Time zone: which zone you see and schedule times in

If your team works in a different time zone from Spain's, or you schedule publications for another zone, it helps to know which zone times are shown and entered in. WorkOS uses four different zones, each with its own job.

The four zones

Your zone. The zone in which you see times and in which you type the ones you enter. It is personal: each person on the team can have their own.
Default zone for users. The one seen by anyone who has not chosen their own (for example, people just added to the team).
The client's data zone. The zone in which times are stored and in which your account's automations run. A platform administrator sets it when the account is created.
Publishing schedule zone. The zone the publishing engine uses to work out the exact moment each post, newsletter or article goes out.

WorkOS decides which zone to show you times in, in this order: first yours, if you have chosen one; otherwise the default zone for users; if there is none, the account's data zone; and, as a last resort, Madrid.

Important: changing your zone (or the default zone) only changes what you see and the time you type. It does not modify what is already stored, does not move anything, and does not change when automations run.

Choosing your time zone

Open your user menu (the person icon in the top corner).
Press the Time zone button, which shows your current zone with a globe icon.
Search for and pick your zone in the selector, or press Use the client's to go back to your account's default.
Press Save. The page reloads with the times already converted.

If you do not see this option in the menu, your account does not have the per-user time zone turned on yet. Ask whoever administers your account to request it from a platform administrator. Until then, WorkOS shows times as it always has.

If you have never chosen a zone and your browser is in a zone with a different offset from your account's, WorkOS suggests once using the browser's zone. You can accept it or press Keep; the decision is remembered and you will not be asked again.

Choosing the account's default zone

Only the Owner and the Technical contact can change it.

Go to Settings.
In the Default zone for users card, pick the zone. If you choose Same as the data zone, the account's data zone is inherited again.
Press Save. The page reloads.

This zone is only seen by people who have not chosen their own. It is useful, for example, for an account whose data was created in one zone but whose team works in another: every new person sees times in the right zone from day one, without touching anything that is stored.

Below the card, the account's data zone is shown, read-only. Neither the Owner nor the Technical contact can change it from WorkOS: changing it would reinterpret times that are already stored without converting them, so only a platform administrator does it.

Where your zone applies

Your zone is used everywhere that shows or asks for a time:

Inbox: the time of each email and message.
Calendar: the time and day of each event, the calendar's "today", and the time when creating or moving an event. When you create or move an event in Google Calendar or Outlook, the time you choose is in your zone.
Tasks: time entries (start, stop, edit the time), the "today" of the views and calendars, and which tasks show as overdue.
Completion date: when you complete a task, WorkOS records the day in your zone, so a task completed on the same day it was planned does not show as "Overdue" near midnight.
Publications: the time you type when creating or editing a publication and the time shown in the calendar and on the record.
Kairos: when you ask for things by voice or text (create an event, schedule a publication, ask what you have today), Kairos understands "tomorrow at 10" in your zone.

Tasks and publications that only have a date, with no time, never shift: October 15 is October 15 in any zone.

Publications: your zone and the schedule zone

Publications are where the difference matters most, because two zones are involved.

The time you type when scheduling a publication is in your zone. WorkOS converts it to the exact corresponding moment, so it goes out when you intended even if your zone and the schedule zone differ.
The default time of the account (the one used if you do not choose a time) is interpreted in the publishing schedule zone, not yours. For example, if the default time is 09:00 and the schedule zone is Madrid, that publication goes out at 09:00 Madrid time, which for someone in Montevideo is 04:00 or 05:00 depending on the time of year.
The "today" of the past-date protection (which stops you from scheduling on a day that has already passed and warns you if today's time has already gone by) is also worked out in the schedule zone, because that is the one the engine uses to publish.

The schedule zone, the default time and the default time for newsletters are settings for the whole account, in the social networks' Publishing settings (the Time zone, Default time and Default time — Newsletter fields). If you need to change them, talk to whoever administers your account: they affect when the whole team's publications go out.

Tip: if your zone and the schedule zone differ, it is normal for the default time to appear converted in your calendar (for example, 09:00 Madrid as 05:00 in Montevideo). It is the same real publishing time, expressed in your zone.

What does not change with your zone

Some things follow the account's data zone instead of yours, because they belong to the client and not to each person:

Task states based on relative dates ("Today", "Tomorrow", "This week"…).
The automatic generation of recurring tasks and blocks.
When automations and background processes run.

One consequence you may notice: near midnight, a task can be in the "Today" state according to the account and not yet appear in the "Today's tasks" of someone living in another zone. It is not a bug: these are two different zones applied to two different things.

Common problems

The "Time zone" option does not appear in my menu: your account does not have per-user time zones turned on. It is turned on from the platform's administration.
It says "Invalid time zone": the server does not recognise the zone you chose. Pick an equivalent one, for example a nearby city in the same zone.
I see a different time from my colleague: that is expected if each of you has a different zone. It is the same real time, expressed in each person's zone.
I am in the administrator preview: from there nobody's zone can be changed.