# Windows 10 time synchronization failed



## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

I have set the time service to automatic, restarted the PC but it didn't help.

How can I fix this?

Also tried sfc scannow, but there were no problems.

A different server didn't help either.


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## erixx (Jan 9, 2020)

just checked it here (Western Europe) and it works. Your local server may be down.


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## ne6togadno (Jan 9, 2020)

throw that pesky clock out of the window and enjoy your life


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## Chomiq (Jan 9, 2020)

Laptop or desktop? I'm having problems with my Dell laptop. It has sync issues since new. Try changing the sync server to one from pool.ntp.org for your region. I've actually changed this on my laptop today and it finally managed to sync properly.


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## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

ne6togadno said:


> throw that pesky clock out of the window and enjoy your life



I have an app to watch live TV on my PC and the program schedule isn't correct after watching for some time.
When I just installed it it would not even run properly and was complaining that the time wasn't correct.



Chomiq said:


> Laptop or desktop? I'm having problems with my Dell laptop. It has sync issues since new. Try changing the sync server to one from pool.ntp.org for your region. I've actually changed this on my laptop today and it finally managed to sync properly.



Desktop.
I have only 2 options, one MS and the other time.nist.gov which both fail.


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## 95Viper (Jan 9, 2020)

Try switching to a different time zone; and, switch it back.

EDIT:  You may, also, want to try starting a Command Prompt as administrator and run *DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth* command.


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## ne6togadno (Jan 9, 2020)

How to manage time servers on Windows 10
					

If your device is showing the wrong time, and it's not a time zone issue, you can try changing the Internet Time settings on Windows 10 to fix the problem.




					www.windowscentral.com
				












						How to add or change Time Server in Windows 11/10
					

Keeping your System Time accurate is very important. Learn how to change the Time Server in Windows & how to add new additional Time Servers of your choice.




					www.thewindowsclub.com


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## INSTG8R (Jan 9, 2020)

Just hit mine (CET) synced instantly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


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## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

Ok I tried "How to troubleshoot time server synchronization problems":








						How to manage time servers on Windows 10
					

If your device is showing the wrong time, and it's not a time zone issue, you can try changing the Internet Time settings on Windows 10 to fix the problem.




					www.windowscentral.com
				




Now I'm seeing this:





tried time.google.com also didn't work.


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## Chomiq (Jan 9, 2020)

You can type in your own address.

try 0.pool.ntp.org or replace 0 with 1 to 3 or just pool.ntp.org

Just tried it on a VM and it synced perfectly with my g-shock that's syncs with atomic clock every night.


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## c2DDragon (Jan 9, 2020)

Windows Time service is supposed to be in "Manual (trigger start)" so if you've put it in automatic maybe the task for synchronizing is disabled.
Check into the task scheduler (run taskschd.msc) and go in Microsoft -> Windows -> Time Synchronization. There must be 2 tasks : "ForceSynchronizeTime" & "SynchronizeTime". They are in "Ready" by default. Maybe "SynchronizeTime" is disabled ?
You can try to execute them from the task scheduler and see if you got any error.


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## Bill_Bright (Jan 9, 2020)

I use *time.nist.gov*.


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## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> I use *time.nist.gov*.





P4-630 said:


> MS and the other time.nist.gov which both fail.



I just tried with firewall disabled, didn't help either.



c2DDragon said:


> Windows Time service is supposed to be in "Manual (trigger start)" so if you've put it in automatic maybe the task for synchronizing is disabled.
> Check into the task scheduler (run taskschd.msc) and go in Microsoft -> Windows -> Time Synchronization. There must be 2 tasks : "ForceSynchronizeTime" & "SynchronizeTime". They are in "Ready" by default. Maybe "SynchronizeTime" is disabled ?
> You can try to execute them from the task scheduler and see if you got any error.







Just tried to Force and it just kept running, killed it after some minutes.

But weird, it says last run time 1/6 but in other windows settings it says failed.


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## c2DDragon (Jan 9, 2020)

P4-630 said:


> View attachment 141764
> 
> Just tried to Force and it just kept running, killed it after some minutes.
> 
> But weird, it says last run time 1/6 but in other windows settings it says failed.


Did you use some "debloater" program of script to remove Windows stuff between the 6 of january and today ? Some of them ask you to do a system restore point, if you got one from before changes you could have made it could help I guess.

Did you edit the Hosts file ? I have doubts it could be this because you tried differents time servers but maybe you could check.

In an admin CMD prompt type : 
cd drivers\etc
notepad hosts
Then search for "time.windows.com" it could be in this list and blocked.

About the "Windows Time" service, if you start it what happens ? Does it fail to initiate ? If it stays running try the synchronization again.


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## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

c2DDragon said:


> Did you use some "debloater" program of script to remove Windows stuff between the 6 of january and today ?


No I didn't



c2DDragon said:


> Did you edit the Hosts file ?


No I didn't



c2DDragon said:


> In an admin CMD prompt type :
> cd drivers\etc
> notepad hosts
> Then search for "time.windows.com" it could be in this list and blocked.


No it's not blocked in the hosts file.



c2DDragon said:


> About the "Windows Time" service, if you start it what happens ? Does it fail to initiate ? If it stays running try the synchronization again.






I've let it run for a minute or so and then clicked "Refresh" and the image above as result.

And if I check it from the control panel after that:


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## Solaris17 (Jan 9, 2020)

Is your clock close to the correct time?


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## c2DDragon (Jan 9, 2020)

I've found something about result (0x5) and Time sync maybe 1 of those answers could help you (Yeah it's 8.1 there but maybe maybe x) ) : https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...rror-0x5/efe419d0-09c8-4ac6-8213-e2f42239231a


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## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

Ok, so I got it working when using my mobile phone 4G tethered via USB.


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## Bill_Bright (Jan 9, 2020)

Sorry, I missed where you said you tried the NIST server.


Solaris17 said:


> Is your clock close to the correct time?


^^^This^^^ 

What time zone are you in? It is ~7:20PM in your area (based the timestamp of your last post)?

Slightly OT, https://time.is/ is a pretty nice site to check the accuracy of your clock.


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## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

Solaris17 said:


> Is your clock close to the correct time?



Yesterday when I started figuring this out, my clock was about a minute off.
The live TV app I use wouldn't work, got popups that the time wasn't set correctly.
I set the time manually as best as I could and the app worked but just the tv program bar of time left under it doesn't work properly.

Got the time in sync now with using my mobile phone 4G tethered via USB.


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## Bill_Bright (Jan 9, 2020)

I think it would have be way off, not minutes to matter. 

So your time zone and DST settings are correct? 

I seem to remember something from a long time ago (so I could be wrong) about someone having problems when their keyboard language did not match their time zone - perhaps something about how dates are displayed (day first vs month - I don't know). I'm reaching here, I know.


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## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> So your time zone and DST settings are correct?



Yes.


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## Bill_Bright (Jan 9, 2020)

Well, I'm out of ideas. 

Not sure if you saw this but there are several suggestions in here that might help or provide a clue. 









						How to force Windows 10 time to synch with a time server?
					

The time displayed by WIndows 10 is over 30 seconds slow even though I shut it down and restarted my computer less than 15 hours ago. I can't find a way to force W10 to synch the clock with a time



					answers.microsoft.com


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## P4-630 (Jan 9, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> Well, I'm out of ideas.
> 
> Not sure if you saw this but there are several suggestions in here that might help or provide a clue.
> 
> ...



It works but only via my mobile phone tethered via USB to my PC and using my phone's 4G.




Just my PC via WiFi it isn't working.


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## Bill_Bright (Jan 9, 2020)

P4-630 said:


> Just my PC via WiFi it isn't working.


And it used to with this same setup?


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## Vayra86 (Jan 10, 2020)

When did this bug start for you?

I think you've been hit with the milennium bug 









						Twintig jaar oude millenniumbug sloeg op 1 januari opnieuw toe
					

Toen Tweakers slechts twee jaar oud was, vond een van de grootste computercrises ooit plaats: de beruchte millenniumbug. Door hard werk van duizenden programmeurs wereldwijd bleef de voorspelde catastrofe uit, maar niet helemaal: zelfs in 2020 hebben we er nog weleens last van.




					tweakers.net
				




Has to do with 32 bit integer and the number of seconds since 1-1-1970. (Unix time) and Windows uses that too.


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## throwawaytechup (Jul 15, 2020)

P4-630 said:


> It works but only via my mobile phone tethered via USB to my PC and using my phone's 4G.
> View attachment 141783
> 
> Just my PC via WiFi it isn't working.



Gosh You're my savior. I've tried everything on the internet on the clock not syncing, and then, thanks to you, I tried changing my wifi and it worked.

Thanks man


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## Caring1 (Jul 18, 2020)

P4-630 said:


> It works but only via my mobile phone tethered via USB to my PC and using my phone's 4G.
> View attachment 141783
> 
> Just my PC via WiFi it isn't working.


I've had the same issue twice with my Desktop PC and that is connected via Ethernet.
My solution was to manually adjust the time as all the time zone settings were already correct.
Oops, just noticed this has been necroed.


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## Arthur_Silveira (Dec 8, 2020)

I'm having this *exact same issue* on my *Dell G7 laptop* (using ethernet cable directly to router).
I has been a full year using it (brand new), and probably realized the issue in june or july/2020 due to noticed time difference between the PC and my phone (couple of minutes).
It was bought in the US, but I use it in Brazil. I've tried using both original microsft and brazilian NTP instead (pool.ntp.br), no sucess. (and yes, I've changed the timezone)

I just tried to use my phone as hotspot (tried both wifi and USB cable) but still nothing (think I can eliminate my internet connection/router as suspect?).
Also, I have just reinstalled windows to a fresh install because I've updated the SSD to a bigger size, but same issue is still happening (think I could eliminate windows configs as supect?).
Not much suspects left . Maybe bios update? Seems harsh, and if that was the cause, I wonder more people would complain. It still feels like blocked NTP packets somewhere.

Not sure what to try next. Suggestions? Meanwhile, I'm stuck with adjusting the clock manually, every other week..


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 8, 2020)

What do you mean by adjusting the clock "manually"? Do you mean you manually set the hours, minutes and seconds manually? Or do you mean you manually tell the system to "Sync now" with the time server?


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## Arthur_Silveira (Dec 8, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> What do you mean by adjusting the clock "manually"? Do you mean you manually set the hours, minutes and seconds manually? Or do you mean you manually tell the system to "Sync now" with the time server?


I manually set the hour, minutes, etc (in my case, I usually increment 2 or 3 minutes, because that's when the time difference starts to bother me).
Once it reached 4 minutes difference and I almost got late to my class zoom meeting 

Edit: just to complement the answer:
Even if I try "manually forcing" the sync update, that doesn't work. I always get an error message saying that it is not possible to synchronyze.



Arthur_Silveira said:


> I just tried to use my phone as hotspot (tried both wifi and USB cable) but still nothing (think I can eliminate my internet connection/router as suspect?).



Update:
On my first try (when it did not work) wifi was on on my phone, so probably phone was just rerouting wifi via wifi (my old phone could not do that, when I used it as a hotspot, it always used the 3G/4G network as internet connection).
*I forced my phone to turn off wifi, while being a hotspot and it worked.*
I also realized that when I have this configuration, windows uses IPV6 instead of IPV4 as I can see on ping results (sorry, its in portuguese, but i think still understandable)


```
C:\Users\Arthur>ping google.com -t

Disparando google.com [2800:3f0:4001:802::200e] com 32 bytes de dados:
Resposta de 2800:3f0:4001:802::200e: tempo=75ms
Resposta de 2800:3f0:4001:802::200e: tempo=50ms
Resposta de 2800:3f0:4001:802::200e: tempo=71ms
```

So, I still have two suspects:
a) my router/modem/isp blocking NTP packets
b) IPV4 configs

Is still do not consider it a solution yet, because using my phone as router to sync PC clock is actually more work than adding manually some minutes do the clock.
Also, it has been a while since I last went outside, to try a different wifi network, but I will let you know when I do (and the outcomes)


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 8, 2020)

I would be curious to know if another computer on your network has the same problem.


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## Arthur_Silveira (Dec 8, 2020)

Bill_Bright said:


> I would be curious to know if another computer on your network has the same problem.


I see your point! My first suspect is also my network.
My wife's company laptop is locked without admin permission, not sure if I can access it's clock to check if it is updating (they removed so many features, I could't even discover wich gpu it has, can't access device manager).
I don't remember having this issue before when I used my older desktop, but I will try turning it on and check. Great call!


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 8, 2020)

If W10, just right-click on the clock in the System Tray, select  "Adjust date/time", then click on "Sync now" (if not grayed out).


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## Arthur_Silveira (Dec 8, 2020)

UPDATE:
Now I'm pretty sure it is my router blocking the packets.
- on my old desktop, connected throuhg ethernet cable to same router, time was not synchronyzing as well.
*- when I moved the cable from the router directly to the modem, it worked, and time sync'ed*

Now I will try opening the NTP port on my router (I think it is UDP 123). Wondering if that could be a security issue..
If that work, I will update this post including router model, in case others might have the same issue


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