Date and time in SharePoint viewer is not the local date and time for .msg files

Question

Hi,

When a .msg file saved in SharePoint is opened in the browser (SharePoint viewer), the date and time of the email is displayed in the UTC time zone and not the local (New Zealand) time zone.

However, when the same .msg file on SharePoint is opened in the Outlook app, the time zone shown in the email is the correct one (local time zone).

Is it possible to address this discrepancy - change the time zone of the .msg file displayed in the browser (SharePoint viewer) to the local time?

See the images attached.

Thank you,

Nishanth Chakkere

Answer 1

This is a long standing problem with the standard SharePoint viewer: the sent date is shown in UTC. There are SharePoint Apps that address this problem and show the sent date in the local time zone and local date format (see example and list). Some also offer additional benefits such as viewing email attachments in the browser and extraction of email metadata such as Subject, Sent date, ...

Answer 2

Hi Nishanth Chakkere,

In SharePoint Online, .msg files are shown with their date and time in UTC, which can lead to issues if local time zones are preferred. Unfortunately, there is no direct method to change the time zone for .msg files on SharePoint viewer.

To resolve the problem:

Check Regional Settings:

• Ensure your SharePoint site’s regional settings are set to the correct time zone

Confirm time zone under Site Settings > Regional Settings.

Personal Time Zone Settings:

• Users can set their personal time zone settings in Office 365, which might help in some cases.
• Go to Office 365 Portal > My Office Profile > Update Profile > Language and Regional Settings.
• Select "Always use regional settings defined by site administrators" or set the correct time zone manually.

Using Outlook Web Access (OWA):

If your company is signed up for Office 365, open .msg files with OWA, as those will better reflect local time than the SharePoint viewer does.

Converting .msg Files:

For better viewing and possible correction of time zone, consider converting .msg files to .eml or pdf format.

Viewing in Outlook after Download:

Encourage users to download .msg files and view them in Outlook, as they will be shown in the appropriate time zone.

If you have any additional questions, please let us know in the comments. We’re happy to assist further. 

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