It happens to everyone. You wake up, glance at your wrist to see if you can squeeze in ten more minutes of sleep, and realize your watch says it’s 4:00 AM when the sun is clearly streaming through the window. Or maybe you just flew across three time zones and your step count is resetting at 9:00 PM instead of midnight. It's frustrating. Honestly, for a device that’s supposed to be "smart," failing at being a basic watch feels like a personal betrayal. If you’re staring at your screen wondering how to adjust time and date on Fitbit, the good news is that you don’t actually change the time on the watch itself.
That’s the part that trips people up.
Fitbit devices are essentially "dumb" terminals for your smartphone's clock. They don't have an internal quartz regulator that you set with a tiny crown on the side. They just mirror what the Fitbit app tells them to show. If the time is wrong, it’s almost always a communication breakdown between the app, the cloud, and your Bluetooth connection.
Why the Time Disconnect Happens in the First Place
Most people assume the battery died and the "internal clock" reset. That’s rarely it. Usually, the sync failed. Or, more commonly, you traveled and your phone updated to the local network time, but the Fitbit app is still clinging to your "home" time zone because of a specific toggle in the settings that most people never touch.
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There’s also the "All-Day Sync" issue. To save battery, many users turn this off. If you haven't opened the app in three days, and your phone underwent a software update or a daylight savings shift happened, your watch is going to be stuck in the past. It’s basically living in a time capsule until you force it to acknowledge reality.
The Standard Fix: How to Adjust Time and Date on Fitbit via the App
To fix this, grab your phone. Don't bother poking at the tracker screen; there is no "Set Time" menu on a Charge 6, Sense 2, or Luxe.
Open the Fitbit app. Tap on the Icon in the top-left corner (it’s usually your profile picture or the device icon). From there, you need to head into App Settings. This is where things get specific. Look for Time Zone.
Most of the time, the "Set Automatically" toggle is turned on. Turn it off. Seriously. Toggle it off, manually select a completely different time zone—say, choose London if you're in New York—and then sync your tracker. Once it shows the wrong London time, toggle "Set Automatically" back on and sync again. This "force-refresh" tells the app to ping the global servers and get a fresh timestamp. It’s like tech support telling you to unplug it and plug it back in, but for your temporal reality.
Troubleshooting the Sync Hang-up
Sometimes you do the steps above and... nothing. The watch still says 11:12 when it's 1:45.
Check your Bluetooth. If you have a pair of headphones, a smart speaker, and a car connection all fighting for your phone's attention, the Fitbit often gets pushed to the back of the line. Turn Bluetooth off and back on.
Another culprit? The "Sleep" or "Do Not Disturb" modes on your phone. Some Android skins get aggressive with background data restrictions when these modes are active, preventing the Fitbit app from talking to the internet. If the app can't reach the Fitbit servers, it won't update the time zone data, and your watch stays stuck.
The 12-Hour vs. 24-Hour Clock Headache
Maybe the time is right, but the format is wrong. You wanted 10:00 PM, but it says 22:00. Or maybe you're a nurse or pilot who needs military time and your Fitbit is insistently stuck on AM/PM.
You won't find this in the app.
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This is one of those weird quirks about the Fitbit ecosystem. To change the clock format, you actually have to log into the Fitbit.com web dashboard on a computer or a mobile browser. Go to your profile settings, scroll down to "Personal Info," and find the "Clock Display Time" section. Change it there, save, and then sync your phone app. It’s a convoluted process that feels like it belongs in 2012, but it’s the only way to make the change stick across the entire system.
Dealing with Daylight Savings and Travel
Travel is the ultimate Fitbit killer. If you cross the Atlantic, your phone updates the moment it hits a cell tower. Your Fitbit might not.
If you're wondering how to adjust time and date on Fitbit during travel, the "Automatic Time Zone" setting is your best friend and your worst enemy. If it's on, and it's not working, it’s because the app hasn't "polled" your location recently.
- Ensure Location Services are set to "Always" for the Fitbit app.
- Manually pull down on the app's home screen to trigger a sync.
- If the date is wrong (which happens if you cross the International Date Line), you almost always have to perform a "Long Restart" on the tracker.
For a Charge or Luxe, this involves plugging it into the charging cable and pressing the button on the USB end three times. For a Sense or Versa, hold the side button for 10 seconds until the Fitbit logo appears. This doesn't delete your data, but it does force the hardware to re-index the time and date packets it received from your phone.
When the Time is Right but the Date is Wrong
This is rare, but it’s usually tied to a "stuck" sync session. If your Fitbit thinks it’s Tuesday when it’s Wednesday, your calorie burn and step data are going to be completely messed up. The app will try to attribute today's steps to yesterday's total.
To fix a date error, you must delete the pairing from your phone's Bluetooth settings (choose "Forget This Device") and then re-pair it within the Fitbit app. This resets the handshaking protocol. It feels like a nuclear option, but it’s often the only way to fix a date that has drifted.
Nuance: The Battery Factor
If your Fitbit battery hits 0% and stays there for a few days, the internal buffer that keeps the time runs out of juice. When you finally charge it back up, it will almost certainly show the time it "died."
Don't panic.
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Just sync it. If it won't sync, it’s likely because the "time gap" is too large for the app to reconcile automatically. You might need to move to a different room, away from other electronics, to ensure a "clean" sync.
Specific Steps for Modern Devices (2024-2026 Models)
For those using the Google-integrated versions like the Pixel Watch or the latest Sense models, the process is slightly more streamlined because they lean on Google’s time servers. However, the "Fitbit" side of the software can still lag.
- Sense 2 and Versa 4: Use the "Tiles" refresh. Swipe through your tiles until you hit the weather or news—this often forces a data pull that includes a time check.
- Fitbit Charge 6: This device is notorious for "sync-lock." If the time won't update, go to the Settings app on the watch, scroll to "About," and tap "Restart Device." It’s faster than the cable method.
- Inspire 3: Since this is a budget-friendly tracker, its Bluetooth antenna is a bit weaker. Keep your phone within a foot of the device while attempting to adjust the time settings.
Actionable Steps for a Permanent Fix
If you want to stop your clock from drifting or showing the wrong time ever again, follow this checklist.
First, check your phone's "Battery Optimization" settings. On Android, you need to set the Fitbit app to "Unrestricted." If the OS "kills" the app in the background to save power, the sync stops, and the time drifts.
Second, ensure your "Private DNS" or VPN on your phone isn't blocking Fitbit's servers. Some ad-blockers see the sync pings as "tracking" and cut the connection. If you’re using a VPN, try turning it off for one minute and syncing.
Third, verify your "Location Permissions." Even if you don't care about GPS tracking for your runs, the Fitbit app needs location data to determine which regional time server to ping. Set it to "Allow All The Time."
Finally, if you’ve done everything and the time is still wrong, check for a firmware update. Tap your profile icon, tap your device image, and look for a pink "Update" button. A bug in the firmware can occasionally cause the "Real Time Clock" (RTC) chip to desync from the software. Updating the firmware usually recalibrates this.
Once you’ve toggled the "Automatic Time Zone" off and back on and performed a manual sync, your watch should snap back to the correct minute. If it doesn't, a simple device restart (holding the side button or using the settings menu on the watch) is the final nail in the coffin for time errors.
Log out of the app and log back in if you're really desperate. It clears the cache and forces a brand-new connection to your account's time settings. This usually handles the most stubborn date errors that survive a standard sync.
Next Steps to Secure Your Device
- Verify background data: Go to your phone settings and ensure the Fitbit app has "Background Data" turned on.
- Force a manual sync: Open the app and drag down on the Today screen until the sync bar finishes.
- Check for interference: Move away from high-powered routers or other Bluetooth devices if the sync keeps failing.
- Check the web dashboard: Use a desktop browser to ensure your "Home" time zone is set correctly in your Fitbit profile.
By following these specific maneuvers, you’ll ensure that your tracker isn't just a piece of plastic on your wrist, but a reliable tool that actually knows what day it is.