PHP DateTime - setTimezone() Method

The PHP DateTime::setTimezone() method sets the timezone of a DateTime object. The date_timezone_set() function is an alias of this method.

Syntax

//Object-oriented style
public DateTime::setTimezone(timezone)

//Procedural style
date_timezone_set(object, timezone)

Parameters

`object`	`Required.` For procedural style only: A DateTime object returned by date_create().
`timezone`	`Required.` Specify a DateTimeZone object representing the desired time zone.

Return Value

Returns the DateTime object with modified timezone on success, otherwise returns false.

Example: using both styles

The example below shows the usage of DateTime::setTimezone() method.

<?php
  //creating a DateTime object
  $date = new DateTime();

  //setting timezone using Object-oriented style
  $date->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone('America/Chicago')); 

  //formatting the datetime to print it
  echo $date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s P")."\n";

  //setting timezone using Procedural style
  date_timezone_set($date, new DateTimeZone('Europe/London')); 

  //formatting the datetime to print it
  echo $date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s P")."\n";
?>

The output of the above code will be:

11-Sep-2021 05:13:38 -05:00
11-Sep-2021 11:13:38 +01:00

Example: Modifying timezone of a DateTime object

This method can be used to modify timezone of the DateTime object to a new value. Consider the example below:

<?php
  //datetime string
  $datetime_string = "14-May-2015 5:10 GMT+2";

  //creating a DateTime object
  $date = new DateTime($datetime_string);

  //formatting the datetime to print it
  echo "Original DateTime: ".$date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s P")."\n";

  //setting timezone to a new value
  $date->setTimezone(new DateTimeZone('America/Chicago')); 

  //formatting the datetime to print it
  echo "Modified DateTime: ".$date->format("d-M-Y H:i:s P")."\n";
?>

The output of the above code will be:

Original DateTime: 14-May-2015 05:10:00 +02:00
Modified DateTime: 13-May-2015 22:10:00 -05:00

❮ PHP Date and Time Reference