What is UTC time?
UTC, or Coordinated Universal Time, is the global reference time used by systems, aviation, software, logs, and international coordination.
Global reference time
UTC time now
UTC is the shared global time reference.
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Current UTC
UTC
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Syncing • Using device time Note: the value above does not include device-clock drift accumulated after calibration. This is generally no more than ±1 ms per minute, but the actual rate varies by device. The lowest round-trip latency measured between your browser and the current time-service node. It is typically affected by physical distance, network routing, access quality, and current congestion. Network latency describes the measured connection. It is separate from the estimated time-error range and must not be treated as that range or divided in half. This error does not show whether your device clock is fast or slow.
Compared with your local time
- Your local time
- Open: Home — Your local time: — — —
- Your local date
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- Calibrated time minus your device time. A positive value means your device clock is behind; a negative value means it is ahead. This is not network latency, time error, or a UTC or time-zone offset
- - Calibrated time minus your device time. A positive value means your device clock is behind; a negative value means it is ahead. This is not network latency, time error, or a UTC or time-zone offset
- Difference from UTC
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One moment, around the world
Compare local times and current offsets against UTC. Day labels are relative to the UTC date. Shading shows where it is night.
The prime meridian (0°) is the starting point for longitude, not a time-zone boundary. Local time follows time-zone rules, including daylight saving time.
Open the full time-zone map UTC and local time converter
Convert both ways between UTC and local date-time values using your current time zone rules. When converting local time to UTC, daylight saving gaps and repeated times are identified.
Convert other cities, time zones, or fixed offsets in the time zone converter—
For the selected date:
Changes convert automatically. Input precision: seconds.
- Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the worldwide time reference
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Other formats
- ISO 8601 is an international date and time format. A common UTC example is 2026-05-21T15:48:50.777Z
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- Seconds since January 1, 1970 UTC
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- Milliseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
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Equivalent representations
- Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the worldwide time reference
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- ISO 8601 is an international date and time format. A common UTC example is 2026-05-21T15:48:50.777Z
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- Seconds since January 1, 1970 UTC
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- Milliseconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
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Create or parse these formats with: ISO 8601 Unix timestamp
Fixed UTC offset directory
Fixed UTC offsets do not change for daylight saving time. For current city times and IANA time zone rules, see: World clock Time zones
UTC time FAQ
Is UTC the same as GMT?
UTC is a coordinated time scale based on atomic seconds and kept close to Earth-rotation time (UT1) with leap seconds. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a historical time standard and is also used as the name of a zero-offset time zone. Their clocks usually read the same, but their definitions and uses differ.
Why should logs use UTC?
UTC avoids daylight saving ambiguity and makes events from different locations easier to compare.
How are UTC, Zulu time, Z, and +00:00 related?
UTC is the global reference time, also called Zulu time in aviation and related contexts. In ISO 8601, Z marks a UTC timestamp, while +00:00 writes the same zero offset numerically.
Does UTC use daylight saving time?
No. UTC never changes for daylight saving time. Local time zones may change their offset from UTC.