Update SharePoint list item Date field, should we enter UTC time or the site collection time

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Posted on by johnjohnPter

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I have a SharePoint site collection with Australia timezone.

now it is 24/03/2026 11 pm UTC & 25/03/2026 10 am Australia time.

where i have a field named "Request For Acceptance", and it should capture the date when a file is uploaded. so inside my Update item field i were updating this date field using UTCNOW() command, as follow:-

but if i upload the document now (now it is 24/03/2026 11 pm UTC & 25/03/2026 10 am Australia time.), the date inside sharepoint site will be 24/03 while it is 25/03 australia time (which is the site collection timexzone).. so in this case we should convert the time to Australia time before updating the item? this is a bit confusing as in sharepint the date is stored in UTC , and converted to the site collection time zone when been displayed?? correct? so why this did not work for the update item?

Thanks

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11manish 3,333 on at

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It seems that your column is DATE ONLY, so it doesn't store the time.

For the fix, you can Convert to Australia Time BEFORE saving

Use:

formatDateTime(
convertTimeZone(utcNow(), 'UTC', 'AUS Eastern Standard Time'),
'yyyy-MM-dd'
)

or convert column into Date and Time Data type, SharePoint will handle conversion correctly

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Haque 3,653 on at

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Hi @johnjohnPter,

Can you please make sure the column is DATE ONLY or its DateTime datatype?

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johnjohnPter 2,015 Season of Giving Solutions 2025 on at

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@Haque it is DateOnly, thanks

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johnjohnPter 2,015 Season of Giving Solutions 2025 on at

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@11manish but why i need to convert? i should enter the time in UTC and it should show using the site collection timezone?

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deepakmehta13a 369 on at

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Hi,

You’re correct that SharePoint stores DateTime values in UTC and converts them to the site’s regional time zone on display, but this behavior only applies to Date & Time columns, not Date Only.

Since your column is Date Only, SharePoint does not perform timezone conversion, it simply stores the date portion of the UTC value, which is why you’re seeing the previous day.

So in this case, you do need to convert UTC to your site timezone before saving, or switch the column to Date & Time if you want automatic timezone handling.

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11manish 3,333 on at

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johnjohnPter , Because your column is DateOnly Data Type and storing as UTC Value, so you need to maintain Australian Time Zone column separately.

or you need to convert your datatype into DateTime Data Type which will help to time zone conversion.

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