Time Zone Settings

The Time Zone settings page allows Administrators and Configurator roles with access to Settings to manage time zone settings across your ActivTrak account. Navigate to Settings > Time Zone to access and configure your time zone settings.

Contents

• How time zone settings work
• Reporting configuration mode (EA)
• Account-level time zone settings
• Configuring date and time display formats
• Managing user time zones (EA)
• Dashboards using the user's time zone (EA)
• Activity-level time zone settings
• Daylight savings considerations
• Effect on tracking schedules
• Learn more

How time zone settings work

ActivTrak gives you control over how time zone information is applied across your account. You can display all activity data in a single Account Time Zone (the default behavior), or switch to User Time Zone mode (EA), in which each monitored user's metrics reflect their location.

Regardless of the time zone mode, the Agents record each user's local activity date and time based on their computer's date and time settings. The difference between modes lies in how the recorded data is calculated and displayed across Activtrak Dashboards.

Example: If your account's time zone is set to Central Time but an employee is working in New York City with their computer set to Eastern Time, the Agent records their activities in Eastern Time. In Account Time Zone mode, they are shown throughout ActivTrak in Central Time. In User Time Zone mode (EA), they are shown in dashboards in Eastern Time.

In the Activity Log, users can view the account-level time zone and their local time zone side by side.

Reporting configuration mode (EA)

A new Configuration Mode card is available under Settings > Time Zone. The selection under Reporting Metric Display determines how metrics are calculated and displayed across dashboards. Only one mode, either Account Time Zone or User Time Zone, may be active at a time.

You have two options

1. Account Time Zone (default): All metrics are calculated and displayed using your account's configured time zone. This is the current behavior and requires no changes.
2. User Time Zone: Metrics are calculated and displayed based on each user's local time zone. Each user's day boundaries (midnight to midnight) are determined via their device settings.

When you switch from Account Time Zone to User Time Zone

• A 24-hour transition period begins. During this time, dashboards continue using the Account Time Zone.
• After the transition completes, all newly generated activity uses the User Time Zone logic.
• Activity recorded before the switch remains in the Account Time Zone. No historical data is rewritten.
• A confirmation message appears indicating the selected mode, that the change applies only going forward, and that existing Coach streaks will be deleted (Premium/Professional plans).

When you switch from User Time Zone to Account Time Zone

• All timestamps immediately resolve to the Account Time Zone for all time ranges (past and future).
• Auto-detection continues capturing users' UTC offsets in the background for up to 30 days, so you can re-enable User Time Zone mode without losing recent detection data.
• No stored activity data is rewritten.

Account-level time zone settings

The account-level time zone setting ensures that date and time information is displayed using the same time zone for all users and dashboards across your ActivTrak account. Select your preferred time zone from the dropdown menu to set the unified time zone for your account.

Note: The account time zone dropdown now uses the standardized IANA time zone list (for example, America/Chicago, Asia/Kolkata), replacing the legacy Microsoft-based list. The same IANA list is used for both the account time zone setting and the user-level time zone selector.

Configuring date and time display formats 

To change how time and date information is displayed across your ActivTrak account:

1. Navigate to Settings > Time Zone > Account Time Zone
2. Select the Date Format you wish to use from the drop-down menu
3. Next, select the Time Format you wish to use from the drop-down menu

4. Click Save to apply your selections

Managing user time zones (EA)

When User Time Zone mode (EA) is enabled, each monitored user's effective time zone is resolved using the following priority order:

1. Manual assignment — Highest priority; a named IANA time zone assigned by an Admin on the Users page
2. Auto-detected UTC offset — Automatically derived from each user's observed activity patterns
3. Account Time Zone — Fallback; always present so data is always displayable

Auto-Detect Offset (default)

By default, the system automatically detects each user's UTC offset based on their first recorded activity after at least 5 hours of inactivity. That offset is then applied to all user activity until the next detected gap. When the system detects a new offset after the following inactivity gap, it updates accordingly.

Important: Auto-detection is not geolocation. ActivTrak does not use GPS, IP addresses, or any location-based tracking to determine time zones. The agent reads the UTC offset set in the user's computer operating system (OS) settings. If the OS is configured to detect time zones automatically, the system picks up whatever the computer reports. If the OS time zone is set manually and never changes, the detected offset stays the same.

Auto-detected offsets are displayed as UTC values (for example, UTC-6) across all reports. The offset updates automatically when the system detects a change after the next inactivity gap, including DST transitions, since the agent reads the UTC offset the user's OS is reporting at that moment.

Auto-detected offsets apply only to activity generated after User Time Zone mode is enabled. No historical backfill occurs.

Manual time zone assignment

Admins can manually assign a named IANA time zone (for example, America/Chicago or Asia/Kolkata) to any user from the Users page. The IANA list is highly granular and includes entries for regions with unique rules, such as America/Phoenix for Arizona, which does not observe daylight saving time.

The primary use case for manual assignment is when a user's reporting time zone should differ from their physical location. For example, if a manager based in India is required to work US Central hours, you can assign them Central Time so their reports reflect those expected hours rather than the India offset that auto-detection would pick up. Manual assignments also handle DST automatically through the named time zone's rules, so the correct UTC offset is applied throughout the year without any manual updates.

Display on dashboards: Even when a named time zone is assigned, all dashboards display the equivalent UTC offset (for example, UTC-5) rather than the named time zone. This keeps the display consistent across all users regardless of how their time zones were determined.

To assign a time zone to a single user

1. Go to the Users page
2. Locate the Time Zone column for the user you want to update
3. Click the dropdown and select a named time zone (for example, America/Chicago)
4. To revert, select Auto-Detect Offset from the dropdown

To assign a time zone to multiple users

1. Select multiple users using the checkboxes on the Users page.
2. Click Assign Time Zone from the action bar.
3. Select the named time zone to apply to all selected users.

Manual assignments take priority over auto-detection and apply across all reporting periods for that user (past and future). You can revert any user back to Auto-Detect Offset at any time.

Keep in mind that when a manual override is active, auto-detection stops for that user. If the user travels to a different time zone, their reports remain based on the manually assigned time zone rather than their current physical location. If you switch the user back to Auto-Detect Offset, the new offset applies only going forward — no retroactive correction is applied.

Dashboards using the user's time zone (EA)

The following table summarizes which reports and pages are updated and how they respond to the User Time Zone setting:

Note: The following admin pages continue to use Account Time Zone for consistency and display a label indicating this:

• Audit Log
• Computer Agents
• Computer Aliases
• User Agents
• User Aliases

Activity-level time zone settings

You can choose to enable the local date and time zone details of all recorded user activities in the Activity Log and in ActivConnect by navigating to Settings > Time Zone > Activity Time and Time Zone and selecting "DISPLAY activity time and time zone for each website or application the user or computer uses throughout the day." Click Save to apply changes.

Note: The Display option is selected by default, and the local time zone data is sourced from the time zone configured on each user's computer.

If you do not wish to have local time zone details displayed within the Activity Log or ActivConnect, select "DO NOT DISPLAY activity time zone for each website or application the user or computer uses throughout the day. Only display the account time and time zone." Click Save to apply changes.

Important: This setting is independent of the new Configuration Mode described above. Accounts that do not opt into User Time Zone mode can still choose to display the User Time Zone column in the Activity Log, as they do today. The column labels have been updated for clarity compared to previous versions.

Daylight savings considerations

The Account Time Zone dropdown and the Account Date/Time header in the Activity Log display the "standardized time zone" — a fixed name, unchanged by daylight saving time, that refers to the standard time UTC offset. The Activity Date/Time column, however, displays the current UTC offset, which includes any daylight saving time adjustments.

Example: The Account Date/Time header always shows (UTC-6) for Central Time, even during the portion of the year when Central Time is UTC-5. The current offset is reflected in the Activity Date/Time column.

In User Time Zone mode, daylight saving time is handled automatically in both of the following ways:

• Auto-detected offsets: The agent reads the UTC offset reported by the user's OS at the time of activity. When the OS adjusts for DST, the next detected offset after an inactivity gap automatically reflects the change.
• Manual IANA assignments: Named time zones (for example, America/Chicago) include DST rules, so the correct offset is applied year-round without any manual updates.

Effect on Tracking Schedules

The tracking schedule for each user is based on their computer's local time zone, not the account's time zone. For this reason, it is important to know a computer's local time zone if not using the default 24x7 schedule, as incorrect hours may otherwise be tracked and data may be incomplete.

Note: When User Time Zone mode is active, the Work Schedules page displays a label indicating that schedules are based on the account time zone setting in account configuration.

Learn more

• Product Update: Reporting by User Time Zone
• User Management via the Users Page
• User Roles & Permissions in ActivTrak
• ActivConnect API (Add-on)