The quickest way to fix your time zone in Teams

Microsoft Teams pulls your time zone from your Windows or Mac system settings, not from your Teams account. If your calendar shows meetings at the wrong time or you're seeing 2 p.m. when it should say 9 a.m., the fix is usually to update your device's time zone first, then refresh Teams. On Windows, this takes about two minutes. On Mac, it's similar. Once you change it at the system level, Teams picks up the new time zone within a few minutes without you having to do anything else in the app.

If you've already changed your system time zone and Teams still shows the old one, signing out and back in usually forces the app to sync. Some people find that closing Teams completely (not just minimizing it) and reopening it works faster than waiting for the automatic refresh.

Key Takeaways

  • Teams gets your time zone from your device settings, not from your Teams profile, so you must change it at the system level first.
  • On Windows 10 or 11, go to Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time and toggle "Set time zone automatically" off, then pick your zone from the dropdown.
  • On Mac, open System Preferences > Date & Time, click the lock icon to unlock it, and select your time zone from the list.
  • After changing your system time zone, close Teams completely and reopen it to force the app to refresh and show the correct times.
  • If you only want to see a meeting time in a different zone without changing your device settings, you can hover over any meeting time in Teams to see it in multiple zones.

Changing time zone on Windows 10 and 11

Open the Start menu and type "Settings" into the search box, then click Settings. Go to Time & Language, then click Date & Time on the left side. You'll see a toggle that says "Set time zone automatically" — turn this off if it's on. Once it's off, a dropdown menu appears below it labeled "Time zone." Click the dropdown and scroll to find your time zone, then click it to select it.

Close the Settings window. Now close Microsoft Teams completely — use the X button or right-click the Teams icon in your taskbar and select Close. Wait a few seconds, then reopen Teams. Your calendar and meeting times should now show in the correct time zone. If they don't, try signing out of Teams (click your profile picture in the top right, then Sign out), wait 10 seconds, and sign back in.

Changing time zone on Mac

Click the Apple menu in the top left corner and select System Preferences (or System Settings on newer Macs). Look for Date & Time and click it. You may see a lock icon at the bottom of the window — if so, click it and enter your Mac password to unlock the settings. Find the Time zone dropdown and click it to see all available zones. Scroll to find your time zone and click to select it.

Close System Preferences. Quit Microsoft Teams by clicking Teams in the menu bar, then Quit Teams (or press Command + Q). Wait a few seconds and reopen Teams. Your meeting times should now display in your correct time zone. If the change doesn't take effect right away, try signing out and back in to your Teams account.

What to do if Teams still shows the wrong time zone

If you've changed your system time zone but Teams is still showing the old one, the app may not have refreshed properly. The most reliable fix is to sign out of Teams completely, restart your computer, and sign back in. This clears any cached time zone data that Teams might be holding onto.

Another reason Teams might show the wrong time zone is if you're using Teams in a web browser instead of the desktop app. The web version sometimes lags behind system changes. If you're using Teams online, try clearing your browser cache and cookies, then reload the page. If you use the desktop app regularly, switching to that instead of the web version usually solves the problem faster.

Viewing meeting times in multiple time zones without changing your settings

You don't always need to change your system time zone to see what time a meeting is in another zone. In Teams, hover your mouse over any meeting time in your calendar or in a chat message. A small popup appears showing the meeting time in your current time zone plus several other common zones. This is useful if you're scheduling with people across the country or world and want to double-check what time they'll see.

This hover feature works in the calendar view, in meeting invitations, and in chat messages where someone has shared a meeting time. It's a quick way to avoid the confusion of "wait, is that 2 p.m. their time or my time?" without having to actually change your device settings.

Why Teams uses your system time zone instead of a separate setting

Microsoft Teams relies on your device's time zone because it's simpler and more reliable than managing time zones separately in the app. Your operating system is already set up to handle time zone changes, daylight saving time switches, and all the complications that come with different regions. By using the system setting, Teams stays in sync with everything else on your computer — your email, your calendar app, your file timestamps, all of it.

This also means that if you travel and change your device's time zone, Teams automatically adjusts without you having to do anything. The tradeoff is that you can't set Teams to one time zone while keeping your computer in another, but in practice that's rarely what people need to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I set a different time zone just for Teams without changing my whole computer?

No, Teams doesn't have a separate time zone setting. It always uses whatever time zone your device is set to. If you need to see times in a different zone, use the hover feature on meeting times to view multiple zones at once, or change your system time zone if you're relocating.

Why do my meeting times look wrong even after I changed my time zone?

Teams sometimes caches the old time zone data. Close the app completely (don't just minimize it), wait a few seconds, and reopen it. If that doesn't work, sign out of Teams, restart your computer, and sign back in. This clears all cached data and forces Teams to pull your current system time zone fresh.

If I change my time zone in Teams, will it affect my calendar in Outlook?

You're not changing your time zone in Teams — you're changing it in your device settings, which affects everything on your computer including Outlook, Teams, and all your other apps. All of them will show the new time zone once you've updated your system settings.

What happens to my meeting times if I travel to a different time zone?

If you update your device's time zone to match where you're traveling, Teams will automatically show all meeting times in that new zone. Your meetings don't move — only how they're displayed changes. When you return home and switch your time zone back, everything reverts to your home zone.