EST: Eastern Standard Time
EST stands for Eastern Standard Time. It is UTC−5, 5 hours behind UTC.
Many people write EST all year, but from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November the US East Coast is on EDT (UTC−4), not EST. Writing "ET" or "Eastern Time" avoids the mistake.
Some places stay on UTC−5 all year, so for them EST is correct in every month: Panama, Jamaica and Cancún in Mexico.
EST UTC−5
Daylight saving time and EST
Places on EST that use daylight saving time switch to EDT (UTC−4) in summer, so writing "EST" during the summer is a common mistake.
Where EST is used
| City | When | Right now |
|---|---|---|
| New York United States | Standard time (winter) | |
| Toronto Canada | Standard time (winter) | |
| Cancún Mexico | All year | |
| Panama City Panama | All year |
Convert EST to other time zones
EST is a fixed offset, so these conversions are the same on every date. Use the last column to convert any time.
| Time zone | 09:00 EST | 12:00 EST | 17:00 EST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your local time | ||||
| UTC Coordinated Universal Time · UTC+0 | 14:00 | 17:00 | 22:00 | |
| HST Hawaii Standard Time · UTC−10 | 04:00 | 07:00 | 12:00 | |
| PST Pacific Standard Time · UTC−8 | 06:00 | 09:00 | 14:00 | |
| MST Mountain Standard Time · UTC−7 | 07:00 | 10:00 | 15:00 | |
| CST Central Standard Time · UTC−6 | 08:00 | 11:00 | 16:00 | |
| BRT Brasília Time · UTC−3 | 11:00 | 14:00 | 19:00 | |
| GMT Greenwich Mean Time · UTC+0 | 14:00 | 17:00 | 22:00 | |
| CET Central European Time · UTC+1 | 15:00 | 18:00 | 23:00 | |
| EET Eastern European Time · UTC+2 | 16:00 | 19:00 | 00:00 +1 day | |
| GST Gulf Standard Time · UTC+4 | 18:00 | 21:00 | 02:00 +1 day | |
| IST India Standard Time · UTC+5:30 | 19:30 | 22:30 | 03:30 +1 day | |
| ICT Indochina Time · UTC+7 | 21:00 | 00:00 +1 day | 05:00 +1 day | |
| CST China Standard Time · UTC+8 | 22:00 | 01:00 +1 day | 06:00 +1 day | |
| JST Japan Standard Time · UTC+9 | 23:00 | 02:00 +1 day | 07:00 +1 day | |
| KST Korea Standard Time · UTC+9 | 23:00 | 02:00 +1 day | 07:00 +1 day | |
| AEST Australian Eastern Standard Time · UTC+10 | 00:00 +1 day | 03:00 +1 day | 08:00 +1 day | |
| NZST New Zealand Standard Time · UTC+12 | 02:00 +1 day | 05:00 +1 day | 10:00 +1 day |
Frequently asked questions
What does EST stand for?
EST stands for Eastern Standard Time. It is UTC−5, 5 hours behind UTC.
How do I convert EST to UTC?
Add 5 hours. For example, 12:00 EST is 17:00 UTC.
Is EST the same as EDT?
No. EST is UTC−5 and EDT is UTC−4. EDT is the summer time of places that use EST in winter. Using the wrong one puts a meeting off by an hour.
Which cities use EST?
New York, Toronto, Cancún, Panama City use EST.
Other time zone abbreviations
Why abbreviations cause mistakes, and safer ways to write a time: EST, CST, IST: why time zone abbreviations confuse.