing it in SharePoint.

See:

Why Are My SharePoint Dates Wrong? Fix Them in Power Automate and Power Apps – Ellis Karim's Blog

Fix SharePoint Date Issues in Power Automate: Use OData Filters Correctly – Ellis Karim's Blog

Ellis Karim
Blog | LinkedIn | Bluesky

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w.p 8,339 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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@Pstork1 do you have any suggestions on this?

@Ellis Karim great articles, thanks for sharing.

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David_MA 12,982 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Be glad you don't work for a company that has offices in EVERY time zone. It is real fun. With the help of Copilot actually writing the details and me giving it guidance on how we handle this, here are some tips. Communication and training being one of the most important ones. The key point to make to everyone is that ALL dates and times are stored in UTC, so if someone thinks the date is not accurate, it is not because of Microsoft 365.

1. Utilize UTC Format for Consistency

Microsoft 365 stores all dates and times in UTC format, ensuring consistency across different time zones. This is particularly useful for backend processes and data integrity.

2. Adjust Locale Settings in SharePoint

Site-Level Locale Settings: While setting a locale for each SharePoint site can be useful, it may not be practical for sites used by employees in different time zones. Instead, consider using UTC format for lists and document libraries to maintain consistency.

User Profile Settings: Encourage users to set their preferred time zone in their profile settings. SharePoint will display dates and times according to this setting, providing a personalized experience for each user.

3. Outlook Calendar Adjustments

Outlook automatically adjusts calendar events to the time zone set on the user's computer. This means:

Event Creation: When creating an event, the time zone of the computer is used.

Event Viewing: When viewing events, Outlook converts the event times to the user's current time zone setting.

4. Sending Emails via Power Automate

Convert UTC to Local Time: When sending emails that include dates and times, use Power Automate to convert UTC times to the recipient's local time zone. This can be done using the Convert time zone action in Power Automate.

Include Multiple Time Zones: For clarity, include multiple time zone values in the email. For example, "The corporate all-employee meeting will be held on Friday, April 25, at 3:00 PM CET / 9:00 AM ET."

Standardize Time Zone: If feasible, agree on a default corporate time zone for all communications. This helps create a consistent reference point, though recipients will need to mentally adjust to their local time zone.

5. Use Multiple Time Zone Feature in Windows

Add Corporate Standard Time Zone: Encourage employees to use the multiple time zone feature in Windows. They can add the agreed-upon corporate standard time zone to their system clock.

Quick Reference: This allows employees to click on the date/time in their taskbar to quickly see the difference between the corporate standard time zone and their local time zone, making it easier to mentally calculate the time for their location.

6. Communication and Training

Educate Employees: Ensure employees understand how time zones are managed in Microsoft 365. Provide training on setting their preferred time zone in their profile and understanding how SharePoint and Outlook handle time zones.

Clear Documentation: Maintain clear documentation on how to adjust time zone settings and the impact of these settings on various Microsoft 365 applications.

8. Regular Audits

Audit Settings: Regularly audit the time zone settings across user profiles and SharePoint sites to ensure they are correctly configured and updated as needed.

By implementing these strategies, your company can effectively manage operations across multiple time zones, ensuring that all employees have accurate and relevant date and time information in Microsoft 365.

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David_MA 12,982 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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P.S. For your specific problem with customers in different time zones, I would create a reference list of all the time zone values used by Power Automate. Then add the lookup to your lists so that you can add the preferred time zone for the customer. Then in your workflows, you can use this value to convert the date/time and then use it like in tip four in my other post where you send e-mails with two time zones (your corporate standard and the customer's time zone).

The list of all of the values can be found at Default Time Zones | Microsoft Learn

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