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EST
12am
3am
6am
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3pm
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CEST
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Quick answers

Selected conversion

7:00 am07:00 EST (UTC-5), Oct 23, 2026 = 2:00 pm14:00 CEST (UTC+2), Oct 23, 2026

EST is 7 hours behind CEST.

EST and CEST examples

These examples always use EST (UTC-5) and CEST (UTC+2). They stay the same when you change the date or time above. The selected conversion may differ when daylight saving time applies.

EST is 7 hours behind CEST.

How the time difference changes

For most of the year, EST Central America is 7 hours behind CEST. From Oct 25, 2026 to Mar 28, 2027, EST Central America is 6 hours behind CET.

For most of the year, working hours of 9:00 am to 6:00 pm in EST Central America 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 EST Central America 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 EST Central America 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 EST Central America correspond to 15:00 to 00:00 (next day) in CET.

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

Time Difference

Eastern Standard Time is 7 hours behind Central European Summer Time.
7:00 am07:00 in EST is 2:00 pm14:00 in CEST

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

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

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

Choose an hour to update the converter. Day labels such as “next day” or “+1” are relative to the selected date in the first column. Use Up and Down arrow keys, Home or End to move between hours, then Enter or Space to select.

Hourly time comparison
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Eastern Standard Time

Offset: EST is 5 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Countries using this time zone: Bahamas, Canada, Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States

Principal Cities: The largest city in the EST time zone is New York City in the United States, with about 8.804 million people. Other major cities in this time zone include Toronto, Montréal, Philadelphia, Port-au-Prince.

Daylight Saving: Some places on Eastern Standard Time (EST) keep the same time all year, while others use EST for only part of the year and change their clocks for daylight saving time; see upcoming clock changes worldwide.

Map of the areas on Eastern Standard Time (EST)
EST all year EST part of the year

Today the lighter areas are on UTC−4 (EDT).

EST representations, usage and related time zones

W3C/ISO-8601: International standard covering representation and exchange of dates and time-related data
  • -05 - basic short
  • -0500 - basic
  • -05:00 - extended
Email/RFC-2822: Internet Message Format Date Standard, typically used for timestamps in email headers
  • -0500 - sign character (-) followed by a four digit time providing hours (05) and minutes (00) of the offset. Indicates an offset of five hours to the west of the zero meridian.
Military/NATO: Used by the U.S. military, Chinese military and others
  • Romeo - Military abbreviation for EST
  • R - short form of 'Romeo'
IANA/Olson: Reflects EST time zone boundaries defined by political bodies, primarily intended for use with computer programs and operating systems
  • America/Atikokan
  • America/Cancun
  • America/Cayman
  • America/Coral_Harbour
  • America/Detroit
  • America/Fort_Wayne
  • America/Grand_Turk
  • America/Indiana/Indianapolis
  • America/Indiana/Marengo
  • America/Indiana/Petersburg
  • America/Indiana/Vevay
  • America/Indiana/Vincennes
  • America/Indiana/Winamac
  • America/Indianapolis
  • America/Iqaluit
  • America/Jamaica
  • America/Kentucky/Louisville
  • America/Kentucky/Monticello
  • America/Louisville
  • America/Montreal
  • America/Nassau
  • America/New_York
  • America/Nipigon
  • America/Panama
  • America/Pangnirtung
  • America/Port-au-Prince
  • America/Thunder_Bay
  • America/Toronto
  • Canada/Eastern
  • EST
  • EST5EDT
  • Jamaica
  • US/East-Indiana
  • US/Eastern
  • US/Michigan
Time zones with the GMT -5 offset:
  • CDT - Central Daylight Time
  • EST - Eastern Standard Time
  • ET - Eastern Time
  • COT - Colombia Time
  • CST - Cuba Standard Time
  • EASST - Easter Island Summer Time
  • ECT - Ecuador Time
  • PET - Peru Time
  • R - Romeo 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