CET to EST converter

How to convert CET to EST

To convert CET to EST, subtract 6 hours (normally). For example, when it is 12:00 noon in Central European Time (Madrid, Paris, Berlin) it is 6:00 AM in Eastern Time (New York) in winter. In the converter above the source and target zones are already selected: enter a date and a time and the result appears at once.

The two zones

Central European Time covers Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Rome and Amsterdam. It is CET (UTC+1) in winter and Central European Summer Time (CEST, UTC+2) from the last Sunday of March to the last Sunday of October.

Eastern Time covers New York, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Boston and Toronto. It is Eastern Standard Time (EST, UTC−5) in winter and Eastern Daylight Time (EDT, UTC−4) in summer, so people often write ET for both.

The difference between CET and EST

The gap is six hours most of the year, but Europe and the US change their clocks on different dates, so for about three weeks in March and one week around late October it is five hours. Winter offset: 6 hours behind. Summer offset: 6 hours behind.

CET to EST quick reference

When you need it

• Scheduling meetings between Madrid, Paris or Berlin and New York.
• Timing a webinar from Europe for an American audience.
• Following a European football match live on the East Coast.

Avoiding time zone mistakes

• Always say the date as well as the time: a late evening in one zone is already tomorrow in another.
• Prefer city names (New York, Los Angeles) to abbreviations; EST and EDT are different, and many people write EST all year.
• For international meetings, send the time in UTC or add a link to a converter so everyone sees their own time.

Private by design

The conversion uses your browser's own time zone database, so nothing you enter is sent anywhere.