You’re staring at your screen and the numbers just aren't right. Maybe you traveled across three time zones and your laptop is still living in the past, or perhaps you’re trying to trick a software trial (we see you). Whatever the reason, figuring out how do i change the date on your hardware isn't always as simple as clicking a button and typing in a new number. If you mess it up, your security certificates might fail, your emails will look like they’re from the future, and your browser might just stop working entirely because it thinks the internet's security handshake is invalid. It's a mess.
Technology is supposed to be smart. Most of the time, your phone or computer uses something called Network Time Protocol (NTP). This basically means your device pings a server—often owned by Apple, Google, or Microsoft—and asks, "Hey, what time is it?" The server responds, and your device adjusts itself. But sometimes, that handshake fails. Or maybe you have a specific reason to manually override the "truth" of the current calendar.
Why Your Clock Is Wrong in the First Place
Before you go clicking through settings, it's worth asking why the date changed. If you’re on a desktop computer that’s a few years old and the date keeps resetting to January 1, 2000, every time you unplug it, your CMOS battery is dying. That’s a tiny CR2032 coin cell on your motherboard. It keeps the clock running even when the power is off. No amount of software toggling will fix a dead battery.
On phones, it's usually a carrier issue. Your phone grabs time from the local cell tower. If that tower is misconfigured or you're right on the edge of a time zone boundary, your phone might "jump" back and forth an hour. It’s incredibly annoying.
How Do I Change the Date on Windows 11 and 10?
Windows hides these settings better than it used to. Back in the day, you just double-clicked the clock. Now, Microsoft wants you to use the "Settings" app, which feels a bit more clinical.
- Right-click the date and time on the far right of your Taskbar.
- Select Adjust date and time.
- You’ll see a toggle that says "Set time automatically." Turn that Off. If it's on, the manual change button stays greyed out and useless.
- Look for "Set the date and time manually" and hit the Change button.
- Pick your day. Hit Change again.
But here is the kicker: if you change the date to something wildly incorrect, like three years in the past, Google Chrome will likely throw a "Your connection is not private" error. This happens because SSL certificates (the stuff that makes websites secure) have an expiration date. If your computer thinks it’s 2019, it thinks a 2026 certificate hasn't been issued yet. It’s a safety feature, but it makes manual date changes a huge pain for actual browsing.
What about the BIOS?
If you're a real power user, you might want to change the date at the hardware level. You restart the PC, mash the Delete or F2 key, and enter the BIOS or UEFI. This is the "soul" of the machine. Changing the date here is the most permanent way to do it because it happens before the operating system even loads. It’s useful if you’re installing an old operating system that refuses to boot on "modern" dates.
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Moving the Calendar on macOS
Apple makes it slightly prettier, but the logic is identical. You head to the Apple Menu, hit System Settings (or System Preferences on older Macs), and find General > Date & Time.
You’ll probably see a padlock icon or a prompt for your Touch ID. Apple is protective of these settings. Once you unlock it, you toggle off "Set date and time automatically." Then you can just click the date on the little calendar and move it wherever you want.
Honestly, Mac users rarely have to do this unless they are developers testing time-sensitive code. If you’re a coder trying to see how your app handles a Leap Year, this is your home. Just remember to turn the "Set automatically" toggle back on immediately after. Apple's iCloud services, like iMessage and FaceTime, are notoriously grumpy about incorrect dates. If you're even a few minutes off, you might stop receiving texts.
The iPhone and Android Struggle
Most people asking how do i change the date are doing it on a mobile device. Maybe for a game like Candy Crush to get more lives (the "time travel" trick) or just because the auto-sync is trippng out.
On an iPhone:
- Open Settings.
- Tap General.
- Tap Date & Time.
- Switch off Set Automatically.
- Tap the blue date and time to bring up the selector.
On Android:
The path varies because every manufacturer (Samsung, Google, OnePlus) likes to move things around. Generally:
- Settings > System > Date & time.
- Or Settings > General Management > Date and time.
- Turn off Use network-provided time.
A weird thing about Android: some apps will actually detect that you’ve manually changed the time and block you from using them. Banking apps are particularly sensitive to this for security reasons. They don't want someone "faking" a transaction timestamp.
When the "Change" Doesn't Stick
Sometimes you change the date, hit save, and it just jumps back. This is usually a background service fighting you.
On Linux, for instance, a service called timedatectl or ntpd might be running. You can try to change it in the GUI all day, but the terminal will just override you. You have to open the command line and type sudo timedatectl set-ntp false before your manual changes will actually stay put.
If you are on a work computer, you might be out of luck. Network administrators often use "Group Policy" to lock the clock. Why? Because Active Directory—the system that lets you log into your office computer—relies on Kerberos authentication. Kerberos is extremely picky. If your computer's clock is more than five minutes different from the server's clock, you won't be able to log in at all. The server assumes someone is trying to perform a "replay attack" by using old credentials.
Digital Cameras and Specialized Gear
Let’s talk about the stuff people forget: DSLRs and GoPros. These don't usually have Wi-Fi sync (or it’s flaky). If you go to Japan and forget to change the date in your camera settings, all 2,000 of your photos will have the wrong metadata.
Fixing this after the fact is a nightmare. You have to use "Exif" editors like Adobe Bridge or specialized command-line tools like ExifTool. It is much easier to spend the thirty seconds in the camera's "Setup" menu before you start shooting.
Dealing with the "Time Zone" vs "Date" Confusion
Often, people think they need to change the date when they actually just need to change the time zone. If the day is right but the hour is off, check the UTC offset.
The world is divided into slices. London is at UTC+0. New York is UTC-5. If your computer thinks it is in London but you are in New York, the time will be five hours fast. Changing the time manually while keeping the wrong zone is a recipe for disaster. Your calendar invites will be sent at the wrong time for everyone else. Always set the Zone first, then see if the date and time fix themselves.
The Risks of Faking the Date
We should be real for a second. Changing your date to "time travel" in games or software can have consequences.
- Cloud Sync Corruption: If you change the date, save a file to Dropbox or iCloud, and then change the date back, the "version history" gets incredibly confused. You might overwrite a newer file with an older one because the system thinks the old one is "from the future."
- Browser Errors: As mentioned, the internet basically breaks.
- App Bans: Some online-only games view manual date changes as cheating and will flag your account.
Actionable Steps for a Clean Reset
If you’ve messed with your date and things are acting weird, follow this "Clean Reset" protocol to get back to normal:
- Turn on Auto-Sync: Go back into your settings and toggle "Set time automatically" (or "Use network-provided time") back to On.
- Force a Sync: On Windows, in the Date & Time settings, there is a button that says Sync now. Click it. This forces the computer to talk to the
time.windows.comserver immediately. - Check Your Region: Make sure your "Region" or "Country" settings match your actual location. This affects how dates are formatted (MM/DD/YYYY vs DD/MM/YYYY).
- Restart the Device: It sounds cliché, but many background services only check the system time upon startup. A quick reboot clears the "time cache."
- Check the CMOS: If you are on a PC and the time is wrong every single morning, buy a CR2032 battery and swap it out. It’s a five-dollar fix that saves hours of frustration.
Most of the time, the answer to how do i change the date is just a few taps deep in your settings menu, but the implications of that change ripple through every piece of software you own. Change it, do what you need to do, and then let the internet's atomic clocks take back control as soon as possible.