Meeting Time Finder

What is a Meeting Time Finder?

A Meeting Time Finder helps you find overlapping available time slots across multiple participants in different time zones. You add each participant with their time zone and their available working hours, and the calculator identifies times that work for everyone. Remote teams, international businesses, project managers, and anyone coordinating across time zones use this tool to schedule meetings without the back-and-forth of manually comparing time zone differences. Instead of calculating offsets yourself or guessing at good times, the tool visualizes the overlap window so you can book the most convenient time for all participants regardless of where they are located.

How to find meeting times across time zones manually (the formula)

To find overlapping meeting times manually: first, convert all participants' available hours to a common time zone (usually UTC). For each participant, their available window is defined by their start time and end time in their local time zone. Convert each to UTC: UTC Time = Local Time − UTC Offset. Then find the overlap by taking the latest start time and the earliest end time across all participants. The formula is: Overlap Start = max(StartTime1, StartTime2, ...), Overlap End = min(EndTime1, EndTime2, ...). If Overlap Start < Overlap End, there is a valid overlap window of (Overlap End − Overlap Start) in that time slot. For example, New York (UTC−5) has availability 9 AM–5 PM EST = 14:00–22:00 UTC. London (UTC+0) has 9 AM–5 PM GMT = 09:00–17:00 UTC. Overlap in UTC: max(14:00, 09:00) = 14:00, min(22:00, 17:00) = 17:00. Overlap = 3 hours (14:00–17:00 UTC), which is 9 AM–12 PM in New York and 2 PM–5 PM in London.

Example calculation

Suppose you have three team members: Alice in New York (EST, UTC−5, available 9 AM–5 PM), Bob in London (GMT, UTC+0, available 9 AM–5 PM), and Carol in Tokyo (JST, UTC+9, available 9 AM–6 PM). Convert all to UTC: Alice: 14:00–22:00 UTC. Bob: 09:00–17:00 UTC. Carol: 00:00–09:00 UTC. Overlap start = max(14:00, 09:00, 00:00) = 14:00 UTC. Overlap end = min(22:00, 17:00, 09:00) = 09:00 UTC. Since 14:00 > 09:00, there is no overlap. To find a time that works for all three, at least one person needs to adjust their hours. If Carol adjusts to start at 4 PM JST (07:00 UTC) and end at midnight (15:00 UTC), then the overlap becomes: max(14:00, 09:00, 07:00) = 14:00 UTC, min(22:00, 17:00, 15:00) = 15:00 UTC, giving a 1-hour overlap from 14:00–15:00 UTC (9–10 AM New York, 2–3 PM London, 11 PM–12 AM Tokyo).

Common mistakes

• Forgetting daylight saving time differences — DST starts and ends on different dates in different regions. The offset between New York and London changes depending on the season.
• Assuming a 9-to-5 workday in all cultures — Some countries have different standard working hours, lunch breaks, or work weeks (Sunday through Thursday in some Middle Eastern countries).
• Not accounting for time zone abbreviations — EST vs EDT both refer to Eastern Time but have different offsets. Always specify the UTC offset or use IANA time zone names.
• Forgetting that dates can change — When converting times across extreme offsets (like New York and Tokyo), the meeting date may be different for participants on opposite sides of the International Date Line.
• Only considering one time slot — There may be multiple non-contiguous overlapping windows. Check all possible slots, not just the first one found.

Frequently asked questions