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Convert UTC dates to local time in Make

Convert UTC text to London time in Make Free. Check daylight saving and avoid mixing up month and minute tokens with a worked example.

HoldMyTwist · 4 min read

A painted globe between two clock faces showing different local times

A date can display the wrong hour when an automation assumes the wrong time zone. Make's parseDate and formatDate functions (opens in a new tab) let you specify the source and destination zones separately.

Before you start

To get started, you need a Make account. You can create a Make Free account (opens in a new tab) or sign in. You can complete this exercise without connecting another app.

This Make Free practice converts fictional UTC text to London time. Keep the scenario Inactive and run it manually. It uses two built-in Tools modules.

1. Create the UTC input

  1. In Scenarios, click Create scenario. Replace the scenario name at the top left with Date conversion practice.
  2. Add Tools > Set variable.
  3. Set Variable name to utc_text and Variable value to 2026-10-08 14:00.
  4. Save the module. For this example, the text means 2 p.m. UTC. Do not assign UTC to a real local date unless its source says it is UTC.

Full Make editor with utc_text set to the fictional UTC date 2026-10-08 14:00

Full Make editor with utc_text set to the fictional UTC date 2026-10-08 14:00
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2. Parse the text, then format the time

  1. Add another Tools > Set variable.
  2. Name it london_time. Paste the expression below into Variable value.
  3. Check that utc_text is a coloured token from module 1. If your input has another module number, replace that token by selecting the correct source in the mapping panel.
  4. Save the module and scenario.
Text to copy

{{formatDate(parseDate(1.utc_text; "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm"; "UTC"); "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm"; "Europe/London")}}

parseDate reads the text as a date in UTC. formatDate produces text in the Europe/London time zone. If you omit the time-zone settings, Make uses the organization's time zone.

Full Make editor with parseDate using UTC and formatDate using Europe London

Full Make editor with parseDate using UTC and formatDate using Europe London
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Watch out

The format tokens are case-sensitive. MM means month; mm means minutes. Match the input format exactly and keep both zones explicit. London changes its offset during the year, so adding a fixed hour is not a replacement for time-zone conversion.

3. Check the converted output

  1. Click Run once.
  2. Open the result bubble above the second Tools module.
  3. Under Output, check for london_time: 2026-10-08 15:00.

Full Make editor showing London output 2026-10-08 15:00

Full Make editor showing London output 2026-10-08 15:00
Open full-size image

To check the clock change, try 2026-03-28 12:00 in the first module. The London output is 2026-03-28 12:00. Change it to 2026-03-29 12:00 and the output becomes 2026-03-29 13:00. The UK clock-change calendar (opens in a new tab) confirms that change.

If the hour or date is wrong

Check the source's time zone before editing the formula. A bare time such as 14:00 does not identify a zone. Match the text's punctuation and order against YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm, and check the format-token reference (opens in a new tab).

This expression expects the example's text format. An input with seconds or its own offset needs a matching parse format. For another destination, use its documented time-zone name and test a known winter and summer example before scheduling it.

If your timestamp already includes an offset

An input such as 2026-10-08T14:00:00Z includes seconds and a UTC offset. For these fictional examples, change the input and expression together.

  1. Keep the scenario Inactive. In the first Tools module, set utc_text to 2026-10-08T14:00:00Z.
  2. In the second module, replace Variable value with the expression below. Check that utc_text is the coloured token from module 1.
  3. Save both modules and the scenario, then click Run once. Check for london_time: 2026-10-08 15:00 +01:00.
Text to copy

{{formatDate(parseDate(1.utc_text; "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ"); "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm Z"; "Europe/London")}}

The Z token reads the input offset and includes the output offset. Keep the input suffix. Do not add a literal Z to a local time that has no offset. That would label it UTC (opens in a new tab), not convert it.

Change only utc_text and rerun to check these results:

  • 2026-10-08T14:00:00+02:00 gives 2026-10-08 13:00 +01:00.
  • 2026-12-08T14:00:00Z gives 2026-12-08 14:00 +00:00.
  • 2026-10-25T00:30:00Z gives 2026-10-25 01:30 +01:00.
  • 2026-10-25T01:30:00Z gives 2026-10-25 01:30 +00:00.

The last two inputs reach the same clock time with different offsets. Keep the offset when you need to distinguish them.

After the clock change, the later instant displays as 01:30 +00:00. The offset distinguishes it from the earlier 01:30 +01:00.

Full Make editor showing london_time as 2026-10-25 01:30 +00:00 after the London clock rollback.

Full Make editor showing london_time as 2026-10-25 01:30 +00:00 after the London clock rollback.

After the clock change, the later instant displays as 01:30 +00:00. The offset distinguishes it from the earlier 01:30 +01:00.

Open full-size image

This expression returns text for checking. It is not an input validator or a format every receiving app accepts. Match fractional seconds or a different input shape explicitly. To repeat the main exercise, restore both its original input and its original expression.

Need an account? Start with Make Free (opens in a new tab). Read the Free-plan guide before scheduling a workflow.

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