# How to convert a date to another time zone in JavaScript

By Atta Ur Rehman Shah (https://attacomsian.com/about). Published Sep 13, 2022. Topics: JavaScript.
Canonical URL: https://attacomsian.com/blog/javascript-convert-date-to-another-time-zone

> Learn how to use the toLocaleString() method of the date object to convert a date into another time zone in JavaScript.

To convert a date to another time zone in JavaScript:

1. Use the `toLocaleString()` method of the `Date` object to get a string in the provided time zone.
2. Pass the returned string to the `Date()` constructor.
3. The `Date()` constructor will return a new instance of `Date` with its date and time set according to the provided time zone.

```javascript
const convertTimeZone = (date, timeZone) => {
  return new Date((typeof date === 'string' ? new Date(date) : date)
            .toLocaleString('en-US', { timeZone }))
}

const date = new Date()
console.log(date)
// Tue Sep 13 2022 23:03:22 GMT+0500 (Pakistan Standard Time)

// => Convert to PST time zone
const pstDate = convertTimeZone(date, 'America/Los_Angeles')
console.log(pstDate)
// Tue Sep 13 2022 11:19:31

// => Convert to EU time zone
const euDate = convertTimeZone(date, 'Europe/Berlin')
console.log(euDate)
// Tue Sep 13 2022 20:21:19
```

The `convertTimeZone()` method we created above accepts either a `Date` object or a string as the first parameter and a [time zone](https://attacomsian.com/blog/javascript-get-timezones-list) string as the second parameter. It returns a `Date` object with the date and time adjusted according to the provided time zone.

The `toLocaleString()` method returns a date object as a string, using the given locale settings. Under the hood, it calls the `Intl.DateTimeFormat` API to [format the `Date` object to a string](https://attacomsian.com/blog/javascript-format-date#intldatetimeformat-methods).

The `toLocaleString()` method accepts two parameter:

1. `locales` — A string with a BCP 47 language tag or an array of such strings, for example, `en-US` (US English), `en-GB` (British English), `de-DE` (German), etc.
2. `options` — An object where you can set some properties to customize the output format. One such property is `timeZone` which specifies the time zone to use. Read [MDN docs](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Intl/DateTimeFormat/DateTimeFormat#parameters) to learn about all available options.

Here is another example that uses `toLocaleString()` to convert the current date to a string in the PST time zone:

```javascript
const date = new Date()

const pstTime = date.toLocaleString('en-US',
  timeZone: 'America/Los_Angeles',
  dateStyle: 'full',
  timeStyle: 'full'
})

console.log(pstTime)
// Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 11:50:57 AM Pacific Daylight Time
```