Outlook, Appointments and Time Zones

Note that this is not "an Outlook problem", as this is how computers, email clients and mail servers handle time zones.

For example, any email client will display this sent time:

 Thu, 9 Jun 2005 08:16:24 -0700

as

11:16 AM

on a computer configured for the Eastern Time Zone, which has a -0400 offset during Daylight savings time.

By storing all times as UTC, Outlook doesn't need to store any other time information in the appointment and uses the local time zone when rendering the view. This allows someone in another time zone to create a meeting request and it will reflect the correct local time.

Outlook does not support an absolute time option for the calendar, which would permit you to enter 2 PM and the appointment would always stay on 2 PM, no matter how many times you changed the time zone.

Older versions don't have an option for ‘in what time zone?’ so that you could make an appointment for 2 PM and select Pacific time zone and it would show up as 5 PM in your calendar when the computer is using the Eastern time zone. Outlook 2007 does let you select the time zone the appointment will be held in.

Click the Time Zone button to show the time zone selectors. 

Update: Microsoft released a tool that will update appointments when you permanently change time zones. It works with all versions of Outlook. Outlook 2007 includes an earlier version of this tool but Microsoft recommends using downloading the new tool for best results. Microsoft Office Outlook Tool: Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook. This tool was released to help users adjust to the new US daylight time dates but works just as well for any permanent time zone change. It's not recommended for use when you travel between time zones for short trips.

At the end of this article we have a short list of clock utilities that will display multiple time zones,- many more are available at your favorite Windows shareware sites. These are the ones I've used and like. In most cases, you'll probably want to disable the Windows tray clock when you use these, to avoid confusion.

Workarounds

1. Learn to use Outlook's dual time zone feature.
2. Use a 3rd party clock utility to display 'local' time so you don't have to change the time zone on the computer.

Dual Time Zone Settings

To turn on dual time zone display, go to Tools, Options, Preferences tab, Calendar Options, Time Zone button and add a second time zone. Now when you view the calendar in a day planner format, you'll see two time scales displayed. You can right click on the scale and choose Time zones.. to change zones or swap them.

Fix Appointment Times

Microsoft released a tool that will update appointments when you permanently change time zones. It works with all versions of Outlook. Outlook 2007 includes an earlier version of this tool but Microsoft recommends using downloading the new tool for best results.
Microsoft Office Outlook Tool: Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook 

If you prefer to control the time changes yourself, use the following method:

If you create appointments when the computer clock is set for the wrong time zone, or if you move to a new time zone, you can't change the time zone without messing up the appointment times and all day appointments will span two days. You can export the calendar to a non-Outlook format (Excel or CSV works well), then change the time zone settings and import the items back into Outlook.

1. Go to File, Import and Export and follow the wizard to export the calendar to an Excel or CSV format file. Do not export to a PST.
2. Correct the computer's time zone and daylight time settings so the appointments are correct.
3. Create a new calendar folder in your mailbox, if desired, and move the calendar items to it. Otherwise, delete them.
4. Import the calendar items you exported earlier.
5. When you are satisfied that the appointments are correct, delete the new calendar folder and all of the old appointments in it.

Problems

It's also very annoying to other users if you send an email dated hours before or after you really sent it.

Tools