> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.timetracker.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Date and time formats

> Set how dates and times are displayed across your workspace, choose 12-hour or 24-hour clock, and pick the day your week starts on for reports.

**Date & time format** controls how every date and time is written across
TimeTracker, and which day your week starts on. Find it at
**Settings → Date & time format**.

These are display settings. They change how values are *shown*, never what is
stored.

## What is on this page

One card, **Display format**, with three dropdowns and a **Save changes**
button.

| Field          | Choices          | Default       |
| -------------- | ---------------- | ------------- |
| Date format    | Five patterns    | `MMM D, YYYY` |
| Time format    | 24-hour, 12-hour | 24-hour       |
| Week starts on | Monday, Sunday   | Monday        |

All three save together in one click.

## Date format

Each option previews itself in the dropdown, so you can see the result before
you pick it. Using 9 July 2026 as the example:

| Pattern       | Looks like  |
| ------------- | ----------- |
| `MMM D, YYYY` | Jul 9, 2026 |
| `D MMM YYYY`  | 9 Jul 2026  |
| `YYYY-MM-DD`  | 2026-07-09  |
| `MM/DD/YYYY`  | 07/09/2026  |
| `DD/MM/YYYY`  | 09/07/2026  |

<Tip>
  If your team spans countries, pick `MMM D, YYYY` or `D MMM YYYY`. A written
  month cannot be misread. `07/09/2026` means July 9th to some people and 7th
  September to others.
</Tip>

## Time format

| Choice  | Looks like |
| ------- | ---------- |
| 24-hour | `16:30`    |
| 12-hour | `4:30 PM`  |

This changes how times are **shown**. It does not change how you type them.
Time fields accept either style whatever you pick here – typing `4:30 pm`,
`16:30`, `1630` or `4.30 pm` all mean the same thing.

## Week starts on

This decides where a week boundary falls. Only Monday and Sunday are offered,
because those are the two days a working week realistically starts on.

It matters in more places than it first looks:

* Which days a weekly timesheet covers.
* Where a week bucket begins in reports.
* How "this week" and "last week" are worked out in date ranges.

<Warning>
  Changing the week start moves every week boundary in your reports. A weekly
  report run before and after the change covers different days. Change it once,
  early, and leave it alone.
</Warning>

## How to change them

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Date & time format">
    Go to **Settings**. **Date & time format** sits under **Workspace**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick your formats">
    Choose a date pattern, a clock style and a week start. The date dropdown
    previews each pattern for you.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save">
    Click **Save changes**. Everyone in the workspace sees the new formats
    straight away.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Two kinds of value, treated differently

This is the part that surprises people, so it is worth being clear.

| Kind of value        | Examples                                                      | How it is shown                                                           |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **A moment in time** | Time entry start and end, clock-in, when a comment was posted | Converted into the workspace timezone, then written in your chosen format |
| **A calendar day**   | Task due date, invoice issue date, a leave date               | Written in your chosen format with **no** timezone shift                  |

A due date of 9 July is 9 July for everyone, everywhere. A calendar day is a
calendar day, and moving it across zones would put it on the wrong day.

A time entry that started at 09:00 in the workspace timezone shows as `09:00`,
or `9:00 AM` on a 12-hour clock.

## Where these settings show up

Once saved, the formats apply everywhere:

* Time entries, timesheets and timecards.
* Task due dates and project dates.
* Invoice dates and payment dates.
* Report columns, headers and date buckets.
* The Archive and Trash lists.
* Notification emails.

## Example

Northwind Studio is a UK and US team. Maya sets:

* Date format `D MMM YYYY`, so nobody misreads `07/09`.
* Time format 24-hour, which the whole team already uses.
* Week starts on Monday, matching their Monday to Friday week.

Sarah Lin's Monday to Friday timesheet now runs Monday 6 Jul 2026 to Friday
10 Jul 2026, and her 3 hours on Homepage wireframes shows as starting `09:00`.

## Permissions

| Action                 | Capability                     | Roles that hold it by default |
| ---------------------- | ------------------------------ | ----------------------------- |
| See the formats in use | None – the whole app uses them | Everyone                      |
| Change them            | `workspace.updateSettings`     | Owner, Admin                  |

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can each person pick their own format?">
    No. Date and time format are workspace-wide, so everyone reads the same
    numbers the same way. That matters in a system of record for time and money.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does changing the format change my data?">
    No. These settings only change how values are displayed. Nothing stored is
    rewritten, and no hours change.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why can I only pick Monday or Sunday for the week start?">
    Those are the two days a working week realistically starts on. Offering the
    other five would add choices nobody needs.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Where do I set the timezone?">
    On [General](/settings/general). Date and time format decide how a value is
    written; the timezone decides which moment it points at.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does this change exported files?">
    Dates in an export follow the workspace format. See
    [Export your data](/settings/export-your-data).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Dates, times and timezones" icon="clock" href="/concepts/dates-times-and-timezones">
    How TimeTracker decides which day an hour belongs to.
  </Card>

  <Card title="General settings" icon="gear" href="/settings/general">
    Workspace name, base currency and timezone.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Date ranges and periods" icon="calendar" href="/reports/date-ranges-and-periods">
    How week buckets are built in reports.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Schedule timezones" icon="globe" href="/schedules/schedule-timezones">
    Why a person's zone can differ from the workspace's.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Workspace settings" icon="list" href="/settings/overview">
    Every settings page and who can open it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Glossary" icon="book" href="/concepts/glossary">
    Every term used across TimeTracker.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>