How to Fix It When Your iPhone Time Is Wrong

This article explains what might cause your iPhone to display the incorrect time, and how to fix it.

Why Is My iPhone’s Time Wrong?

There are a few pretty simple reasons why your iPhone might be displaying the incorrect time.

• It could be that Location Services are disabled, preventing your iPhone from automatically adjusting the time when you travel between time zones.
• Your iPhone might be set to the wrong time zone.
• Your automatic date and time settings may not be turned on, which would prevent your iPhone from adjusting the clock during events like Daylight Saving Time.

Apple also recommends making sure that you’ve installed the latest version of iOS.

To allow your iPhone to set the date and time based on your location automatically, you’ll need to make sure Location Services are turned on.

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings.

2. Scroll down and tap Privacy.

3. Tap Location Services at the top of the list.

4. Turn on Location Services. It will allow your iPhone to use the Set Automatically function in your Date & Time settings.

5. If Location Services are already on, but you’re having trouble getting Set Automatically to work, toggle it off and then turn it back on again.

6. When toggling Location Services off, a pop-up will appear notifying you that it will disable the option for all apps. Tap Turn Off.

How Do I Correct the Time on My iPhone?

Fixing the date and time settings on your iPhone is a fairly straightforward process.

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings.

2. Scroll down and tap General.

3. In the General menu, tap Date & Time.

4. If Set Automatically is turned off, tap the toggle to turn it on. It will cause your phone to automatically update the date and time by using a cellular or Wi-Fi connection to determine your location's current date and time.

5. If Set Automatically is turned on, toggle it off and on again. It should cause your iPhone to reset the current date and time to match your location.

6. If Set Automatically is off and you don’t want to turn it on, you can manually set your time zone, the date, and the time instead.

7. Tap Time Zone.

8. Type your current location or the location you want to set your date and time information into the text field at the top of the screen and select the correct location from the results.

9. Tap the date to pull up a calendar menu and select the correct date.

10. Tap the time below the calendar menu to set the current time.

11. Changes will save automatically. You can either tap < General to go back to the previous menu or close the Settings menu.

Why Is My iPhone Calendar in the Wrong Time Zone?

Many of the reasons your iPhone Calendar app might be displaying the wrong time zone are the same reasons your iPhone might be showing the incorrect time. If your iPhone’s date or time settings are wrong, your calendar dates and times will be as well. The Time Zone Override option could also throw off dates and times when it’s turned off; the calendar will adjust the date and time of events to match your current location.

How Do I Correct the Time in My iPhone Calendar?

As the date and time displayed in your iPhone’s Calendar app are tied to your iPhone’s Date & Time settings, you should first attempt to adjust those settings (detailed above). If those don’t solve the problem, you may need to change the calendar itself.

1. Open your iPhone’s Settings.

2. Scroll down and tap Calendar.

3. Scroll down and tap Default Calendar.

4. Ensure your default calendar is the calendar you want to use or is connected to the correct user or account.

5. If the user or account you need isn’t present, tap < Back to return to the previous menu, then scroll up and tap Accounts.

6. Tap Add Account, then tap the kind of account you wish to add from the pop-up menu.

7. Follow the steps outlined on the screen to add the account you require.

8. Exit the Accounts menu and go back to the Default Calendar menu.

9. Select the new user/account as your default.

10. If your calendar is still not showing the correct date or time, you may need to adjust your Time Zone Override settings as well.

11. Go back to the Calendar menu and tap Time Zone Override.

12. Tap the toggle to turn Time Zone Override on or off. If on, it will keep your calendar events and times set to your iPhone’s designated time zone. If off, your calendar events will be automatically adjusted, so it will display dates and times according to your current location’s time zone (i.e., if you travel to a different time zone, event times will adjust to match the new local settings).

13. With Time Zone Override toggled on, tap Time Zone to select the time zone you wish to apply to your calendar events.