How to Set Notion Workspace Time Zone Independent of Member Setting

When you schedule a reminder in Notion or view a database date property, the displayed time depends on your account time zone. This can cause confusion when team members in different regions see different times for the same event. Notion does not allow you to set a single workspace-level time zone that overrides each member’s personal setting. This article explains how to work around this limitation by using UTC-based date properties and formatted formulas so that all members see the same intended time regardless of their individual account settings.

Why Notion Does Not Have a Workspace Time Zone Setting

Notion treats time zones as a personal account preference, not a workspace configuration. When you create a database with a date property, the date picker stores the date and time you enter. But each member sees that time converted to their own account time zone. For example, if you set a meeting at 3:00 PM Eastern Time, a colleague in Pacific Time sees it as 12:00 PM. This behavior exists because Notion is designed for individuals who work across multiple time zones and need to see events in their local time.

The only way to force a single time zone across the workspace is to store dates in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and display them using a formula that does not perform time zone conversion. UTC is a universal reference point. When you store a date as a UTC timestamp and display it with a formula that does not call now() or dateAdd(), every member sees the exact same text string.

Steps to Create a UTC-Based Date Display That Bypasses Member Time Zone

Follow these steps to create a database view where all members see the same time, regardless of their personal time zone setting.

1. Create a Date property for the original event time
   In your database, add a Date property named “Event Time.” Enter the date and time you want to display. For example, set it to 2025-05-15 14:00 UTC. Notion will store this value in UTC internally, but each member will see it converted to their local time in this column.
2. Add a Formula property to convert to UTC timestamp
   Create a Formula property named “UTC Timestamp.” Enter this formula: fromTimestamp(timestamp(prop("Event Time")) / 1000 1000). The timestamp() function returns the Unix timestamp in milliseconds. Dividing by 1000 and multiplying by 1000 keeps the same number but ensures the formula returns a date object that Notion treats as UTC. This step extracts the raw UTC time without any conversion.
3. Add a second Formula property to format the UTC date
   Create another Formula property named “Display Time.” Enter this formula: formatDate(prop("UTC Timestamp"), "MMM DD, YYYY hh:mm A"). The formatDate() function converts the UTC date object into a text string. Because the output is plain text, Notion does not apply any time zone conversion. Every member sees exactly the same string, for example “May 15, 2025 02:00 PM.”
4. Hide the original Date property in the view
   Click the view name at the top of the database. Select Properties and toggle off “Event Time” and “UTC Timestamp.” Keep “Display Time” visible. Now all members see only the formatted UTC time, which stays the same for everyone.
5. Test with another account
   Log in with a second Notion account that has a different time zone set. Open the same database view. Confirm that the “Display Time” column shows the same text string that you see. If it does, the workaround is working correctly.

Common Issues When Forcing a Single Time Zone in a Notion Database

Formula shows the wrong time after editing the original date

If you change the value in the “Event Time” property, the formulas recalculate automatically. However, if you change the date but not the time, the UTC timestamp updates correctly. If you change the time zone portion of the date picker, the stored UTC value changes. Always enter the date and time as if it is UTC. Do not rely on the time zone selector in the date picker because that selector only affects how the date is displayed to you, not how it is stored.

Notifications and reminders still use the member time zone

This workaround only affects what is displayed in the database. Notion reminders and calendar notifications still use each member’s personal time zone setting. If you set a reminder on the “Event Time” property, a member in a different time zone will receive the notification at a different local time. To avoid confusion, do not set reminders on the original date property. Instead, use a separate reminder system that sends messages at a fixed UTC time, such as a Zapier integration or a custom bot.

Sorting by the Display Time formula does not work as expected

Because the “Display Time” property is a text string, sorting by that column sorts alphabetically, not chronologically. For example, “Apr” comes before “Aug.” To sort chronologically, sort by the original “Event Time” property or by the “UTC Timestamp” formula property. Both of those are date objects and sort correctly. You can hide them from the view but still use them as sort criteria.

Notion Workspace Time Zone Approaches Compared

Item	Default Date Property	UTC Formula Workaround
Time zone conversion	Each member sees their local time	All members see the same text string
Reminders	Triggered in each member’s local time	Not affected; use separate system
Sorting	Chronological by stored UTC	Alphabetical on text; sort by hidden date
Setup complexity	None	Two formulas and one hidden column

Notion does not offer a workspace time zone setting that overrides member preferences. The UTC-based formula workaround gives you a way to display a single time for all members in a database view. This approach works best for shared schedules, project deadlines, and global event listings where the exact UTC time must be visible to everyone. For reminders and calendar notifications, you will need to use an external tool that supports fixed UTC scheduling.