It happens to everyone. You hop off a plane in a different time zone, or maybe daylight saving time kicks in, and suddenly your wrist says it’s 3:00 AM while the sun is blinding you. It’s annoying. You bought a high-tech tracker to simplify your life, not to give you a math problem every time you check your step count. If your Fitbit is showing the wrong time, it’s usually not a hardware "glitch" or a broken sensor. It’s almost always a syncing hiccup between your watch and the Fitbit app on your phone.
Basically, your Fitbit is a mirror. It doesn't have a manual clock setting tucked away in the device's tiny settings menu. Instead, it looks at your phone, sees what time it is there, and copies it. If that handshake fails, the time drifts.
The Quick Fix for Your Fitbit Time
Most people try to find a "Set Time" button on the watch face. Don't bother. It isn't there. To how to change the time and date on Fitbit, you have to go through the app.
First, make sure your phone's Bluetooth is actually on. It sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how often a toggled-off Bluetooth is the culprit. Open the Fitbit app. Tap on your profile icon (usually in the top left) and select your specific device. You’ll see a "Sync Now" option. Hit it. Nine times out of ten, forcing a manual sync snaps the clock back to reality. If it doesn't, we have to dig a little deeper into the time zone settings.
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Sometimes the app gets "stuck" thinking you're still in New York when you’re actually in London. To fix this, head into the App Settings within the Fitbit app. Look for "Time Zone." You'll see a toggle that says "Set Automatically."
Here is the trick: Turn it off.
Manually select a random time zone—literally any other city—and then sync your watch. After it updates to the wrong time, toggle "Set Automatically" back on and sync one more time. This "force-refresh" usually clears out whatever data cache was holding onto the old timestamp.
Dealing with Daylight Saving Time Dramas
Google’s support forums and Reddit threads like r/fitbit blow up twice a year. Why? Because Fitbit occasionally struggles with the spring forward or fall back transitions. If you wake up and your Versa 4 or Charge 6 is exactly one hour off, the app likely hasn't updated its internal regional map.
You've gotta be patient, but also proactive. Check if your phone itself updated. If your iPhone or Android is showing the right time but the Fitbit isn't, the sync is failing. Try the "Time Zone Toggle" method mentioned above. It works because it forces the app to ping Fitbit's servers for a fresh regional timestamp rather than relying on the saved (and now incorrect) data on your phone.
Why Won’t My Fitbit Sync?
If you’ve tried syncing and nothing happens, you’re likely facing a connectivity wall. Technology is great until it isn't.
Check these three things immediately:
- The Battery: If your Fitbit is below 10%, it might disable certain sync features to save juice. Plug it in.
- Other Bluetooth Devices: Are you wearing 40 different smart devices? Sometimes Bluetooth "noise" prevents a clean handshake.
- The App Version: Fitbit (now owned by Google) pushes updates constantly. If you're running a version from six months ago, the communication protocol might be wonky. Head to the App Store or Play Store and see if there’s an update waiting.
Changing Time Formats (12-hour vs 24-hour)
Some people prefer military time. Others hate it. If you want to change how the time looks—not just what the time is—you actually have to go to the Fitbit website dashboard in a web browser.
Yeah, it’s a bit of a legacy system quirk. Log in at Fitbit.com, go to settings, and find "Personal Info." Scroll down to "Clock Display Time." Here you can switch between 12-hour and 24-hour formats. Once you save the change on the website, you still have to go back to your phone app and sync the device for the change to actually show up on your wrist. It’s a multi-step process that feels a bit 2010, but it’s the only way to do it.
When to Factory Reset (The Nuclear Option)
If you've toggled time zones, updated the app, restarted your phone, and performed a manual sync, and your how to change the time and date on Fitbit journey is still failing, you might need a restart.
Not a factory reset—start with a "long press" restart.
For most modern models like the Luxe, Charge, or Sense, you'll need to connect it to the charging cable. Hold the button on the cable or the side of the device for about 10 seconds until you see the Fitbit logo. This clears the temporary memory without wiping your data. It’s like rebooting a frozen PC. It solves most "ghost" issues where the time just won't update no matter what the app says.
Actionable Steps for a Permanent Fix
To ensure your Fitbit stays accurate and you never have to deal with a drifting clock again, follow these specific maintenance steps:
- Enable All-Day Sync: Go into the device settings in the Fitbit app and toggle on "All-Day Sync." It drains a tiny bit more battery, but it keeps the time and your data perfectly aligned throughout the day.
- Keep the App Open in the Background: On Android especially, aggressive battery saving can "kill" the Fitbit app. Whitelist the app so it can talk to your watch even when your phone is in your pocket.
- Check Your Phone's Date & Time Settings: If your phone is set to a manual time rather than "Network Provided Time," your Fitbit will follow that manual (and potentially incorrect) clock. Always keep your phone on network-provided time for the best results.
- Regular Firmware Updates: When the app tells you a "Tracker Update" is available, do it. These often include fixes for regional time zone databases that change due to political or legislative shifts in different countries.
By managing the connection between the app and the hardware, you keep the clock ticking accurately. Most "broken" Fitbits are just devices that haven't had a good conversation with their host phone in a few days. Force that sync, check your toggles, and you'll be back on schedule.