🕒 EST to PST Converter, Eastern Time to Pacific Time

What is the EST to PST Converter?

Eastern Time and Pacific Time are two of the four main time zones used in the continental United States, and they sit exactly three time zones apart. Eastern Time covers cities like New York, Miami and Atlanta, while Pacific Time covers Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Because both regions follow the same US daylight saving schedule, changing clocks forward on the second Sunday of March and back on the first Sunday of November, the gap between them never actually changes. It is 3 hours in January and 3 hours in July, which is what makes EST to PST conversion simpler than converting between, say, US and European time.

The naming gets confusing because each zone has two labels depending on the season. Eastern Standard Time (EST) is UTC-05:00 and runs from November to March. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is UTC-04:00 and runs from March to November. Likewise, Pacific Standard Time (PST) is UTC-08:00 in winter, and Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) is UTC-07:00 in summer. Many people say EST to PST year round out of habit, even during the months when both zones are technically on daylight time (EDT to PDT). The underlying 3-hour gap is what actually matters for scheduling, and it holds regardless of which season label applies.

This converter avoids the single biggest mistake in manual time zone math: assuming a fixed UTC offset. Instead, it uses the browser's built-in Intl.DateTimeFormat API with the America/New_York and America/Los_Angeles IANA time zone identifiers. That API consults the real, regularly updated time zone database to work out each zone's current offset for the exact date you pick, including whether daylight saving applies on that day. The result is a conversion that stays correct through DST transitions, leap years and any future changes to the rules, without a single hardcoded offset in the code.

The one place manual EST to PST conversion trips people up is the transition weekends themselves. For about two to three weeks each spring, Eastern Time has already sprung forward to EDT while some other regions elsewhere in the world may not have shifted yet, though since EST and PST always change on the identical US dates, the gap between them personally never wavers, even during the changeover week. What does change is the label: right at 2:00 AM on the second Sunday of March, Eastern Time jumps from EST to EDT, and Pacific Time makes the identical jump from PST to PDT at 2:00 AM local time three weeks later on the same calendar Sunday. Both zones are perfectly synchronized in when they switch, just staggered by the 3-hour difference in local clock time.

When to use it

• Scheduling a call or meeting between a New York office and a Los Angeles or Seattle office.
• Checking what time a live stream, webinar or product launch scheduled in EST will air for West Coast viewers.
• Working out flight departure or arrival times when a ticket lists Eastern Time and you are in the Pacific zone.
• Coordinating with remote teammates, clients or family members split between the East and West coasts of the US.

How to use the EST to PST Converter

1. Pick the date, since the exact daylight saving status depends on it (the tool defaults to today).
2. Enter the time in Eastern Time (ET) using the time field.
3. Read the converted Pacific Time (PT) result, shown with its EST/EDT or PST/PDT label and UTC offset.
4. Use "Swap" if you instead have a Pacific Time and need the matching Eastern Time.

Formula & method

Worked examples

EST to PST quick lookup (also holds for EDT to PDT, same 3-hour gap)

2026 US daylight saving transition dates that affect both zones equally

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming EST means "Eastern Time" all year. EST specifically means Eastern Standard Time, which only applies from roughly November to March. For most of the year Eastern Time is actually EDT (Eastern Daylight Time). The 3-hour gap to Pacific holds either way, but the zone labels shown by this tool reflect whichever one is actually in effect on the date you pick.
• Using a hardcoded UTC-3 offset instead of checking the date. While EST to PST is a steady 3-hour gap, someone converting to a third zone that does not observe daylight saving, or converting from UTC directly, can easily apply the wrong fixed offset. Always convert through the actual IANA zone rules for the date in question, which is what this tool does automatically.
• Forgetting the date can roll back a day. Because Pacific Time is behind Eastern Time, a late-night Eastern Time entry can convert to earlier the same day in Pacific, and an early-morning Eastern entry can occasionally read as the previous evening Pacific time. Check the weekday and date in the result, not just the clock time.
• Confusing PST with PT (Pacific Time) in scheduling messages. PT is the general label for Pacific Time regardless of season, while PST specifically means Pacific Standard Time (winter only). Calendar invites that just say "PST" during summer months are technically using the wrong label, but they usually mean the current Pacific clock time, which this tool always shows correctly for the date entered.

Glossary

EST (Eastern Standard Time)

The winter time in the US Eastern zone, UTC-05:00, used from early November to early March.

EDT (Eastern Daylight Time)

The summer time in the US Eastern zone, UTC-04:00, used from early March to early November.

PST (Pacific Standard Time)

The winter time in the US Pacific zone, UTC-08:00, used from early November to early March.

PDT (Pacific Daylight Time)

The summer time in the US Pacific zone, UTC-07:00, used from early March to early November.

IANA time zone database

The standard reference of time zone identifiers (like America/New_York) and their historical and current offset rules, used by browsers and operating systems.

UTC offset

How many hours a time zone is ahead of or behind Coordinated Universal Time, written as UTC-05:00 for EST or UTC-08:00 for PST.

Frequently asked questions