San Francisco to Sydney: time difference and best times to meet
Sydney is 17 hours ahead of San Francisco. Their working days overlap for 2 hours, from 4pm to 6pm in San Francisco (9am–11am in Sydney). The best time to schedule is 4pm San Francisco time, which is 9am in Sydney.
America/Los_Angeles
Australia/Sydney
Hour-by-hour overlap
Each row is one hour of the San Francisco day and the matching hour in Sydney. Adjust the working hours to match how your team actually works.
| San Francisco | Sydney | Suitable? |
|---|---|---|
| 12am | 5pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 9am | 2am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 10am | 3am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 11am | 4am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 12pm | 5am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 1pm | 6am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 2pm | 7am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 3pm | 8am | Working hours in San Francisco only |
| 4pm | 9am | Both cities at work |
| 5pm | 10am | Both cities at work |
| 6pm | 11am | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 7pm | 12pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 8pm | 1pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 9pm | 2pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 10pm | 3pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
| 11pm | 4pm | Working hours in Sydney only |
Best times to propose
- 1. 4pm in San Francisco · 9am in Sydney — Right at the edge of someone's day
- 2. 5pm in San Francisco · 10am in Sydney — Right at the edge of someone's day
Avoid 12am San Francisco time and 9am San Francisco time — only the other city is at work.
When the gap changes in the next twelve months
- Sunday, October 4, 2026 — Sydney goes from 17 hours ahead of to 18 hours ahead of San Francisco.
- Sunday, November 1, 2026 — Sydney goes from 18 hours ahead of to 19 hours ahead of San Francisco.
- Sunday, March 14, 2027 — Sydney goes from 19 hours ahead of to 18 hours ahead of San Francisco.
- Sunday, April 4, 2027 — Sydney goes from 18 hours ahead of to 17 hours ahead of San Francisco.
Recurring meetings set as a fixed clock time in one city will move by an hour for the other on these dates.
Public holidays to avoid
Dates where one side is off work while the other is not are the most common cause of no-shows on this route.
- Friday, September 25, 2026 — Friday before AFL Grand Final — Sydney is off, San Francisco is working.
- Monday, September 28, 2026 — King's Birthday — Sydney is off, San Francisco is working.
- Monday, October 5, 2026 — King's Birthday — Sydney is off, San Francisco is working.
- Monday, October 12, 2026 — Indigenous Peoples' Day — San Francisco is off, Sydney is working.
- Tuesday, November 3, 2026 — Melbourne Cup — Sydney is off, San Francisco is working.
- Wednesday, November 11, 2026 — Veterans Day — San Francisco is off, Sydney is working.
- Thursday, November 26, 2026 — Thanksgiving Day — San Francisco is off, Sydney is working.
- Friday, December 25, 2026 — Christmas Day and Christmas Day; both cities are off.
- Monday, December 28, 2026 — St. Stephen's Day — Sydney is off, San Francisco is working.
With 2 shared working hours, San Francisco and Sydney can run standing meetings without anyone giving up an evening — as long as the slot sits inside that window on both sides of the next clock change.
Sending a booking link avoids the arithmetic entirely: each side picks a time in their own zone and both calendars get the correct local time, including after a daylight-saving change. See how LemCall handles cross-timezone bookings.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the time difference between San Francisco and Sydney?
- Sydney is currently 17 hours ahead of San Francisco. That changes to 18 hours ahead of on Sunday, October 4, 2026, when one side shifts for daylight saving.
- When is the best time to schedule a meeting between San Francisco and Sydney?
- 4pm in San Francisco, which is 9am in Sydney. Right at the edge of someone's day.
- How many hours do San Francisco and Sydney overlap?
- 2 hours, from 4pm to 6pm San Francisco time (9am–11am in Sydney).
- Does daylight saving change the San Francisco–Sydney gap?
- Yes. Over the next twelve months the difference changes 4 times: Sunday, October 4, 2026 (17 hours ahead of becomes 18 hours ahead of); Sunday, November 1, 2026 (18 hours ahead of becomes 19 hours ahead of); Sunday, March 14, 2027 (19 hours ahead of becomes 18 hours ahead of); Sunday, April 4, 2027 (18 hours ahead of becomes 17 hours ahead of).
- Are there public holidays that affect San Francisco–Sydney meetings?
- Yes. The next is Friday, September 25, 2026 — a public holiday where Sydney is, but a normal working day in San Francisco.
Nearby pairs
Other meeting-time pages for San Francisco
- San Francisco ↔ SingaporeNo working-hours overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Hong KongNo working-hours overlap
- San Francisco ↔ ShanghaiNo working-hours overlap
- San Francisco ↔ London1 hours of overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Dublin1 hours of overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Tokyo1 hours of overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Seoul1 hours of overlap
- San Francisco ↔ Melbourne2 hours of overlap
Sources
- 1.IANA. Time Zone Database
- 2.Nager.Date. Public holidays API · Retrieved