Updating current time…
Illinois, USA
CDT
12am
3am
6am
9am
12pm
3pm
6pm
9pm
CEST
Central European Summer Time
GMT +2
12am
3am
6am
9am
12pm
3pm
6pm
9pm

Quick answers

Selected conversion

7:00 am07:00 CDT (UTC-5), Oct 8, 2026 = 2:00 pm14:00 CEST (UTC+2), Oct 8, 2026

Chicago is 7 hours behind CEST.

How the time difference changes

For most of the year, Chicago is 7 hours behind CEST. At other times of the year, Chicago is 7 hours behind CET or Chicago is 6 hours behind CET.

For most of the year, working hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in Chicago correspond to 4:00 pm to 12:00 am (next day) in CEST. At other times of the year, working hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in Chicago correspond to 4:00 pm to 12:00 am (next day) in CET or working hours of 9:00 am to 5:00 pm in Chicago correspond to 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm in CET.For most of the year, working hours of 09:00 to 17:00 in Chicago correspond to 16:00 to 00:00 (next day) in CEST. At other times of the year, working hours of 09:00 to 17:00 in Chicago correspond to 16:00 to 00:00 (next day) in CET or working hours of 09:00 to 17:00 in Chicago correspond to 15:00 to 23:00 in CET.

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

Time Difference

CDT (Central Daylight Time) is 7 hours behind Central European Summer Time.
7:00 am07:00 in Chicago, IL, USA is 2:00 pm14:00 in CEST

Chicago to CEST call time
Best time for a conference call or a meeting is between 9am-10am09:00-10:00 in Chicago which corresponds to 4pm-5pm16:00-17:00 in CEST

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

7:00 am07:00 Chicago, IL, USA / 2:00 pm14:00 CEST

Chicago, IL, USACEST
12:00am7:00am
1:00am8:00am
2:00am9:00am
3:00am10:00am
4:00am11:00am
5:00am12:00pm
6:00am1:00pm
7:00am2:00pm
8:00am3:00pm
9:00am4:00pm
10:00am5:00pm
11:00am6:00pm
12:00pm7:00pm
1:00pm8:00pm
2:00pm9:00pm
3:00pm10:00pm
4:00pm11:00pm
5:00pm12:00am
6:00pm1:00am
7:00pm2:00am
8:00pm3:00am
9:00pm4:00am
10:00pm5:00am
11:00pm6:00am
00:0007:00
01:0008:00
02:0009:00
03:0010:00
04:0011:00
05:0012:00
06:0013:00
07:0014:00
08:0015:00
09:0016:00
10:0017:00
11:0018:00
12:0019:00
13:0020:00
14:0021:00
15:0022:00
16:0023:00
17:0000:00
18:0001:00
19:0002:00
20:0003:00
21:0004:00
22:0005:00
23:0006:00

Chicago Information

Time Zone

Abbreviation / Name
CDT - Central Daylight Time
CST - Central Standard Time
UTC / GMT Offset
-5:00 hours during Central Daylight Time, currently in use.
-6:00 hours during Central Standard Time.
Daylight Saving Time Change
+1:00 hour - DST is in use
Daylight Saving Time Starts
Daylight saving time clock moves forward for one hourSunday, March 8, 2026 at 2:00 amSunday, March 8, 2026 at 02:00 local time. DST starts annually on the 2nd Sunday of March. Clocks are turned forward 1 hour to Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 3:00 amSunday, March 8, 2026 at 03:00 local daylight time instead. Also called Spring Forward or Summer Time.
Daylight Saving Time Ends
Daylight saving time clock moves backward for one hourSunday, November 1, 2026 at 2:00 amSunday, November 1, 2026 at 02:00 local time. DST ends annually on the 1st Sunday of November. Clocks are turned backward 1 hour to Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 1:00 amSunday, November 1, 2026 at 01:00 local standard time instead. Also called Fall Back or switch to Winter Time.

Chicago Facts

Country
USA
State
Illinois
Alternative Names
CHI, Cekaga, Chi-ka-ko, Chi-kâ-kô, Chicago, Chicagu, Chikago, Chykaga, Cikaga, Cikago, Cikaqo, E-Chicago, Kikako, Shikago, Sicagum, Sikago, The Windy City, Tsikago, Windy City, chikhako, cikago, cikako, shikago, shkagw, shykaghw, shykagw, shykajw, shyqgw, sikago, sikkagea, syqgw, zhi jia ge, Çikago, Çikaqo, Ĉikago, Čikaga, Čikago, Čikāga, Čėkaga, Şikago, Σικάγο, Чикаго, Чикаґо, Чыкага, Չիկագո, שיקאגא, שיקגו, شيكاجو, شيكاغو, شکاگو, شیکاگو, شیکاگۆ, ܫܝܩܓܘ, शिकागो, শিকাগো, ਸ਼ਿਕਾਗੋ, சிகாகோ, చికాగో, ಶಿಕಾಗೊ, ഷിക്കാഗോ, ชิคาโก, ရှီကာဂိုမြို့, ჩიკაგო, ሺካጎ, ᓰᖄᑯ, Ṣìkágò, シカゴ, 芝加哥, 시카고, 𐍃𐌾𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌲𐍉
Population
2,664,452
Currency
Dollar (USD)
Geographic Coordinates
41° 51' N Latitude / 87° 39' W Longitude
International Dialing Code
+1

Central European Summer Time

Offset: CEST is 2 hours ahead Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and is used in Europe

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

CEST Time Zone Geo Map
CEST timezone map

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).

Daylight saving time clock moves forward for one hourStart: 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.

Daylight saving time clock moves back for one hourEnd: 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