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CT/CDT
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CEST
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Quick answers

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7:00 am07:00 CDT (UTC-5), Oct 18, 2026 = 2:00 pm14:00 CEST (UTC+2), Oct 18, 2026

CDT is 7 hours behind CEST.

How the time difference changes

For most of the year, CT is 7 hours behind CEST. From Oct 25 to Nov 1, 2026, and from Mar 14 to Mar 28, 2027, CT is 6 hours behind CET. From Nov 1, 2026 to Mar 14, 2027, CT is 7 hours behind CET.

For most of the year, working hours of 9:00 am to 6:00 pm in CT correspond to 4:00 pm to 1:00 am (next day) in CEST. At other times of the year, working hours of 9:00 am to 6:00 pm in CT correspond to 4:00 pm to 1:00 am (next day) in CET or working hours of 9:00 am to 6:00 pm in CT correspond to 3:00 pm to 12:00 am (next day) in CET.For most of the year, working hours of 09:00 to 18:00 in CT correspond to 16:00 to 01:00 (next day) in CEST. At other times of the year, working hours of 09:00 to 18:00 in CT correspond to 16:00 to 01:00 (next day) in CET or working hours of 09:00 to 18:00 in CT correspond to 15:00 to 00:00 (next day) in CET.

Compare CT time with CEST time, including current local time, UTC offsets, time difference, daylight saving changes, working hours, and shareable meeting times.

Time Difference

Central Daylight Time is 7 hours behind Central European Summer Time.
7:00 am07:00 in CDT is 2:00 pm14:00 in CEST

CDT to CEST call time
Best time for a conference call or a meeting is between 9am-11am09:00-11:00 in CDT which corresponds to 4pm-6pm16:00-18:00 in CEST

7:00 am07:00 Central Daylight Time (CDT). Offset UTC -5:00 hours
2:00 pm14:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST). Offset UTC +2:00 hours

7:00 am07:00 CDT / 2:00 pm14:00 CEST

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Hourly time comparison
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Central Time

Central Time (CT) is a general term used to describe the areas that observe either the Central Standard Time (CST) or Central Daylight Time (CDT) in the United States and Canada. CT is not static but switches between CDT and CST.

Territories observing the time zone are primarily in North and Central America. It runs through several Mexican and U.S. states, as well as several Canadian provinces and Central American countries.

Countries using this time zone: Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, United States

Principal Cities: The largest city in the CT time zone is Mexico City in Mexico, with about 12.294 million people. Other major cities in this time zone include Chicago, Houston, Puebla, Santiago de Querétaro.

French: HNC - Heure Normale du Centre

Spanish: CT - Tiempo Central Estándar, CT - Zona Centro

Map of the areas on Central Time (CT)
CT all year CT part of the year

Today the lighter areas are on UTC−6 (Central Standard Time, MDT).

CT representations, usage and related time zones

W3C/ISO-8601: International standard covering representation and exchange of dates and time-related data
  • -06 - basic short
  • -0600 - basic
  • -06:00 - extended
Email/RFC-2822: Internet Message Format Date Standard, typically used for timestamps in email headers
  • -0600 - sign character (-) followed by a four digit time providing hours (06) and minutes (00) of the offset. Indicates an offset of six hours to the west of the zero meridian.
Military/NATO: Used by the U.S. military, Chinese military and others
  • Sierra - Military abbreviation for CT
  • S - short form of 'Sierra'
Time zones with the GMT -6 offset:
  • CST - Central Standard Time
  • CT - Central Time
  • MDT - Mountain Daylight Time
  • EAST - Easter Island Standard Time
  • GALT - Galapagos Time
  • S - Sierra Time Zone

Central European Summer Time

Offset: CEST is 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Countries using this time zone: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Vatican City

Principal Cities: The largest city in the CEST time zone is Berlin in Germany, with about 3.426 million people. Other major cities in this time zone include Madrid, Rome, Paris, Hamburg.

German: MESZ - Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit

Map of the areas on Central European Summer Time (CEST)
CEST part of the year

Today all shaded areas are on CEST.

Daylight Saving: Central European Summer Time (CEST) is a daylight saving/summer time zone. During winter, some places set clocks back one hour and observe Central European Time (CET).

123456789101112Start: Central European Summer Time (CEST) started on Sunday, March 29, 2026 at 2:00 am02:00 local time and clocks were set one hour forward to Sunday, March 29, 2026, 3:00 am03:00. Daylight saving starts annually on the last Sunday of March.

123456789101112End: Central European Summer Time (CEST) ends on Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 3:00 am03:00 local time and clocks are set one hour back to Sunday, October 25, 2026, 2:00 am02:00 local standard time instead. Daylight saving ends annually on the last Sunday of October.

See upcoming clock changes worldwide.

CEST representations, usage and related time zones

W3C/ISO-8601: International standard covering representation and exchange of dates and time-related data
  • +02 - basic short
  • +0200 - basic
  • +02:00 - extended
Email/RFC-2822: Internet Message Format Date Standard, typically used for timestamps in email headers
  • +0200 - sign character (+) followed by a four digit time providing hours (02) and minutes (00) of the offset. Indicates an offset of two hours to the east of the zero meridian.
Military/NATO: Used by the U.S. military, Chinese military and others
  • Bravo - Military abbreviation for CEST
  • B - short form of 'Bravo'
IANA/Olson: Reflects CEST time zone boundaries defined by political bodies, primarily intended for use with computer programs and operating systems
  • Africa/Ceuta
  • Arctic/Longyearbyen
  • Atlantic/Jan_Mayen
  • CET
  • Europe/Amsterdam
  • Europe/Andorra
  • Europe/Belgrade
  • Europe/Berlin
  • Europe/Bratislava
  • Europe/Brussels
  • Europe/Budapest
  • Europe/Busingen
  • Europe/Copenhagen
  • Europe/Gibraltar
  • Europe/Ljubljana
  • Europe/Luxembourg
  • Europe/Madrid
  • Europe/Malta
  • Europe/Monaco
  • Europe/Oslo
  • Europe/Paris
  • Europe/Podgorica
  • Europe/Prague
  • Europe/Rome
  • Europe/San_Marino
  • Europe/Sarajevo
  • Europe/Skopje
  • Europe/Stockholm
  • Europe/Tirane
  • Europe/Vaduz
  • Europe/Vatican
  • Europe/Vienna
  • Europe/Warsaw
  • Europe/Zagreb
  • Europe/Zurich
  • MET
  • Poland
Time zones with the GMT +2 offset:
  • CEST - Central European Summer Time
  • EET - Eastern European Time
  • MESZ - Mitteleuropäische Sommerzeit
  • B - Bravo Time Zone
  • CAT - Central Africa Time
  • IST - Israel Standard Time
  • SAST - South Africa Standard Time
  • WAST - West Africa Summer Time