What Is PST? The Short Answer
PST stands for Pacific Standard Time. It runs at UTC-8, meaning it's 8 hours behind Coordinated Universal Time. PST is observed on the US West Coast — California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and parts of Idaho — during the winter months, roughly from early November to mid-March. If you need a quick conversion right now, the free time zone converter on this site handles PST along with 11 other zones instantly.
PST vs PDT: The Part Everyone Gets Wrong
Here's what trips people up: "PST" technically only exists for about five months of the year. From mid-March to early November, the West Coast switches to PDT — Pacific Daylight Time — which is UTC-7, one hour ahead of PST. So when someone says "I'm in PST" in July, they're actually in PDT. Most people just say "Pacific Time" (PT) year-round to avoid confusion. The clock change happens on the second Sunday of March (clocks spring forward) and the first Sunday of November (clocks fall back). For a deeper look at why this happens and which countries don't bother with it, check out our guide on daylight saving time explained.
PST Cities: Who Lives Here?
The PST/PDT zone covers most of the US West Coast. Major cities include Los Angeles (the second-largest US metro), San Francisco and the entire Bay Area, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, and San Diego. On the Canadian side, Vancouver and Victoria follow the same Pacific Time schedule. This zone is home to Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and a huge chunk of the US tech industry — which is exactly why remote teams across the country end up dealing with this 3-hour gap constantly.
PST to EST: The 3-Hour Wall
The most common pain point with PST is its relationship to Eastern Time. EST is 3 hours ahead of PST — so when it's 9 AM in New York, it's only 6 AM in Los Angeles. That's too early for most people. The overlap window where both coasts are comfortably in business hours runs from about 12 PM to 5 PM EST (9 AM to 2 PM PST). For practical conversion tables and tips on running EST-PST meetings, our article on the best time to schedule EST to PST meetings covers this in detail.
PST to GMT and PST to UTC
PST is 8 hours behind GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) and UTC. So when it's noon in London, it's 4 AM in Los Angeles — which is why US-UK calls almost always need to happen in the afternoon UK time. During British Summer Time (BST, April-October), the gap shrinks to 8 hours from PST and 7 hours from PDT. You can use the PST to GMT converter for exact times on any date. On the GMT vs UTC difference — for most scheduling purposes they're interchangeable, though they're technically defined differently.
PST to IST: The Awkward 13.5-Hour Gap
Scheduling between PST and India Standard Time (IST) is genuinely hard. IST is UTC+5:30, which puts it 13 hours and 30 minutes ahead of PST (or 12.5 hours ahead of PDT in summer). In practice, there's almost no overlap in normal business hours — when it's 9 AM in Mumbai, it's 9:30 PM the previous evening in Los Angeles. The typical solution is to find a "shoulder" slot: either early morning for the Indian team (7-8 AM IST = late evening PST) or late evening for the Indian team (8-9 PM IST = morning PST). Our India time zone guide explains IST in more detail.
PST Business Hours at a Glance
Standard PST business hours run 9 AM to 6 PM PST (UTC-8). For global reference: 9 AM PST = 12 PM EST = 5 PM GMT = 10:30 PM IST. 12 PM PST = 3 PM EST = 8 PM GMT = 1:30 AM IST (+1 day). 5 PM PST = 8 PM EST = 1 AM GMT (+1 day) = 6:30 AM IST (+1 day). If you're regularly working with multiple zones, the Global Meeting Planner on this site lets you drag a slider and see what all these times look like simultaneously — no mental math needed.