# Time Zone & Locale

## Time zone

Use `timedatectl` to check which time zone your system is currently set to:

~~~
               Local time: Tue 2025-09-23 20:04:39 UTC
           Universal time: Tue 2025-09-23 20:04:39 UTC
                 RTC time: Tue 2025-09-23 20:04:39
                Time zone: UTC (UTC, +0000)
System clock synchronized: yes
              NTP service: active
          RTC in local TZ: no
~~~

If the time zone doesn't match with the one you live in (e.g. if it says UTC), use the `set-timezone` command to change it:

<p class="callout info"><strong>NOTE:</strong> To list all available time zones, use the <code>list-timezones</code> command. Search for town names with <code>/</code> (search is case-sensitive). Alternatively, there's a <a href="https://timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/findzone.tzc">website</a> to help you pick the correct one by country.</p>

~~~bash
timedatectl set-timezone Europe/Berlin
~~~

## Localization
Edit `/etc/locale.gen` and uncomment `en_US.UTF-8 UTF-8` and other desired locales (prefer UTF-8):

~~~bash
nano /etc/locale.gen
~~~

<p class="callout info"><strong>NOTE:</strong> You can search in <code>nano</code> using CTRL + W.</p>

Alternatively, uncomment the locales via `sed` in one command, e.g. German and US English:

~~~bash
sed -i -E 's/^# *(de_DE\.UTF-8|en_US\.UTF-8)/\1/' /etc/locale.gen
~~~

Generate the locales by running: 

~~~bash
locale-gen
~~~

Set which locales and keyboard layout the system should use for messages and documentation (`man` pages):

~~~bash
echo "LANG=de_DE.UTF-8" > /etc/locale.conf
echo "KEYMAP=de-latin1" > /etc/vconsole.conf
~~~