Time zone
A region that keeps the same clock time, described by its offset from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). A time of day identifies a single moment only once its zone is known.
A timestamp with no stated zone can only be guessed at. An offset alone is not the full story either, since many zones shift their clocks for part of the year.
Where it comes up
- Missing or mixed time zonesTimestamps in one column were recorded in different time zones, or carry no zone at all.
- Date and time split or mergedSome rows keep the date and the time in separate columns and others pack both into one.
See also
- TimestampA value that records a date and a time of day together, marking one moment: 2025-03-04T14:30:00Z.
- ISO 8601The international standard for writing dates and times, year first: 2025-03-04 for the fourth of March 2025.
- LocaleThe set of regional conventions software uses to read and write values: the order of day and month, the decimal and thousands separators, the currency symbol.