Windows 10: Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Windows 10

How to: Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Windows 10

How to Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Windows 10


Your PC's clock is used to record the time whenever you create or modify files on your PC. You can change the clock's time zone[/b].

You can synchronize your PC's clock with an Internet time server. This means that the clock on your PC is updated to match the clock on the time server, which can help ensure that the clock's time on your PC is accurate. Your clock is typically automatically updated once a week and needs to be connected to the Internet for the synchronization to occur.

See also: Configuring Systems for High Accuracy | Microsoft Docs

This tutorial will show you how to manually synchronize your PC's clock with an Internet time server for all users in Windows 10.

*Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to synchronize the PC's clock.

*note If your PC is on a domain, you can't synchronize your clock with an Internet time server using Option One. Your clock will automatically synchronize with the domain controller instead. You will still be able to use Option Two to manually sync with your domain controller at any time.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Internet Time Settings
• Option Two: To Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Command Prompt
• Option Three: To Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Settings

OPTION ONE [/i] To Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Internet Time Settings
1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Date and Time icon.

2. Click/tap on the Internet Time tab, and click/tap on the Change settings button. (see screenshot below)

*note This will also show you the date and time of when your clock was last successfully synchronized with the name of the Internet server used.

If your PC is on a domain, then you will not have an Internet Time tab. See the note box at the top of the tutorial.



3. If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.

4. Check the Synchronize with an Internet time server box, select a time server, and click/tap on Update now. (see screenshot below)

*note If you like, you can type a name of an Internet time server from the list at the Microsoft link below to use instead.

A list of the Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) time servers that are available on the Internet



5. If an error occurred, then click/tap on Update now again to see if it may successfully synchronize now. (see screenshot below)

*note If you PC's date[/b] is set incorrectly by too much, it can cause an error when trying to synchronize your clock.



6. When the clock is successfully synchronized, click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 4)

7. Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 2)





OPTION TWO [/i] To Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Command Prompt
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. In the elevated command prompt, type the command below depending on if you are on a domain or not, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
(Use if not joined to domain)
*Arrow w32tm /resync


(Use if joined to domain)
*Arrow net time /domain





*note If you get a The service has not been started. (0x80070426) error, then it means that you need to start the Windows Time service using the net start w32time command, and try again.

If you get a The computer did not resync because no time data was available error, then you should be able to try again until successful.




3. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.





OPTION THREE [/i] To Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Settings

*note This option is only available starting with Windows 10 build 18290.
1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Time & Language icon.

2. Click/tap on Date & time on the left side, and click/tap on the Sync now button under Synchronize your clock on the right side. (see screenshot below)

*note You will see the last time that time was successfully synced, and the address of your current time server.





That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Change Internet Time Server in Windows
• How to Add and Remove Internet Time Servers in Windows
• How to Change the Time in Windows 10
• How to Change the Date in Windows 10
• How to Change the Time Zone in Windows 10
• How to Change Taskbar Clock to 12 hour or 24 hour Format in Windows 10
• How to Hide or Show Seconds on Taskbar Clock in Windows 10
• How to Create a Sync Clock Time shortcut in Windows 10

:)

 

Internet time sync issue.

Clock - Synchronize with Internet Time Server in Windows 10

Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Windows 10

try it.

 

[Solved?] Both the PCs in my House Changed Time by 1 hour

This morning as well. It got fixed after turning off DST and restarting twice.

Try setting automatically update time from a server, you can use Microsoft server or a different server.

Check: How to Synchronize Clock with an Internet Time Server in Windows 10.

 

Hello mmo, *Smile

Are you joined to a domain? If so, that is why. Computers that are on a domain sync their time with the domain controller.

If you like, you could use the domain command in OPTION TWO.

 

done command line so far so good see how long will last
Thanks for help
But clock still freezes will look for problem just not going right after some time

 

Nope - only in my local WRKGROUP.

 

Hey Brink

Just passing by to say that I face "difficulties" with Windows Clock synchronization, as well. Initially, on my main OS (Windows 10 Pro build 10586.71), I had the clock left on its default settings. From time to time I went and tried to sync manually but I had to try twice or thrice for my computer clock to synchronize with the time servers Windows 10 provides by default.

I then went and set it to synchronize every 24 hours instead of the X number of days it takes by default. I changed the number of seconds, you know what I mean. Well...it does not work and I do not know why. Then I went on and added a couple more time servers, following a tutorial from Vista forums. The newly added time servers work, so the clock synchronizes more easily but still it does not do it 24 hours after the last synchronization, as I have set it up to. So, now I synchronize the time manually.

Any ideas what I could try?

Thank you.

 

As a test, disable and enable your network adapter to see if that may be able to toggle it.

 

Hello Joanne, *Smile

I assume that the tutorial below is the one you used to set the sync interval.

Internet Time Synchronization Update Interval

If your time is always off, then you might also check your BIOS/UEFI time to see if it's set correctly, and if the CMOS battery on the motherboard may be weak or dead.

 

Thank you for the link from that tutorial, Brink, because I haven't saved it. I went and set the SpecialPollInterval to 6 hours now (21600 seconds) in order to test that the synchronization actually works (happens).

My computer's clock is off by 3-4 seconds maximum. I compare it with a radio controlled digital clock I have on my wall. Should I worry about 3-4 seconds, you think? My ASRock Z97 OC Formula is a bit more than a year old but I can get a new CMOS battery, if necessary.

Thank you.

PS: Oh, by the way! From where can I see the last time the clock was synchronized? Can I see this, somewhere?

EDIT
This is what I have found in my Task Scheduler, right now :





What does this mean?
Why was my clock last synchronized on January 28, 2016 when I have set it to sync every 24 hours?

 

I wouldn't worry about 3-4 seconds. It should correct itself when it does automatically sync.

Your CMOS battery is fine then. If it was dead or weak, your time will off by a lot more, and will happen every time you turned of the power to the PC.

You can see the last run time of the "Time Synchronization" task in Task Scheduler to see when it was synced last.





EDIT: LOL, you read my mind. *Wink

 

So, Brink, according to my screenshot above even though I've set it to sync every 24 hours it ignores me?
And if it does, which sucks, is this the only solution?

 

It would be worth a try, but a few seconds is not going to hurt anything since it should eventually auto sync before the time gets to out of sync.

 

Well, I made it work and I'm really glad for this! *Smile

(I suppose it is obvious that I am NOT doing all this for the 2-3 seconds my clock was out of sync - IF it actually was - but for the possibility to set MY OWN sync time interval).

The solution was simple: I changed the Status of the Windows Time Service, W32Time, from Manual to Automatic. Then I set the SpecialPollInterval value to 360 seconds (6 minutes) just for testing purposes. It works perfectly!







Between these 6 minutes I have changed my System Time, both the hour, the minutes and the seconds to various values, without rebooting. Like 2 hours + X min + Y seconds ahead. After 6 minutes it synchronized to the correct time *Smile

Before doing this simple task - changing the Status of the Service - I played a bit with the default SynchronizeTime task in the Task Scheduler, and also tried to create my own Time_Sync task. Nothing worked. The only thing that worked - after restoring the default SynchronizeTime at its default state, was the setting of W32Time to Automatic (so now it runs all the time - I think).

Anyway, I'm really glad about this. I will now change the SpecialPollInterval to 86400 seconds = 24 hours, and keep an eye on this.

Thank you!

EDIT: One thing I've observed, after all this, is that now my clock synchronizes each time I reboot. I don't know if this has something to do with the fact that I've "played" a bit with the default SynchronizeTime task in the Task Scheduler, I do not mind at all however. It does keep the interval set in the Registry, though, six hours in this example:





So, now it is like this: if I reboot the clock syncs right way. If I won't, it will sync 6 hours after the initial synchronization.

*Smile

 

Great news Joanne. *Party