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Looking to understand Time Zone settings for SharePoint Sites.

Stefan 80 Reputation points
2026-01-08T18:20:21.3366667+00:00

When a Microsoft 365 group gets created, a SharePoint site gets created as well.

Under Site Settings for this group > Regional settings > Time zone, this site had a default time zone apply to it as UTC-8, pacific time. We are Eastern time. This was throwing errors for users when they tried to invite the group to a meeting.

I'm looking to understand why it didn't have Eastern time apply to it by default? Is there a way to make that change?

Because now, I'm going to need to go through every single one of our SharePoint sites and verify the time zone. Is there an easier way to do this? Has anyone else run into this before?

Thanks,

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | For business | Windows
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  1. Ruby-N 10,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-01-08T22:07:21.64+00:00

    Dear @Stefan, 

    Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.   

    I understand how inconvenient it must be to manually check and update the time zone for  

    every SharePoint site. 

    • When a new SharePoint site is created, whether standalone or as part of a Microsoft 365 Group, it inherits the default time zone configured in the SharePoint admin center. By default, this setting is Pacific Time (UTC‑8). Therefore, any site created before updating this setting will default to Pacific Time. 

    To prevent this from happening in the future, you can update the default time zone in the SharePoint admin center under Settings > Site creation. 

    • SharePoint’s time zone primarily affects timestamps in lists and libraries. However, Outlook calendars store times in UTC and display them based on mailbox regional settings. If the Group mailbox was still set to Pacific Time, meeting invites could appear offset for Eastern users, even after updating the SharePoint site. 

    To correct this, you should also update the mailbox regional settings using Exchange Online PowerShell. 

    Since you didn’t mention whether you are an IT admin, please see the following workarounds that will help you verify and better understand the issue: 

    Step 1: Set the correct default for future sites 

    Go to SharePoint admin center > Settings > Site creation. 

    Change the Default time zone to Eastern Time. 

    All new sites created after this change will automatically inherit Eastern Time.  

     User's image

    Step 2: Correct existing SharePoint sites 

    • Option 1: Manual update for a few sites 

    On each site, go to Settings > Site information > View all site settings > Regional settings. 

    Set the time zone to Eastern Time. 

    Users can also adjust their personal language and region settings if allowed by policy. 

    User's image 

    • Option 2: Bulk update using PnP PowerShell 

    Unfortunately, SharePoint does not provide a built-in way to update multiple sites at once. 

    For large-scale changes, use PnP PowerShell, which is the recommended approach. This requires administrative permissions and involves advanced steps. 

    Please note that changing the SharePoint admin center time zone only affects sites created after the change. Outlook calendars always store items in UTC and display them based on mailbox settings, so updating the Group mailbox will prevent future invite confusion. 

    Additional information is available in the following resources: 

    Manage site creation in SharePoint - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn 

    Change regional settings for a site - Microsoft Support 

     

    Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the link: SharePoint Online: Change Time Zone using PowerShell - SharePoint Diary 

    • Furthermore, if you decide to proceed with the bulk update using PnP PowerShell: 

    To ensure everything works correctly in your SharePoint environment, I recommend reaching out to your IT administrator to create a support ticket via Microsoft Admin Center > Support > Help & Support for tailored guidance. A technical support engineer can: 

    • Guide you through the PnP PowerShell steps. 
    • Verify your SharePoint environment configuration. 
    • Assist with any necessary synchronization to ensure changes apply correctly. 

    User's image  

    As community moderators, we kindly ask for your understanding that our access to internal development details is limited. Our primary role is to guide users toward the appropriate resources and support channels. While we may not have visibility into performing deeper backend analysis, we’ll continue doing our best to support you within the scope of our responsibilities.  

    I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.    

    Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you. 

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have any extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-01-08T18:20:31.12+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    When a Microsoft 365 group is created, the associated SharePoint site inherits the default time zone setting from the SharePoint admin center, which is typically set to Pacific Time (UTC-8). This is why your site was created with Pacific Time instead of Eastern Time. To change the time zone for a SharePoint site, you can do so through the site settings under Regional settings.

    To change the time zone for a specific SharePoint site:

    1. Go to the SharePoint site.
    2. Click on the gear icon (Settings) in the upper right corner.
    3. Select Site settings.
    4. Under the Site Administration section, click on Regional settings.
    5. In the Time zone dropdown, select the desired time zone (Eastern Time).
    6. Click OK to save the changes.

    If you have multiple sites to update, unfortunately, there is no bulk method to change the time zone for all sites at once. You will need to verify and update each site individually.

    It's also worth noting that if your organization enforces tenant-level time zone settings, personal changes may be overridden, and changes may take some time to propagate across services.

    References:

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