Convert UTC to PST
To convert UTC to PST: 8:00 AM UTC is 12:00 AM PST. UTC is UTC+00:00 and PST is UTC-08:00, so PST is 8 hours behind UTC, but not all year, as explained below.
In Pacific Standard Time
- On a 24-hour clock
- 08:00 UTC is 00:00 PST
- The offsets
- UTC is UTC+00:00, PST is UTC-08:00
- Difference
- PST is 8 hours behind UTC
- Date
- Same calendar day.
- This gap does NOT hold all year Convert through the offset in force on the date you care about.
- The two ends switch on different dates, or one does not switch at all.
- PST is only in force part of the year United States: daylight time starts the second Sunday in March, at 02:00 local time and ends the first Sunday in November, at 02:00 local time (Energy Policy Act of 2005, in force since 2007). In 2026 that is 2026-03-08 to 2026-11-01. Los Angeles is on PDT between those dates.
- otherwise PDT, UTC-07:00
- Military time zone letters Z (Zulu) is UTC. A to M run east of Greenwich an hour apart, N to Y west, and J is left out. A letter names an offset, so a zone that switches to daylight time changes letter: EST is R, EDT is Q.
- UTC is Z (Zulu), PST is U (Uniform)
- In Zulu notation Four digits on a 24-hour clock, no colon, then Z for UTC.
- 0800Z
- In every zone
- HST 22:00 AKST 23:00 PST 00:00 AKDT 00:00 MST 01:00 PDT 01:00 CST 02:00 MDT 02:00 EST 03:00 CDT 03:00 EDT 04:00 UTC 08:00 GMT 08:00 BST 09:00 CET 09:00 CEST 10:00 EET 10:00 EEST 11:00 MSK 11:00 IST 13:30 SGT 16:00 HKT 16:00 JST 17:00 AEST 18:00 AEDT 19:00 NZST 20:00 NZDT 21:00
| Letter | Offset | Local time |
|---|---|---|
| Y (Yankee) | UTC-12:00 | 20:00 previous day |
| X (X-ray) | UTC-11:00 | 21:00 previous day |
| W (Whiskey) | UTC-10:00 | 22:00 previous day |
| V (Victor) | UTC-09:00 | 23:00 previous day |
| U (Uniform) | UTC-08:00 | 00:00 |
| T (Tango) | UTC-07:00 | 01:00 |
| S (Sierra) | UTC-06:00 | 02:00 |
| R (Romeo) | UTC-05:00 | 03:00 |
| Q (Quebec) | UTC-04:00 | 04:00 |
| P (Papa) | UTC-03:00 | 05:00 |
| O (Oscar) | UTC-02:00 | 06:00 |
| N (November) | UTC-01:00 | 07:00 |
| Z (Zulu) | UTC+00:00 | 08:00 |
| A (Alfa) | UTC+01:00 | 09:00 |
| B (Bravo) | UTC+02:00 | 10:00 |
| C (Charlie) | UTC+03:00 | 11:00 |
| D (Delta) | UTC+04:00 | 12:00 |
| E (Echo) | UTC+05:00 | 13:00 |
| F (Foxtrot) | UTC+06:00 | 14:00 |
| G (Golf) | UTC+07:00 | 15:00 |
| H (Hotel) | UTC+08:00 | 16:00 |
| I (India) | UTC+09:00 | 17:00 |
| K (Kilo) | UTC+10:00 | 18:00 |
| L (Lima) | UTC+11:00 | 19:00 |
| M (Mike) | UTC+12:00 | 20:00 |
How the Time Zone Converter works
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is UTC+00:00 and Pacific Standard Time (PST) is UTC-08:00, so converting UTC to PST means subtracting 8 hours from the UTC time. PST is 8 hours behind UTC.
Worked through: 8:00 AM UTC is 12:00 AM PST.
The gap between these two is not the same all year, which is the thing to get right. UTC never shifts and PST does, so the difference moves. Convert through the offset in force on the date you care about rather than through the abbreviation somebody typed; the offsets above are definitions and the abbreviation is a claim about the calendar.
Eight hours back, and the pair most likely to land on the previous day. Anything before 08:00 UTC is still yesterday in California, so a daily job scheduled at 02:00 UTC runs on the 14th by the server's clock and the evening of the 13th by its California users' clocks. Reports built on UTC day boundaries and read by a Pacific-time audience disagree with that audience about what a day is, which is a reporting bug rather than a conversion one.
One thing worth stating plainly, because it is the most common mistake in this whole subject: an abbreviation is not a place. UTC is fixed, so it is the same all year. PST is likewise only in force for part of the year in Los Angeles; otherwise it is PDT at UTC-07:00. If what you have is a city and a date rather than a pair of abbreviations, that is a different question and needs the tz database, not arithmetic. This is also why the shifting designations exist: PT means Pacific time whichever of the two is in force. Searching for PT and searching for UTC to PST are the same question in two vocabularies, which is why this converter answers both.
Common times for this pair:
- 12:00 AM UTC is 4:00 PM PST the previous day - 8:00 AM UTC is 12:00 AM PST - 4:00 PM UTC is 8:00 AM PST - 8:00 PM UTC is 12:00 PM PST
Time Zone Converter FAQ
What is the time difference between UTC and PST?
PST is 8 hours behind UTC. UTC is UTC+00:00 and PST is UTC-08:00, and both offsets are definitions rather than measurements, so the subtraction is exact.
What time is 8:00 AM UTC in PST?
8:00 AM UTC is 12:00 AM PST. Subtract 8 hours and carry the date if it crosses midnight.
Does the difference between UTC and PST change with daylight saving?
Yes, and this is the main thing to watch on this pair. UTC is fixed and PST shifts by an hour for part of the year, so the difference takes more than one value across the year. In 2026 the United States switch runs from 2026-03-08 to 2026-11-01.
Is there anything specific to this pair worth knowing?
Eight hours back, and the pair most likely to land on the previous day. Anything before 08:00 UTC is still yesterday in California, so a daily job scheduled at 02:00 UTC runs on the 14th by the server's clock and the evening of the 13th by its California users' clocks. Reports built on UTC day boundaries and read by a Pacific-time audience disagree with that audience about what a day is, which is a reporting bug rather than a conversion one.
Someone wrote PST but it is summer. What do they mean?
Almost certainly the zone rather than the abbreviation: Los Angeles time, which in summer is PDT at UTC-07:00 rather than PST at UTC-08:00. People type the standard-time abbreviation all year round. If an invitation is an hour out from what you calculated, this is why.