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How to Fix Windows Clock Time Wrong or Out of Sync on Windows

Windows clock showing wrong time, drifting after restart, or refusing to sync with time servers? Fix time synchronization, timezone issues, and CMOS battery problems.

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Main Troubleshooting Guide

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Complete symptoms, causes, and step-by-step solutions

Symptoms

You might be experiencing this problem if you notice:

  • •Clock shows wrong time after every restart
  • •Time drifts by several minutes over hours
  • •Windows Time service fails to sync
  • •"Time synchronization failed" error in Settings
  • •Timezone resets to wrong region
  • •Dual-boot systems always show wrong time in Windows

Common Causes

  • âš CMOS battery dead or weak on motherboard
  • âš Windows Time service (W32Time) not running
  • âš Firewall blocking NTP port 123 (UDP)
  • âš Incorrect timezone or daylight saving setting
  • âš Dual-boot with Linux using different time standard (UTC vs local)
  • âš Corporate Group Policy overriding time server

Solutions

Solution 1: Force Time Sync

  1. 1Go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time
  2. 2Toggle "Set time automatically" OFF then ON
  3. 3Click "Sync now" under "Additional settings"
  4. 4If sync fails: open Admin CMD and run: w32tm /resync /force
  5. 5Verify the time server: w32tm /query /peers
  6. 6Default server should be time.windows.com

Solution 2: Fix Windows Time Service

  1. 1Open services.msc
  2. 2Find "Windows Time" service
  3. 3Set Startup type to "Automatic"
  4. 4Click Start if it is not running
  5. 5If it won't start: open Admin CMD
  6. 6Run: w32tm /unregister then w32tm /register
  7. 7Then: net start w32time

Solution 3: Fix Dual-Boot Time Issue

  1. 1If dual-booting with Linux, Windows reads hardware clock as local time but Linux uses UTC
  2. 2Fix in Windows: open Admin CMD
  3. 3Run: reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation" /v RealTimeIsUniversal /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
  4. 4This tells Windows to treat the hardware clock as UTC
  5. 5Restart your computer
  6. 6If the clock is still wrong: replace the CMOS battery on the motherboard (CR2032)
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