diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/GeneralPanel.form b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/GeneralPanel.form
index a2c34ea3f8..432bd9b5c3 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/GeneralPanel.form
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/GeneralPanel.form
@@ -148,6 +148,9 @@
           <ResourceString bundle="org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/Bundle.properties" key="GeneralPanel.useGMTTimeRB.text" replaceFormat="org.openide.util.NbBundle.getMessage({sourceFileName}.class, &quot;{key}&quot;)"/>
         </Property>
       </Properties>
+      <Events>
+        <EventHandler event="actionPerformed" listener="java.awt.event.ActionListener" parameters="java.awt.event.ActionEvent" handler="useGMTTimeRBActionPerformed"/>
+      </Events>
     </Component>
     <Component class="javax.swing.JLabel" name="jLabel3">
       <Properties>
diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/GeneralPanel.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/GeneralPanel.java
index 2b702bef4b..3d697b07ab 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/GeneralPanel.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/corecomponents/GeneralPanel.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package org.sleuthkit.autopsy.corecomponents;
 
 import java.util.prefs.Preferences;
 import org.openide.util.NbPreferences;
+import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.datamodel.ContentUtils;
 
 final class GeneralPanel extends javax.swing.JPanel {
 
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ final class GeneralPanel extends javax.swing.JPanel {
     GeneralPanel(GeneralOptionsPanelController controller) {
         this.controller = controller;
         initComponents();
+        ContentUtils.setDisplayInLocalTime(useLocalTimeRB.isSelected());
         // TODO listen to changes in form fields and call controller.changed()
     }
 
@@ -80,6 +82,11 @@ final class GeneralPanel extends javax.swing.JPanel {
 
         buttonGroup3.add(useGMTTimeRB);
         org.openide.awt.Mnemonics.setLocalizedText(useGMTTimeRB, org.openide.util.NbBundle.getMessage(GeneralPanel.class, "GeneralPanel.useGMTTimeRB.text")); // NOI18N
+        useGMTTimeRB.addActionListener(new java.awt.event.ActionListener() {
+            public void actionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {
+                useGMTTimeRBActionPerformed(evt);
+            }
+        });
 
         org.openide.awt.Mnemonics.setLocalizedText(jLabel3, org.openide.util.NbBundle.getMessage(GeneralPanel.class, "GeneralPanel.jLabel3.text")); // NOI18N
 
@@ -144,6 +151,10 @@ final class GeneralPanel extends javax.swing.JPanel {
         // TODO add your handling code here:
     }//GEN-LAST:event_useBestViewerRBActionPerformed
 
+    private void useGMTTimeRBActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {//GEN-FIRST:event_useGMTTimeRBActionPerformed
+         ContentUtils.setDisplayInLocalTime(useLocalTimeRB.isSelected());
+    }//GEN-LAST:event_useGMTTimeRBActionPerformed
+
     void load() {
         boolean keepPreferredViewer = prefs.getBoolean(KEEP_PREFERRED_VIEWER, false);
         keepCurrentViewerRB.setSelected(keepPreferredViewer);
diff --git a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/datamodel/ContentUtils.java b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/datamodel/ContentUtils.java
index 121b5a1cfa..9cc844cae6 100644
--- a/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/datamodel/ContentUtils.java
+++ b/Core/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/datamodel/ContentUtils.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public final class ContentUtils {
     private final static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(ContentUtils.class.getName());
     private static final SimpleDateFormat dateFormatter = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss z");
     private static final SimpleDateFormat dateFormatterISO8601 = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss'Z'");
-
+    private static boolean displayInLocalTime;
     // don't instantiate
     private ContentUtils() {
         throw new AssertionError();
@@ -104,12 +104,11 @@ public final class ContentUtils {
     public static String getStringTimeISO8601(long epochSeconds, Content c) {
         return getStringTimeISO8601(epochSeconds, getTimeZone(c));
     }
-
+     
     public static TimeZone getTimeZone(Content c) {
-        Preferences generalPanelPrefs = NbPreferences.root().node("/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/core");
-        boolean useLocalTime = generalPanelPrefs.getBoolean("useLocalTime", true);
+        
         try {
-            if (!useLocalTime) {
+            if (!getDisplayInLocalTime()) {
                 return TimeZone.getTimeZone("GMT");
             }
             else {
@@ -360,4 +359,18 @@ public final class ContentUtils {
                     + cntnt.getClass().getSimpleName());
         }
     }
+    /**sets displayInlocalTime value based on button in GeneralPanel.java
+     * 
+     * @param flag 
+     */
+    public static void setDisplayInLocalTime(boolean flag) {
+    displayInLocalTime = flag;
+    }
+    /** get global timezone setting for displaying time values 
+     *  
+     * @return 
+     */
+    public static boolean getDisplayInLocalTime(){
+        return displayInLocalTime;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/Timeline/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/timeline/Timeline.java b/Timeline/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/timeline/Timeline.java
index 479b98cfe0..7503d3147b 100644
--- a/Timeline/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/timeline/Timeline.java
+++ b/Timeline/src/org/sleuthkit/autopsy/timeline/Timeline.java
@@ -41,7 +41,9 @@ import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Scanner;
 import java.util.Stack;
+import java.util.TimeZone;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.prefs.Preferences;
 import javafx.application.Platform;
 import javafx.beans.value.ChangeListener;
 import javafx.beans.value.ObservableValue;
@@ -75,11 +77,11 @@ import org.openide.awt.ActionReference;
 import org.openide.awt.ActionReferences;
 import org.openide.awt.ActionRegistration;
 import org.openide.modules.InstalledFileLocator;
-import org.openide.modules.ModuleInstall;
 import org.openide.nodes.Children;
 import org.openide.nodes.Node;
 import org.openide.util.HelpCtx;
 import org.openide.util.NbBundle;
+import org.openide.util.NbPreferences;
 import org.openide.util.actions.CallableSystemAction;
 import org.openide.util.actions.Presenter;
 import org.openide.util.lookup.Lookups;
@@ -97,6 +99,7 @@ import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.datamodel.DisplayableItemNodeVisitor;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.datamodel.FileNode;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.ingest.IngestManager;
 import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.coreutils.ExecUtil;
+import org.sleuthkit.autopsy.datamodel.ContentUtils;
 import org.sleuthkit.datamodel.AbstractFile;
 import org.sleuthkit.datamodel.SleuthkitCase;
 import org.sleuthkit.datamodel.TskCoreException;
@@ -112,7 +115,7 @@ import org.sleuthkit.datamodel.TskCoreException;
  *
  */
 public class Timeline extends CallableSystemAction implements Presenter.Toolbar, PropertyChangeListener {
-
+ 
     private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(Timeline.class.getName());
     private final java.io.File macRoot = InstalledFileLocator.getDefault().locate("mactime", Timeline.class.getPackage().getName(), false);
     private TimelineFrame mainFrame;          //frame for holding all the elements
@@ -142,12 +145,11 @@ public class Timeline extends CallableSystemAction implements Presenter.Toolbar,
     private EventHandler<MouseEvent> fxMouseExitedListener;
     private SleuthkitCase skCase;
     private boolean fxInited = false;
-
     public Timeline() {
         super();
 
         fxInited = Installer.isJavaFxInited();
-
+       // TimeZone.setDefault(TimeZone.getTimeZone("UTC")); //sets the default timezone to UTC unless otherwise stated
     }
 
     //Swing components and JavafX components don't play super well together
@@ -914,17 +916,35 @@ public class Timeline extends CallableSystemAction implements Presenter.Toolbar,
 
         int prevYear = -1;
         YearEpoch ye = null;
+
         while (scan.hasNextLine()) {
             String[] s = scan.nextLine().split(","); //1999-02-08T11:08:08Z, 78706, m..b, rrwxrwxrwx, 0, 0, 8355, /img...
             
-            // break the date into mon, day and year: Note that the ISO times are in GMT
-            String[] datetime = s[0].split("T"); //{1999-02-08, 11:08:08Z}
-            String[] date = datetime[0].split("-"); // {1999, 02, 08}
+            // break the date into year,month,day,hour,minute, and second: Note that the ISO times are in GMT
+            String delims = "[T:Z\\-]+"; //split by the delimiters
+            String[] date = s[0].split(delims); //{1999,02,08,11,08,08,...}
+   
             int year = Integer.valueOf(date[0]);
             int month = Integer.valueOf(date[1]) - 1; //Months are zero indexed: 1 = February, 6 = July, 11 = December
             int day = Integer.valueOf(date[2]); //Days are 1 indexed
+            int hour=Integer.valueOf(date[3]);
+            int minute=Integer.valueOf(date[4]);
+            int second=Integer.valueOf(date[5]);
+
+            Calendar calendar = Calendar.getInstance(TimeZone.getTimeZone("GMT")); //set calendar to GMT due to ISO format
+            calendar.set(year, month, day, hour, minute, second); 
+            day=calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH); // this is needed or else timezone change wont work. probably incorrect optimization by compiler
+           
+            //conversion to GMT
+                
+            if (!ContentUtils.getDisplayInLocalTime()) {
+               calendar.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone("GMT"));
+            }
+            else{
+                calendar.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getDefault());// local timezone OF the user. should be what the user SETS at startup
+            }
             
-            // get the object id out of the modified outpu
+            day=calendar.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH);//get the day which may be affected by timezone change
             long ObjId = Long.valueOf(s[4]);
 
             // when the year changes, create and add a new YearEpoch object to the list
@@ -961,7 +981,6 @@ public class Timeline extends CallableSystemAction implements Presenter.Toolbar,
         // Get report path
         String bodyFilePath = moduleDir.getAbsolutePath()
                 + java.io.File.separator + currentCase.getName() + "-" + datenotime + ".txt";
-
         // Run query to get all files
         final String filesAndDirs = "name != '.' "
                 + "AND name != '..'";
@@ -1107,7 +1126,7 @@ public class Timeline extends CallableSystemAction implements Presenter.Toolbar,
     public void performAction() {
         initTimeline();
     }
-
+    
     private void initTimeline() {
         if (!Case.existsCurrentCase()) {
             return;