Windows 11 Clock Showing the Wrong Time? How to Fix the Time, Date and Time Zone

A clock that is a few minutes slow, an hour ahead or stuck on a date years ago is more than an annoyance. Secure websites, email sign-ins and Windows Update all rely on the correct date. This guide explains how to fix the Windows 11 clock showing the wrong time, from the two-click settings fix to time zones, manual syncing, the Windows Time service and the small motherboard battery that keeps time while the PC is off.

This is an independent guide, not affiliated with Microsoft. Steps are for Windows 11; Windows 10 menus are almost the same.

Read the symptom first

How the clock is wrong tells you where to look:

Symptom	Most likely cause
Off by exactly 1 hour, or several whole hours	Wrong time zone or daylight saving setting
Off by a few minutes and slowly drifting	Not syncing with an internet time server
Resets to an old date after every shutdown or unplugging	Dead CMOS battery on the motherboard
Changes back after you fix it	Automatic time zone picking the wrong location, or another operating system on the same PC

Fix 1: Turn on automatic time and time zone

1. Right-click the clock at the bottom right of the taskbar and choose Adjust date and time, or open Settings > Time & language > Date & time.
2. Turn on Set time automatically.
3. Turn on Set time zone automatically. If that option is greyed out or picks the wrong zone, turn it off and choose your zone from the Time zone list instead (for example, (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)).
4. Make sure Adjust for daylight saving time automatically is on if your area changes its clocks. Most of the US and Canada do; some areas, such as most of Arizona and most of Saskatchewan, do not, and the correct Windows time zone for those areas already accounts for that.

Automatic time zone relies on location services. If you have location turned off in Settings > Privacy & security > Location, Windows cannot detect the zone, so set it manually.

Fix 2: Sync the clock now

On the same Date & time page, under Additional settings, select Sync now. Windows contacts its time server (time.windows.com by default) and corrects the clock. You should see a “last successful time synchronization” message with today’s date. If the sync fails, check that you are online; a PC with no working internet cannot sync. See Wi-Fi connected but no internet if that is the problem.

If the sync keeps failing on a network that blocks the default server, you can choose another server: open Control Panel > Clock and Region > Date and Time > Internet Time > Change settings and pick a different server from the list, such as time.nist.gov, which is run by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Fix 3: Restart the Windows Time service

The Windows Time service does the syncing in the background. If it has stopped, automatic time quietly fails.

1. Press Windows key + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
2. Find Windows Time in the list and double-click it.
3. Set Startup type to Automatic, select Start if it is stopped, then OK.
4. Go back to Date & time settings and select Sync now.

Advanced users can also open Terminal as administrator and run w32tm /resync to force a sync, or w32tm /query /status to see when the last sync happened. Microsoft documents these commands in its Windows Time service reference.

Fix 4: Replace the CMOS battery

Every PC has a small clock on the motherboard that keeps running while the computer is switched off, powered by a coin-shaped battery (often a CR2032 on desktops). These batteries last years, but when one goes flat you will see:

• the date jumping back to an old date after every shutdown or power cut,
• BIOS settings resetting, sometimes with a startup message about the CMOS checksum or time not being set,
• the clock correcting itself only after Windows has synced online.

On most desktop PCs, replacing it takes a few minutes: unplug the PC, open the side panel, pop out the coin cell and insert a new one of the same type, then set the date and time in the BIOS or let Windows sync. On laptops the battery is often hidden or wired in, so a repair shop is the safer choice. Our guides to a computer that won’t turn on and laptop battery health cover related hardware checks; note that the CMOS cell is separate from the main laptop battery.

Fix 5: Check for programs and settings that change the clock

Some older games with anti-cheat tools, trial-extending utilities and “time changer” apps alter the system clock on purpose, and a few remote-management or school tools enforce their own time settings. If the clock goes wrong only after a particular program runs, uninstall it and sync again; our guide to removing stubborn programs helps if it will not leave.

On a work or school PC, the organization’s network usually sets the time. If it is wrong there, tell the IT department rather than changing settings yourself, because the time server is managed centrally.

Fix 6: Dual-boot with Linux

If you also run Linux on the same computer, each system may interpret the hardware clock differently: Windows reads it as local time, while Linux normally treats it as UTC. Every switch shifts the time by your UTC offset. The common fix is to tell Linux to keep the hardware clock in local time; check your Linux distribution’s documentation for the exact command.

Why it matters: certificate and sign-in errors

Website security certificates are valid only between two dates. If your PC thinks it is a different year, browsers show warnings such as “Your connection is not private” or NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID, and apps that sign you in with time-based codes can fail. If you have been fighting these errors, fix the clock first, then revisit your connection is not private. Two-step verification codes from authenticator apps also depend on the time being accurate on your phone, as explained in our two-factor authentication guide.

On a Mac, phone or Chromebook

• Mac: Apple menu > System Settings > General > Date & Time, then turn on Set time and date automatically and Set time zone automatically using your current location.
• iPhone: Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically.
• Android: Settings > System > Date & time, and turn on automatic date and time (the exact names vary by maker).
• Chromebook: open Settings and search for time zone (the Date and time section has moved between ChromeOS versions); ChromeOS sets the time itself once connected.

If none of this holds the correct time, the cause is almost always hardware (the CMOS battery) or a third-party program that changes the clock. More Windows fixes are in the Windows section.