How to Adjust the Time Zone of Your Data in Data Studio

Why Don’t the Dates and Times Match in My Data Studio Report?

If you notice that the dates and times of your posts in Data Studio don’t match what you see in Metricool or on social media platforms, don’t worry—it’s not an error. There’s a technical reason behind it.

🕓 Data is Sent in GMT
When you connect Metricool with Data Studio, all date and time fields are sent in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). This means that unless you're in the same time zone as London, you'll see a difference between the actual time and what appears in your report.

For example:

• If you're in Argentina (GMT-3), your posts will appear 3 hours ahead.

• If you're in Spain (GMT+1 or GMT+2 during daylight saving time), your posts will appear 1 or 2 hours behind.

✅ Solution: Use a Calculated Field to Adjust the Time Zone

You can create the following calculated field in Data Studio to adjust the date and time based on your local time zone:

DATETIME_SUB([Your date field], INTERVAL N HOUR)

• Use DATETIME_SUB if you need to subtract hours (e.g., if you're in GMT-3).

• Use DATETIME_ADD if you need to add hours (e.g., if you're in GMT+1).

📖 Practical Example:

Let’s say you're building a report with Instagram Reels data and you're located in Argentina (GMT-3). You can create a calculated field with this formula:

DATETIME_SUB(Instagram Reels > Date with time, INTERVAL 3 HOUR)

This way, your dates will be adjusted to reflect the actual local time the content was published.

💡 Pro tip: If your region switches between standard time and daylight saving time, make sure to adjust accordingly depending on the time of year.