How to Change the Time and Date on iPhone

A wrong iPhone clock, or one you want set differently on purpose, is fixed on one screen: Settings > General > Date & Time. Leave Set Time Automatically on and the iPhone keeps time by itself, or turn it off to pick the date, time and time zone by hand. If that switch is gray and won’t move, a Screen Time passcode or a work or school device profile is the usual cause.

Automatic or manual: which one you want

Picking the right mode first saves you from changing the clock twice.

Your situation	Best choice	Why
The clock is a few minutes or an hour off	Automatic	The iPhone gets the correct time from the network, so there’s nothing to type.
You travel across time zones	Automatic	The time zone follows your location once Location Services can see where you are.
You like your clock set a few minutes fast	Manual	Automatic time always snaps back to the real time.
You need to check how something looks on a future or past date	Manual (briefly)	Switch back to automatic as soon as you’re done.
Location Services is off and you don’t want to turn it on	Manual time zone	Automatic time zone uses your location, so without it you pick the zone yourself.

Automatic time also takes care of daylight saving time changes. If you’re curious how that works, see whether the iPhone clock updates for daylight saving time.

Turn on automatic time and date

Use this if the clock drifts, shows the wrong day, or an app says your device time is off.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap Date & Time.
4. Turn on Set Time Automatically. If you also see Set Time Zone Automatically, turn that on too so the zone follows your location.
5. Check the clock in the status bar. With a cellular or Wi-Fi connection it should show the correct local time within a moment.

On older versions of iOS the same screen has a single switch called Set Automatically that handles both the time and the time zone. Turning it on does the same job.

Apple notes that the option to turn automatic time on or off might not be available with every carrier or in every country or region, so on some phones you may not be able to change it at all.

Set the date and time yourself

Changing the clock by hand is the way to go when you deliberately want a different time. Keep in mind that a manual clock doesn’t adjust when you travel or when daylight saving time starts or ends.

1. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time.
2. Turn off Set Time Automatically (or Set Automatically on older iOS versions). New rows for the time zone, date and time become available.
3. Tap the date and time to open the controls, then choose the new date and the new hour and minute.
4. Check AM or PM if you use the 12-hour clock. If the clock shows the wrong half of the day, alarms will ring 12 hours off from the real time.
5. Go back when you’re done; the new time shows in the status bar.

After a big change, open the Clock app and make sure your alarms still make sense. If an alarm stays silent afterward, these fixes for an iPhone alarm that isn’t working are a good next stop.

A warning: Apple says that changing the time by hand to alter how an app behaves, such as skipping a game timer, isn’t recommended.

Change only the time zone

1. Open Settings > General > Date & Time.
2. Turn off Set Time Zone Automatically.
3. Tap Time Zone City, then search for a city in the zone you need and tap it.
4. If you’d rather pick an offset than a city, tap Set By, tap Time Zone Offset, then tap the plus or minus button until the offset is right.

On versions of iOS with the single Set Automatically switch, turn that off and tap Time Zone to search for a city instead. If you only want to keep an eye on another city’s time, a clock widget may be simpler than changing the zone: here’s how to change the World Clock widget city.

Switch between 12-hour and 24-hour time

The same screen has a 24-Hour Time switch. Turn it on to show 15:30 instead of 3:30 PM, or off to go back. It changes how the time is displayed, not the time itself, and it works whether the clock is automatic or manual. An Apple Watch has its own setting for this; see how to turn the 24-hour clock on or off on an Apple Watch.

If the switch is grayed out

A dimmed switch that won’t move usually has one of three causes, according to Apple’s article on date and time settings:

• A Screen Time passcode is set. Apple says a Screen Time passcode can dim the setting. If it’s your iPhone, you can change or remove that passcode in Screen Time and then try again; this walkthrough on setting a Screen Time passcode shows where it lives. If a parent or guardian set it, they’ll need to make the change.
• The iPhone is managed by a school or employer. A corporate profile with device restrictions can lock the setting. Only the organization that manages the phone can change that.
• Your carrier or region doesn’t offer the choice. In some places the option isn’t available, so the switch can’t be changed from the phone.

If the time or time zone is still wrong

If automatic time is on but the clock or zone is off, work through these checks in order.

1. Turn on Setting Time Zone. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services, scroll to the bottom, tap System Services, and turn on Setting Time Zone. Without it, the iPhone can’t use your location to pick the zone. Location Services itself also needs to be on; here’s what happens if you turn off Location Services.
2. Restart the iPhone. If you see a message saying updated time zone information is available, Apple’s fix is to restart your iPhone and any paired Apple Watch.
3. Toggle the switch. Turn Set Time Automatically off, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on.
4. Update iOS. Go to Settings > General > Software Update and install any available update, since Apple lists this as a step for date and time problems.
5. Check your connection. Automatic time needs cellular service or Wi-Fi. If the phone has trouble connecting in general, resetting the iPhone’s network settings can help, but it also erases saved Wi-Fi passwords.

Going back to automatic after a manual change

A manual clock is easy to forget. When you’re done testing, back home, or tired of the fast clock, return to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn Set Time Automatically (and Set Time Zone Automatically) back on. The clock corrects itself, and future daylight saving changes and time zone moves happen without you.

The steps are the same on every iPhone running current versions of iOS, and an iPad uses the same Settings path.

iPhone time and date: more answers

I can’t find Date & Time in Settings. Where is it?

It sits inside General, not on the main Settings list. You can also type “Date” into the search field in Settings to jump straight to it.

Will a manual time change mess up my messages or photos?

Items you create while the clock is wrong can carry the wrong date or time, so switch back to automatic when you’re done.

Why does my iPhone show the right time but the wrong time zone after a flight?

The time zone comes from your location. If Setting Time Zone in System Services is off, or the phone hasn’t had a signal since landing, the zone can lag behind. Turn that setting on and give the phone a minute with service.

More iPhone settings worth knowing: what Hide Alerts means for a text conversation, what the lock with a circle around it means, how to turn off the iPhone lock sound and how to turn off the camera flash. If you’re cleaning up your phone, you can also delete playlists in the Music app or try these options for freeing up iPhone storage.

For Apple’s own reference, the iPhone User Guide page on changing the date and time lists the same switches.