How to convert times between time zones
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3Shift timestamps by a UTC offset — server logs to local time, meeting times across offices.
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel | =A2+B2/24 | A2 = datetime, B2 = offset in hours (e.g. -7 for UTC→Pacific in summer). |
| Google Sheets | =A2+B2/24 | Identical. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =A2+B2/24 | Identical. |
How it works
Times are day-fractions, so hours divide by 24: adding −7/24 turns 02:30 UTC on July 27 into 19:30 on July 26 — the date rolls back automatically because datetimes are one number. Keep the offset in its own cell so DST changes are one edit, not a formula hunt. The honest limitation: spreadsheets have no time-zone database — the formula applies the offset YOU supply; it can't know when Denver switches to daylight time. For always-correct conversion across DST boundaries you need the source data stamped in UTC plus a rules table.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =TEXT(DATE(2026,7,27)+TIME(2,30,0)+(-7)/24,"YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM") in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned 2026-07-26 19:30 — exactly the expected result. Every formula here is confirmed by actually executing it.