How to Create a UTC-12 Clock

Occasionally, a need arises to monitor time and date in UTC-12 time zone, also known as International Date Line West. This is the last place on Earth where a particular date "expires" globally. Therefore, it is often used for international deadlines.

Geographically, this time zone scatters from South Pole to North Pole in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, between Australia and Hawaii, with gaps and irregularities, specific to nearby islands and territories. It covers, for the most part, a slice of the ocean, and applies to ships traveling through it, which are the last to use any particular day on Earth. However, Howland Island, USA is located in this zone, so we can use it as our location for UTC-12.

Using International Date Line West Template

If you only need a couple of clocks, one with local time, another with UTC-12, then the easiest is to use the International Date Line West clock template from the Miscellaneous collection. Import it as described here and adjust if necessary. For example, you may wish to change a date format, or a background.

Adding a UTC-12 Clock Manually

Another option is to add a new UTC-12 clock manually via menu or Preferences. The location for this timezone is Howland Island, USA. Below are the steps for adding International Date Line West clock using the right-click menu.

Right-click on any already existing clock and select the Add clock option.



After clicking the Add clock menu, Preferences opens with New clock node inserted. At this moment it is set to Local System Time zone.



We have to change the location to Howland Island, USA. Click the Change button to the right of the Location field with Local System Time in it. The World Map opens. Use the search control on top to filter the list down to a subset of matching locations. Find and select the Howland Island line and click Apply button on the bottom.



Change the label for the new clock in Preferences by typing something more relevant into the Label field, such as International Date Line West, Date Line West, IDLW, or even UTC-12. If you intend to track the date only (not time), you may wish to use Anywhere on Earth or AoE label.



Finally, press OK or Apply. Below is an example screenshot of how UTC-12 clock may look in taskbar, alongside with two other clocks.



World Clock FAQ