PST to EST Converter

How to convert PST to EST

The converter above opens with Pacific Time (Los Angeles) as the starting zone and Eastern Time (New York) beside it. Set the date and time on the Pacific side and the Eastern time appears straight away. Press Swap to go the other way, from Eastern to Pacific.

The quick rule: add 3 hours to Pacific Time to get Eastern Time. Subtract 3 hours to go from Eastern to Pacific.

PST to EST chart

The difference is the same in winter and summer, so this chart works all year. For any time not listed, add 3 hours, and remember to move to the next day when the result passes midnight.

PST or PDT? EST or EDT?

Strictly, PST (UTC−8) and EST (UTC−5) are the winter, “standard” times. In summer the two zones switch to daylight time: PDT (UTC−7) and EDT (UTC−4). Both coasts change their clocks on the same dates, the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November (14 March and 7 November in 2027), so the gap stays exactly 3 hours.

In everyday use, people write “PST” and “EST” all year when they mean “Pacific Time” and “Eastern Time”. The converter shows the correct abbreviation for the date you pick, so you can see whether it’s PDT or PST at that moment.

Working across both coasts

A 9-to-5 day in New York runs from 6 am to 2 pm in Los Angeles, and a 9-to-5 day in Los Angeles runs from noon to 8 pm in New York. The overlap, when both are in the office, is from 9 am to 2 pm Pacific (noon to 5 pm Eastern), five hours a day.

• Best meeting slots: 9 am to 11 am Pacific (noon to 2 pm Eastern) suits most people; avoid scheduling before 8 am Pacific.
• Deadlines: “end of day” means 5 pm Eastern for an East Coast company, which is just 2 pm Pacific.
• Live events and TV: broadcasts at 8 pm Eastern start at 5 pm Pacific, unless they’re shown again later on the West Coast.

The other US time zones

One exception: most of Arizona stays on Mountain Standard Time all year, so in summer it has the same clock time as Los Angeles. Hawaii (UTC−10) and Alaska (UTC−9 in winter) are behind Pacific. Add any of these cities to the converter to compare.

Common mistakes

• Going the wrong way. East is ahead: when it’s morning in California, it’s already later in New York. If your answer is earlier on the East Coast, flip it.
• Forgetting the date. Anything after 9 pm Pacific is the next day in the East, which matters for deadlines that end “at midnight”.
• Mixing up “ET” and “EST” in invitations. Writing the city (“3 pm New York time”) avoids any doubt about daylight saving.
• Assuming every US state follows the same rule. Arizona and Hawaii don’t change their clocks, so their difference from both coasts shifts in summer.

Pacific Time and the rest of the world

From Los Angeles, London is 8 hours ahead for most of the year, and India 13½ hours ahead in winter (12½ in summer), because India has no daylight saving. When you need more than the two US coasts, add the cities to the list, or use the main time zone converter.

Ask in plain words

• “What’s 2 pm PST in EST?”
• “Convert 10:30 am Eastern to Pacific.”
• “If it’s 4 pm in New York, what time is it in Seattle?”

Type it under the converter or in the AI workspace. To count the days to a deadline, use days between dates, and for other date sums, the date calculator.