---
title: Time zones
description: Set the time zone for embedded Cube surfaces — account-wide, per embed via URL, or at runtime.
---

Embedded Cube surfaces — dashboards, [Analytics Chat](/embedding/iframe/analytics-chat),
and the full app in [Creator Mode](/embedding/iframe/creator-mode) — bucket time in a
zone you control. You can set a default for the whole account, override it per embed with
a URL parameter, or switch it at runtime from the host page.

This matters most when your end users are not in your deployment's zone: without it,
"today" in an embedded dashboard means today in the deployment's
[default time zone](/docs/data-modeling/configuration#default-time-zone), not in your
customer's.

<Note>

Available on [Premium and above plans](https://cube.dev/pricing).

</Note>

<Info>
  Embedded time zones require **user time zones** to be enabled for the account. See
  [Time zones](/admin/time-zones) for the account-wide policy, what a zone changes, and
  the console-side behavior.
</Info>

## How the zone is resolved

The time zone of an embedded surface is resolved from the following sources, highest
priority first:

1. **Runtime override** — a [`cube:action:set-timezone`](/embedding/iframe/events#cube-action-set-timezone)
   message sent from the host page (see [At runtime](#at-runtime)).
2. **URL parameter** — the `?timezone=` query parameter on the embed URL (see
   [Per embed via URL](#per-embed-via-url)).
3. **Dashboard's own zone** — a dashboard pinned to a named zone, or set to resolve per
   viewer (see [dashboard time zone](/admin/time-zones#dashboard-time-zone)). In
   [signed embedding](/embedding/iframe/auth/signed) the viewer has no Cube account and
   therefore no personal zone, so a viewer-resolved dashboard falls through to the next
   step — supply `?timezone=` if you want each end user's own zone.
4. **Account default** — the zone configured in **Embed → Settings** (see
   [Account-wide default](#account-wide-default)).
5. **Account-wide zone**, then the deployment's default time zone.

A host override outranks a dashboard's pinned zone by design: the integrator is speaking
for the whole frame, and you know your user's zone better than the dashboard's author
does.

<Note>
  If the account policy is disabled, none of this applies — Cube sends no zone and the
  deployment's default time zone is used, exactly as before.
</Note>

## Account-wide default

Set a default time zone for all embedded surfaces:

1. Go to **Embed → Settings**.
2. In the **Time Zone** card, pick a zone from the dropdown.

The selected zone applies to every embedded surface across the account, unless a specific
embed overrides it. Re-selecting the account-wide zone clears the embed-specific value, so
embeds follow the account-wide zone again.

The picker is inert while user time zones are off for the account — a zone stored there
would be one nothing applies.

## Per embed via URL

Override the account default for an individual embed by adding the `?timezone=` query
parameter to the embed URL:

```text
https://your-tenant.cubecloud.dev/embed/dashboard/YOUR_DASHBOARD_PUBLIC_ID?session=YOUR_SESSION_ID&timezone=America/New_York
```

The parameter is read once when the embed loads and pinned for the session, so in-app
navigation won't drop it.

Values must be [IANA time zone names](/admin/time-zones#valid-time-zone-values). An
unusable value — including a bare UTC offset like `+05:30` — is ignored, and the embed
falls back to the account default rather than quietly shifting every number.

## At runtime

Switch the zone after the embed has loaded by sending a
[`cube:action:set-timezone`](/embedding/iframe/events#cube-action-set-timezone) message
from the host page. This takes precedence over both the URL parameter and the account
default — use it when your own user changes their zone:

```js
sendAction("cube:action:set-timezone", { timezone: "Asia/Tokyo" });
```

See [Events and actions](/embedding/iframe/events) for the full host ↔ embed messaging
contract.
