How to Change the Date and Time on iPhone: Steps & Troubleshooting

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Adjust the date and time on iPhone manually and automatically

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: June 19, 2025 Fact Checked

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Changing the Date and Time

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Troubleshooting

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Video

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Q&A

If your iPhone is displaying the incorrect date and time, fixing it is easy! Whether you're in a different time zone, or the date or time on your phone is not what you want it to be, you can easily change the date and time on an iPhone in your Settings. This wikiHow article will teach you how to manually change the date and time on your iPhone and help you troubleshoot any problems that arise.

Quick Steps

Open your iPhone's Settings.
Go to General > Date & Time.
To set manually, turn off "Set Automatically," then change the date and time.
Enable "Set Automatically" to set the date and time based on your time zone.

Section 1 of 2:

Changing the Date and Time

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Open your iPhone's Settings. From the home screen, tap the Settings icon. The Settings app allows access to your phone's preferences, such as connecting to Wi-Fi, changing an app's behaviors, and setting the date or time.
- You will have the option to change the date manually or have your iPhone automatically sync the date and time based on your location.
It's near the top of the second group of settings.

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The menu option is about halfway down the General menu.^{[1]
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Toggle "Set Automatically" on or off. By default, your iPhone sets the date and time automatically over a Wi-Fi or cellular connection. When this feature is on, you cannot change the date or time manually. If you want to choose a different date or time manually, toggle the switch off.^{[2]
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- If "Set Automatically" is on but your iPhone is showing the wrong date or time, jump down to the Troubleshooting section.
- If you want to set the date and time manually, toggle the switch off and continue with this method.
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Select your time zone. Tap the current time zone value, then type the name of your city (or a nearby city in the same time zone.
- The current date and time in the selected time zone should now appear beneath it.
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Change the date and time if needed. If you want to change the date to something different, tap the current date, then select a new date. You can also tap the current time to input a time manually.
- Once you change the date and time, it will take effect immediately, and you can view the change on your lock screen.
- If you see a message that says there is updated time zone information available, restart your iPhone.^{[3]
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Section 2 of 2:

Troubleshooting

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If your iPhone's date and time aren't updating automatically: Make sure your iPhone can use its current location to determine the time zone. If you want your iPhone to set the date or time based on your location automatically, but it's not working, you may need to change a quick setting:^{[4]
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- Open your iPhone's Settings.
- Tap Privacy & Security.
- Tap Location Services.
- Tap System Services.
- If the toggle next to "Setting Time Zone" is not green, tap to turn it on now.
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If you can't toggle the "Set Automatically" option: There are a few reasons why you may be unable to change the time and date on your iPhone: ^{[5]
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- If your iPhone is managed by someone else, such as a parent or your job's IT department, they may have locked this feature.
- If you set a Screen Time passcode on this iPhone, you can't change your date and time settings.
- You may be unable to change the date and time on your iPhone in certain countries or when using certain carriers.
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If the date or time is missing from your iPhone lock screen: You may have accidentally deleted the date and time widgets from the lock screen. Here's how to get them back:
- Tap and hold the lock screen and select Customize.
- Tap Lock Screen.
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If your iPhone's time changes after connecting it to your Mac: Your Mac may change your iPhone's date or time when you sync your devices. Check your Mac to see if the time is different than what appears on your iPhone. If it is, you can change it:^{[6]
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- On your Mac, click the Apple menu and select System Settings.
- Click General.
- Click Date & Time.
- To set the date and time manually, toggle off "Set date and time automatically," click the Set button, enter a date and time, and then click Set.^{[7]
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- To automatically sync the date and time based on your Mac's location, toggle on the "Set date and time automatically" and "Set time zone automatically" switches.
- The time server "time.apple.net" (or similar) should appear next to "Source." If it doesn't, you can add it now.

Community Q&A

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Question

Can you add your time zone if it is not listed?

Community Answer

Search for the name of your country and when you find it, there will be several cities. Choose yours. if you don't find exactly yours (it happens as there are so many in the world), then press on a city that is close to yours and in the same time zone. Do a web search if you're unsure which city is near yours.

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Question

Time appears at top of my phone but date does not. How do I get it to show up at the top when I turn my phone on?

Community Answer

It is not possible to get the date at the top, it will show when your phone is locked though.

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Question

How do I set the alarm on my iPhone 5C?

Community Answer

Go to Clock and then go down. You will see Alarm. Press on Alarm. In the top right corner, there is this sign +. Press on it and create your alarm.

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