How Do You Change Date and Time on Fitbit: Why Your Watch Is Wrong (and How to Fix It)

You’re staring at your wrist, and something is definitely off. It’s 2:00 PM, but your Fitbit is insistently claiming it’s 11:00 AM. Or maybe it’s an entire day behind. Honestly, it’s one of the most frustrating "smart" device glitches because if you can't trust the clock, how are you supposed to trust your step count or sleep data?

Most people assume there is a "Set Time" menu hidden somewhere in the watch settings. There isn't. Fitbit doesn't actually let you manually type in a time. It’s basically a mirror of your phone or your computer. If the mirror is cracked—or in this case, out of sync—the reflection is wrong.

Why Your Fitbit Time Is Wrong in the First Place

Before we get into the "how-to," you’ve gotta understand why this happens. Usually, it’s not a broken sensor.

It’s almost always a sync failure. If your battery died and stayed dead for a few days, the internal clock lost its "heartbeat." When you charged it back up, it just picked up where it left off, like a frozen caveman waking up in a different era. Other times, you’ve crossed a time zone, and your phone updated, but your Fitbit didn't get the memo because Bluetooth was being finicky.

Sometimes, it’s even weirder. There were reports in late 2024 and throughout 2025 of backend server issues where certain regions saw their time zones flip to GMT for no reason. In those cases, the hardware is fine; the "brain" in the cloud is just confused.

How Do You Change Date and Time on Fitbit?

Since there’s no "Time" menu on the device itself, you have to use the Fitbit app. The process is slightly different depending on whether you’ve migrated to a Google account yet or if you’re still on the old Fitbit legacy login.

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The Quick Fix: Force a Sync

The very first thing you should try—literally right now—is a manual sync.

1. Open the Fitbit app on your phone.
2. Ensure your tracker is nearby and Bluetooth is on.
3. On the Today tab, place your finger in the middle of the screen and pull down.
4. You’ll see a little spinning icon at the top.

Wait for it to finish. If the time jumps to the correct hour, you’re done. If not? We have to go deeper into the settings.

Changing the Time Zone Manually

If syncing didn't work, the app likely thinks you are in the wrong time zone. You need to "nudge" it.

1. Tap your Profile Picture or the Gear Icon in the top left of the Fitbit app.
2. Look for App Settings.
3. Tap on Date and Time (sometimes labeled as Date, Time & Units).
4. You’ll see a toggle that says Set Automatically. Turn it OFF.
5. Tap Time Zone and manually pick a city in your actual time zone.
6. Go back to the main screen and Sync Now.

Pro tip: If it was already off, turn it on. If it was on, turn it off. Basically, toggling this setting and then syncing is often enough to "reset" the connection and force the watch to look at the current time.

Using the Web Dashboard

Kinda old school, but you can actually do this on a laptop too. Go to the Fitbit.com dashboard and log in. Click the gear icon, hit Settings, and then Personal Info. Scroll down to the bottom, and you’ll find the Time Zone dropdown. Change it there, hit Submit, and then—you guessed it—sync your watch with your phone.

What About the Date?

You can't change the date separately. It is tied entirely to the time zone and the current time. If your year is 2024 but it’s actually 2026, fixing the time and time zone through the app will automatically drag the date along with it.

Switching to 24-Hour (Military) Time

Maybe your time is accurate, but you just hate the 12-hour format. Or maybe you're a nurse or in the military and need that 24-hour clock.

You’ll find this in the same Date, Time & Units menu under App Settings. There’s a specific toggle for Clock Display Time. Choose "24 Hour" and sync. If it doesn't change immediately, give it a minute. Some older models like the Inspire 2 or Charge 4 take a little longer to update the UI than the newer Sense 2 or Pixel Watch-integrated versions.

When Nothing Works: The "Nuclear" Options

If you’ve synced, toggled time zones, and restarted your phone, but the watch is still living in the past, try these steps in order:

• Restart the Fitbit: For most models, you plug it into the charger and hold the button for about 10 seconds until the logo appears. This doesn't erase your data; it just reboots the OS.
• Logout/Login: Log out of the Fitbit app entirely. Close the app. Open it back up and log back in. This clears the app's temporary cache which might be "stuck" on an old timestamp.
• Unpair Bluetooth: Go into your phone’s Bluetooth settings and "Forget" the Fitbit. Then go back into the Fitbit app and set it up as a "new" device. It sounds scary, but your data is saved in the cloud, so you won't lose your steps.

Actionable Next Steps

Check your phone's own "Date and Time" settings in the main Android or iOS Settings app. If your phone is set to a manual time that is off by even three minutes, your Fitbit will never be correct. Ensure your phone is also set to "Set Automatically."

Once your phone is accurate, open the Fitbit app, go to App Settings, toggle Set Automatically off and then back on, and perform one final manual sync by pulling down on the Today tab. This triple-check method is the most reliable way to ensure your tracker stays on schedule.