If you work on a distributed team, communicate with international clients, or have family living overseas, scheduling meetings can be a logistical nightmare. Accidentally scheduling a Zoom call for 3:00 AM in your colleague’s time zone because you miscalculated the offset is an easy mistake to make.
Instead of constantly opening a new tab to search “What time is it in London right now?” you can configure Google Calendar to permanently display the current time in various cities around the world directly on your main calendar view.
This guide explains how to add World Clocks to your Google Calendar sidebar so you can instantly verify international time zones before sending an invite.
How to Enable the World Clock
The World Clock feature is built directly into Google Calendar on the desktop web interface.
- Open your web browser and navigate to calendar.google.com.
- Click the Settings icon (the gear-shaped icon) in the top-right corner of the screen.
- Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
- You should automatically be on the “General” tab on the left sidebar. Look at the main window and locate the section titled World clock.
- Check the box next to Show world clock.
- Click the blue Add time zone text that appears below the checkbox.
- A drop-down menu will appear. Scroll through the list and select the specific time zone you want to monitor (e.g., “GMT+00:00 United Kingdom Time – London”).
- Click Add time zone again to add as many different locations as you need (e.g., Tokyo, Sydney, New York).
How to View and Use the Clocks
Google Calendar saves your settings automatically; there is no “Save” button to press.
- Click the back arrow at the top-left of the screen (next to the word “Settings”) to return to your main calendar view.
- Look at the left-hand sidebar (above the mini month calendar and below the “Create” button).
You will now see a small, persistent “World clock” widget. It will display the current time for your local time zone at the top, followed by the current time in all the international cities you just added.
The times update in real-time. Before you double-click a time slot to schedule a meeting, simply glance at the left sidebar to ensure you aren’t waking up your international colleagues in the middle of the night.