Ipad date and time Set Automatically not working

If your iPhone is showing wrong Time and Date, the problem in most cases can be fixed by modifying Date & Time Settings on your device.

iPhone Showing Incorrect Time and Date

If you are travelling accross time zones and find iPhone Showing Incorrect Time, the problem is mostly due to your device not being setup to automatically correct its Time & Date.

If you are not travelling and still find iPhone showing wrong or incorrect Time, the problem could be due to iPhone obtaining Date & Time from incorrect Carrier settings.

Apart from this, iPhone is known to display incorrect Time & Date, if it is left unused for a long time and also if its battery has run down.

1. Allow iPhone to Automatically Set Date & Time

As mentioned above, iPhone can end up showing incorrect Time, if you are travelling and happen to cross over to a different time zone.

The solution in this case is to allow iPhone to automatically Set its Date & Time by contacting Apple Servers.

Go to Settings > General > Date & Time > move the toggle next to Set Automatically to ON position.

After Enabling Set Automatically option, make sure your iPhone is showing the right Time next to Time Zone entry.

2. Enable Location Services For Setting Time Zone

The most common reason for iPhone indicating incorrect Time or Date is due to Location Services being disabled. If you are travelling, you need to make sure that Location Services is enabled on your device.

Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services > move the toggle next to Location Services to ON position.

On the same screen, scroll down and tap on System Services.

On System Services screen, make sure Setting Time Zone option is enabled.

Once the option for Setting Time Zone is enabled, your iPhone should be able to automatically switch to the right time and show the correct Date & Time.

3. Manually Correct Date and Time On iPhone

Sometimes, iPhone may indicate wrong Time & Date, even if ‘Set Automatically’ option is enabled. In such a case, you will have to Manually Correct the Time, Date and the Time Zone.

Go to Settings > General > Date & Time > On the next screen, disable Set Automatically option.

After disabling ‘Set Automatically’ option, tap on the Time Field to set correct Time and correct the Date by tapping on the Date field.

4. Reset Network Settings

Note down the Name and Password of your WiFi Network and follow the steps below to Reset Network Settings on iPhone to Factory Default Settings.

Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > On the pop-up, select Reset Network Settings option.

If prompted, enter your Lock Screen Password > On the confirmation pop-up, tap on Reset Network Settings to confirm.

After iPhone restarts, connect iPhone to WiFi Network by entring your WiFi Network Password and see if it is now indicating the right Time & Date.

Can’t change the time on your iPhone? Some users are finding the ‘Set Automatically’ option for their iPhone’s Date & Time is grayed out and, therefore, inaccessible. This happens for a number of reasons, which we’ll discuss below.

Typically an iOS device uses its location to automatically set the clock to the appropriate time zone. However, there are plenty of reasons you might not want it to do so: changing the time zone to a few hours early, making your clock fast to avoid being late, or maintaining a constant time on your device regardless of location.

Whatever the reason, you need to be able to turn off the Set Automatically option in your Date & Time settings. And, if it’s grayed out or can’t be turned off, try out the troubleshooting tips in this post to fix it.

Related:

• There’s a widespread time zone bug in iOS 11 & iOS 12 — Here’s what you need to know
• iPhone 5’s time and date not working properly, showing wrong time
• iPhone Searching or No Service, how-to fix

Contents

• How do you change the time in iOS?
• Check Screen Time’s share setting
  • Turn off Screen Time’s share across devices feature
• Turn off your Screen Time passcode
  • How to turn off the Screen Time passcode:
  • Or turn off Screen Time altogther
• Change your Location Services.
  • How to turn off the automatic time zone locations in iOS:
• Check your carrier settings.
  • How to update carrier settings on iOS:
• Restart or restore your iPhone.

How do you change the time in iOS?

You should be able to change the date and time on your device by going to Settings > General > Date & Time.

Ideally, you’d be able to turn off the Set Automatically button and manually input your preferred date and time. Of course, if you were able to turn off the button you wouldn’t be reading this post in the first place. 

Make sure you return to this page in your iPhone settings after each troubleshooting step below to find out if you’ve fixed the problem.

Check Screen Time’s share setting

When you share screen time information across device, iOS and iPadOS lock your device’s Date & Time settings so you get accurate reporting of your time on all your device’s screen.

When you turn on Share Across Devices in Screen Time that this grays out the Set Automatically option for your device’s Date & Time.

So try turning this off, and see if you can now adjust your date and time settings.

Turn off Screen Time’s share across devices feature

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time
2. Scroll down to Share Across Devices and toggle it off
   
   
3. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time
4. Confirm you can toggle Set Automatically on or off and that it’s not grayed out

Turning Screen Time off also accomplishes this task.

Turn off your Screen Time passcode

Screen Time was introduced in iOS 12 and allows you to restrict app usage based on certain times of the day. It’s great not just for personal productivity, but also to control the technology use of children.

If Screen Time has been turned on with a passcode — recommended if kids are about — then it’ll block you from being able to turn off the automatic date and time setting. This stops clever miscreants from simply changing the time whenever they want to bypass the Screen Time restrictions.

You can remedy it by turning off your Screen Time passcode, making any date and time changes you want, then turning the passcode back on again.

How to turn off the Screen Time passcode:

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time
2. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode
3. Then tap Turn Off Screen Time Passcode
4. Enter your Screen Time Passcode

Or turn off Screen Time altogther

Another option is to temporarily turn off Screen Time and see if you can now toggle Set Automatically on or off.

How to turn off the Screen Time

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time
2. Scroll down and tap Turn off Screen Time
   
   
3. Enter your Screen Time passcode
4. Check Settings > General > Date & Time and see if you can now toggle Set Automatically 

Don’t know or remember your Screen Time passcode?

Change your Location Services.

Your iPhone uses its location to find the right time zone. The first thing to do is turn this feature off in Location Services to see if that lets you manually change the time.

How to turn off the automatic time zone locations in iOS:

1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services
2. Scroll to System Services
3. Turn off the Setting Time Zone button

Be sure to turn the Setting Time Zone button back on if you want your iPhone to be able to automatically set the date and time in the future.

Check your carrier settings.

Some mobile carriers don’t allow you to turn off the automatic date and time settings on your device. You’ll first want to update your carrier settings and then contact your carrier directly to find out.

How to update carrier settings on iOS:

1. Go to Settings > General > About
2. Wait 30 seconds, allowing your device to check for an update
3. That’s it! If nothing happens you’re already up-to-date

If a carrier settings update doesn’t help matters you could call your carrier directly. They’ll be able to tell you if their policy allows you to manually set the date and time.

Restart or restore your iPhone.

If you’ve gotten this far with no other solution it’s likely that a software error is causing the problem. 

Perform a simple restart on your device by holding the power button until you’re prompted to slide across the screen to power off. Wait 10 seconds before powering on again.

Once the iPhone has restarted return to the settings to see if ‘Set Automatically’ is grayed out still. If so, it’s time for a restore.

A restore will return your device to factory settings, so you’ll want to make a backup on iCloud or iTunes first. Once you’ve done that, restore your device using the instructions below and then recover all your data from the backup.

How to factory reset an iPhone:

1. Go to Settings > General > Reset
2. Choose to Erase All Content and Settings
3. Enter your Apple ID and passcode when prompted

It’s about time we got all that sorted. If you found the help you need, please let us know in the comments below. 

Dan Helyer( Senior Writer )

Dan writes tutorials and troubleshooting guides to help people make the most of their technology. Before becoming a writer, he earned a BSc in Sound Technology, supervised repairs at an Apple Store, and even taught English in China.

Why can't I set my Date and time automatically?

Why is my automatic Date and time wrong iPhone?

How do I set the time on my iPad automatically?

Why is my phone not changing time zones automatically?