SET TIME AUTOMATICALLY BUTTON GREYED

Question

Set Time automatically button is greyed and not able to toggle the same even with administrator rights, location service is ON.

someone please guide.

the time keeps on changing after i restart the pc

Answer 1

Hi Mahadev Kharbe,

I understand how inconvenient it is when the “Set time automatically” option is greyed out, especially since the time resets after every restart. Based on your scenario (admin account + location already enabled), this usually means the setting is being controlled at a system service level rather than the Settings UI.

Please try these checking steps:

1, Restart Windows Time service

• Press Win + R > type services.msc > Enter
• Find Windows Time, right-click > Restart
• Set Startup type to Automatic

2, Ensure Auto Time Zone service is enabled

• In the same Services window, locate Auto Time Zone Updater
• Double-click > set Startup type: Automatic
• Click Start, then Apply

3, Force time resync (quick reset)

• Open Command Prompt (Admin)
• Run: w32tm /resync

Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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Answer 2

Non-administrator users cannot change or interact with the Set time zone automatically setting, and it may be hidden or greyed out. This is by design because it is a system-wide setting that applies to all user profiles.

To enable automatic time and time zone as an administrator and stop the time changing after restart, use these steps:

1. Enable “Set time zone automatically” via Registry (requires admin):
   1. Open Registry Editor as administrator.
   2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\tzautoupdate\Start.
   3. Set the value data to:
      • 3 to enable Set time zone automatically
      • 4 to disable it
2. Ensure Location is allowed (also via Registry):
   1. In Registry Editor, go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\location\Value
   2. Set the string value to:
      • Allow to turn Location On
      • Deny to turn Location Off
   3. If a Group Policy is turning Location off, that policy must be reverted; otherwise it will override manual registry changes.
3. After these changes, open Settings > Time & language > Date & time and verify:
   • Set time automatically is On
   • Set time zone automatically is On

If the device is managed by Group Policy or MDM (for example, via Intune), ensure those policies are not forcing these settings off. Group Policy Preferences or MDM policies can be used to deploy the registry values above to keep the setting enabled.

If the clock still reverts after restart, verify that the system can reach time sources (for example, NTP or domain time) and that no other tools or policies are overriding Windows Time and time zone settings.

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References:

• Can't set time zone automatically in Windows 10
• Set time, date, and time zone settings in Windows
• Windows computer clock resets to a previous date and time