Time difference between San Francisco and Sydney
San Francisco PDT · UTC-7 
Sydney GMT+10 · UTC+10 Best time to call
Hours shown in San Francisco time. The working-day overlap runs 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM in San Francisco, which is 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM in Sydney — schedule calls in that window.
Hour-by-hour conversion
| San Francisco (PDT) | Sydney (GMT+10) | Call quality |
|---|---|---|
| 12:00 AM | 5:00 PM | Off hours |
| 1:00 AM | 6:00 PM | Off hours |
| 2:00 AM | 7:00 PM | Off hours |
| 3:00 AM | 8:00 PM | Off hours |
| 4:00 AM | 9:00 PM | Off hours |
| 5:00 AM | 10:00 PM | Off hours |
| 6:00 AM | 11:00 PM | Off hours |
| 7:00 AM | 12:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 8:00 AM | 1:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 9:00 AM | 2:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 10:00 AM | 3:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 11:00 AM | 4:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 12:00 PM | 5:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 1:00 PM | 6:00 AM+1 day | Off hours |
| 2:00 PM | 7:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 3:00 PM | 8:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 4:00 PM | 9:00 AM+1 day | Best |
| 5:00 PM | 10:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 6:00 PM | 11:00 AM+1 day | OK |
| 7:00 PM | 12:00 PM+1 day | OK |
| 8:00 PM | 1:00 PM+1 day | OK |
| 9:00 PM | 2:00 PM+1 day | OK |
| 10:00 PM | 3:00 PM+1 day | Off hours |
| 11:00 PM | 4:00 PM+1 day | Off hours |
Daylight saving time note
San Francisco and Sydney do not change their clocks on the same date. Between October 3, 2026 and November 1, 2026 the difference is 18 hours behind Sydney — because San Francisco and Sydney switch daylight saving time on different dates.
For the rest of the year the difference holds steady at 17 hours. Every time on this page is computed from the IANA database at the moment you load it, so the tables above already account for whichever side has switched.
Why the time difference exists
The clock in San Francisco is anchored to UTC-8 standard time; Sydney works from UTC+10 standard time. Both observe daylight saving time, but their summers fall on opposite halves of the year, so the clocks drift toward and away from each other as the seasons flip. Geographically the two lie about 11,900 km apart, with Sydney to the southwest of San Francisco.
Flying from San Francisco to Sydney, your body clock shifts about 6 hours back. In flying terms that's roughly 15 hours in the air, give or take. A quick look at each side's working hours keeps meetings out of the middle of the night.
