# Set column - Time zone **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask for Help\ **Created:** [March 25, 2021, 7:58am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709 "2021-03-25T07:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Simon\_Hill](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/simon_hill/32/94730_2.png) [@Simon\_Hill](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Simon_Hill)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 7:58am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/1 "2021-03-25T07:58:50Z")
I was surprised this morning to find some of my users were active in the future. After double checking the App I quickly realized it was because they were probably using the App in Asia. This caused the set column action to input a time-stamp that is effectively in the future vs. my time. Any fixes for this? I suppose the workaround is to check for the time difference on sign-up and subtract that in any future time-stamp actions… but I’m not 100% sure how to capture both local and user time. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/2/1/21dfbb41e61a4a51438d5158f0997b3d3d283907.png) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:21am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/2 "2021-03-25T08:21:41Z")
You can ask your users to specify their timezone, and save that as a part of their profile. Then you can make appropriate adjustments wherever necessary with date math columns. ---
**Author:** ![Simon\_Hill](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/simon_hill/32/94730_2.png) [@Simon\_Hill](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Simon_Hill)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:31am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/3 "2021-03-25T08:31:13Z")
Thanks - I see that working. As a workaround, what about having a cell in the Google sheet that always displays the GMT time and subtract from that? I have never created a cell in a Google sheet to do that but it’s probably possible. Then it just needs to be compared vs. the time-stamp. I just hate having users jump through unnecessary hoops at sign-up. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:37am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/4 "2021-03-25T08:37:08Z")
> [@Simon\_Hill](#): > > As a workaround, what about having a cell in the Google sheet that always displays the GMT time and subtract from that? Do you mean as a method to determine the Users Timezone offset? So when a user triggers an action that causes a time to be set, you compare that time to what you _know_ is GMT, and the difference is the users offset - yes? Interesting idea, and it would probably work. You should give it a try 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Simon\_Hill](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/simon_hill/32/94730_2.png) [@Simon\_Hill](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Simon_Hill)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:41am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/5 "2021-03-25T08:41:55Z")
Yes, exactly. Currently searching through Google Help but it’s not obvious how to use the = Now(). Maybe the answer lies in an external look-up… or maybe a template with a URL that returns the value… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 8:51am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/6 "2021-03-25T08:51:31Z")
I’d be avoiding the spreadsheet and instead be looking for a way to do it in the GDE. Try entering ‘now’ in a date time column in Glide, and see what it gives you. That might provide you with a starting point… ---
**Author:** ![Simon\_Hill](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/simon_hill/32/94730_2.png) [@Simon\_Hill](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Simon_Hill)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 9:00am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/7 "2021-03-25T09:00:12Z")
Yes, agree… but can you reassure me that Now is the App’s time (let’s call it GMT) and not the User’s now ? After all, using the Set Column with NOW inserts the user’s time. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2021, 9:08am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/8 "2021-03-25T09:08:55Z")
Yes, you’re right. Computed columns are calculated on the users device, so now() will always be the local time according to the device. But still, there will be a way. I’ll have a think about it… ---
**Author:** ![Simon\_Hill](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/simon_hill/32/94730_2.png) [@Simon\_Hill](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Simon_Hill)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 10:14am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/set-column-time-zone/24709/9 "2021-03-26T10:14:35Z")
Solved it!! > [@Timestamp with your local time NOT user's time zone](https://community.glideapps.com/t/timestamp-with-your-local-time-not-users-time-zone/24753): > > Happy to share a trick if you want to track activity in your App, e.g. how many users are active in the last X hours then how many the last Y minutes. This solves the issue that when you push the current time into a cell using a ‘Set columns’ action Glide pushes the current time on the user’s device versus your Local time. This can throw up issues, for example it may appear that users in Asia are active on the App in the future! So my solution is to leverage your Google sheet. The magic is to …