Q: How can I show a second time zone in calendar view in Outlook 2007?

A: You might have an office in a secondary location, or perhaps you or one of your users is traveling and would like an easy reference to a secondary time zone displayed in Microsoft Outlook. The calendar view in Outlook 2007 affords us the ability to add a second time zone column. This feature is also available in Outlook 2010 and is covered in "Q: How do you show multiple time zones in Calendar view in Outlook 2010?"

To add the second time zone in Outlook 2007, go to Tools, Options and select Calendar Options on the Preferences tab. Next, click Time Zone under Advanced options to open the Time Zone dialog box that Figure 1 shows.

By default, the current time zone doesn't have a label, but a field is available to add one. When you select the check box for Show an additional time zone, the other fields become available for editing. In this example, I've chosen US West and England as the optional labels. Figure 2 shows the two time zone columns in the calendar view with the labels atop each. Now it's easy to see the time in a second location while viewing events in your time zone.

This time zone setting is held in the registry and therefore can be managed centrally with Group Policy, logon scripts, or other management tools. The DWORD SecondaryTZ can be toggled on or off with a value of 1 or 0 respectively. The labels for the time zone columns in the calendar view are string values called ShortName1 and ShortName2 as follows:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Options\TimeZone
"SecondaryTZ"=dword:00000001
"ShortName1"="US West"
"ShortName2"="England"

Adding a second time zone in the calendar view doesn't impact items stored in your calendar. The additional column is for display and comparative purposes only. If necessary, you can swap time zones. Going back to the Time Zone dialog box in Figure 1, you'll see a button on the bottom left labeled Swap Time Zones. All this does is switch the two columns and display your calendar events at the time they would occur in the second time zone. This does not change the calendar appointments or meeting times; it changes only the display of those events.

Related Reading:

• Q: How do you show multiple time zones in Calendar view in Outlook 2010?
• Q. How can I export and import calendar data with Microsoft Office Outlook 2010?
• Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010: The Return of "Better Together"