Outlook 
Outlook SecureTemp Files Folder
Outlook, Appointments and Time Zones |
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To many people, Outlook really seems really bad at handling time zone changes, and that's
being kind. This is in part because people don't understand that Outlook uses UTC time for appointments and adjusts the time using the time zone offset
configured on the computer.
Note that this is not "an Outlook problem", as this is how computers, email clients and mail servers handle time zones. For example, any email client will display this sent time:
on a computer configured for the Eastern Time Zone, which has a -0400 offset during Daylight savings time. By storing all times as UTC, Outlook doesn't need to store any other time information in the appointment and uses the local time zone when rendering the view. This allows someone in another time zone to create a meeting request and it will reflect the correct local time. Outlook does not support an absolute time option for the calendar, which would permit you to enter 2 PM and the appointment would always stay on 2 PM, no matter how many times you changed the time zone. Older versions don't have an option for ‘in what time zone?’ so that you could make an appointment for 2 PM and select Pacific time zone and it would show up as 5 PM in your calendar when the computer is using the Eastern time zone. Outlook 2007 does let you select the time zone the appointment will be held in. Click the Time Zone button to show the time zone selectors.
Update: Microsoft released a tool that will update appointments when you permanently change time zones. It works with all versions of Outlook. Outlook 2007 includes an earlier version of this tool but Microsoft recommends using downloading the new tool for best results. Microsoft Office Outlook Tool: Time Zone Data Update Tool for Microsoft Office Outlook. This tool was released to help users adjust to the new US daylight time dates but works just as well for any permanent time zone change. It's not recommended for use when you travel between time zones for short trips. At the end of this article we have a short list of clock utilities that will display multiple time zones,- many more are available at your favorite Windows shareware sites. These are the ones I've used and like. In most cases, you'll probably want to disable the Windows tray clock when you use these, to avoid confusion. |
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Workarounds |
There are ways to make Outlook's use of UTC and time zone offsets
time less frustrating with older versions of Outlook.
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Dual Time Zone Settings |
You can easily swap the system time between these two zones, if you
need to. I prefer to leave the computer time zone alone though and
use a clock utility to display the time in a different zone, in part
so all day events stay on one day. To turn on dual time zone display, go to Tools, Options, Preferences tab, Calendar Options, Time Zone button and add a second time zone. Now when you view the calendar in a day planner format, you'll see two time scales displayed. You can right click on the scale and choose Time zones.. to change zones or swap them. |
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Fix Appointment Times |
Microsoft released a tool that will update appointments when you
permanently change time zones. It works with all versions of
Outlook. Outlook 2007 includes an earlier version of this tool but
Microsoft recommends using downloading the new tool for best
results.
If you prefer to control the time changes yourself, use the following method: If you create appointments when the computer clock is set for the wrong time zone, or if you move to a new time zone, you can't change the time zone without messing up the appointment times and all day appointments will span two days. You can export the calendar to a non-Outlook format (Excel or CSV works well), then change the time zone settings and import the items back into Outlook.
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Problems |
Never change the computer's time and leave it on your home time
zone. You may not be able to connect to network resources if the
time is off by more than a few minutes. Servers pay a lot of attention to the time
zone offset - the servers don't care if your machine is set for
London's time zone while in Seattle, as long as the time is correct
for your time zone offset. It's also very annoying to other users if you send an email dated hours before or after you really sent it. |
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Tools |
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