How can I use JavaScript to get the timezone and UTC offset of a client?

General Discussions
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1

I’m trying to figure out how to collect the visitor’s local time zone (like Europe/London) as well as the offset from UTC (such as UTC+01). What’s the best way to achieve this using the JavaScript get timezone functionality?

2

I’ve worked quite a bit with timezone handling on client-side apps, and one of the simplest ways I recommend for the javascript get timezone task is using the Intl.DateTimeFormat API. It’s clean, reliable, and supported on all modern browsers.

function getClientTimezone() {
    const timeZone = Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;
    return timeZone;
}

const timezone = getClientTimezone();
console.log('Time Zone:', timezone);

This gives you nice readable results like Europe/London or America/New_York. Why go for this? It’s extremely straightforward — no messy calculations, no compatibility headaches — just pure native JavaScript doing the work for you. If you simply want the client’s timezone name, this is the best starting point.

3

Building on what Emma said once you have the timezone, you might also want the UTC offset. I’ve had to pull both pieces of info many times in real projects. For the javascript get timezone and offset, you can easily use the Date object’s getTimezoneOffset() method.

function getUTCOffset() {
    const offsetMinutes = new Date().getTimezoneOffset();
    const sign = offsetMinutes > 0 ? '-' : '+';
    const hours = Math.floor(Math.abs(offsetMinutes) / 60);
    const minutes = Math.abs(offsetMinutes) % 60;
    return `UTC${sign}${hours.toString().padStart(2, '0')}:${minutes.toString().padStart(2, '0')}`;
}

const utcOffset = getUTCOffset();
console.log('UTC Offset:', utcOffset);

This method gives you the UTC difference properly formatted, like UTC+01:00 or UTC-05:00. It’s fast and handy when you don’t just need the timezone name, but the actual numeric offset. Perfect little utility alongside your javascript get timezone flow.

4

Totally agree with Emma and Alveera! In fact, when I’m building user dashboards, I often need both timezone and offset together. So here’s a little pro tip: why not combine both techniques into a single neat function? If you’re serious about your javascript get timezone needs, this is a very practical approach.

function getClientTimeZoneAndOffset() {
    const timeZone = Intl.DateTimeFormat().resolvedOptions().timeZone;
    const offsetMinutes = new Date().getTimezoneOffset();
    const sign = offsetMinutes > 0 ? '-' : '+';
    const hours = Math.floor(Math.abs(offsetMinutes) / 60);
    const minutes = Math.abs(offsetMinutes) % 60;
    const utcOffset = `UTC${sign}${hours.toString().padStart(2, '0')}:${minutes.toString().padStart(2, '0')}`;
    
    return { timeZone, utcOffset };
}

const { timeZone, utcOffset } = getClientTimeZoneAndOffset();
console.log('Time Zone:', timeZone);
console.log('UTC Offset:', utcOffset);

This way you get a full timezone snapshot in one call — both the descriptive timezone and the numeric UTC offset. Especially useful if you’re storing client info for later use. It’s an easy yet powerful addition to any javascript get timezone solution you’re building.