Java Convert Date to Another Time Zone

Tags: Java Date Java TimeZone SimpleDateFormat

In this Java tutorial, we learn the step by step how to convert a Date object to a date time String in another time zone in Java programming language.

How to convert Date to another time zone in Java

With a given Date object in Java, we can use the following steps to convert it to a date time String in another time zone.

  • Step 1: create a new object of java.text.SimpleDateFormat with a specified date time format pattern.
  • Step 2: create a new java.util.TimeZone in target time zone ID using the TimeZone.getTimeZone() static method.
  • Step 3: assign the TimeZone object to SimpleDateFormat objec using the SimpleDateFormat.setTimeZone() method.
  • Step 4: Use the SimpleDateFormat.format() method to format the Date value into date time String in target time zone.
SimpleDateFormat simpleDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-M-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
TimeZone timeZone = TimeZone.getTimeZone("Europe/Paris");
simpleDateFormat.setTimeZone(timeZone);
String result = simpleDateFormat.format(date);

In the following example Java program, we show how to convert a Date value from system default time zone to a date time String in Europe/Paris time zone.

DateTimeZoneExample1.java 

import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
import java.util.Date;
import java.util.TimeZone;

public class DateTimeZoneExample1 {
    public static void main(String... args) {
        Date date = new Date();

        // Convert Date object to another time zone
        SimpleDateFormat simpleDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("dd-M-yyyy HH:mm:ss");
        TimeZone timeZone = TimeZone.getTimeZone("Europe/Paris");
        simpleDateFormat.setTimeZone(timeZone);
        String result = simpleDateFormat.format(date);

        System.out.println("Current time zone: " + TimeZone.getDefault().getID());
        System.out.println("Date time in current time zone: " + date);
        System.out.println("Date time in Europe/Paris time zone: " + result);

    }
}
The output as below. 
Current time zone: Asia/Bangkok
Date time in current time zone: Tue Oct 18 22:54:47 ICT 2022
Date time in Europe/Paris time zone: 18-10-2022 17:54:47

Happy Coding 😊

Java Convert Calendar to Another Time Zone