How do I force sync the time on Windows Workstation or Server?

Question

What is the command to sync a Windows workstation or server to its configured time source?

Seanchán Torpéist · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-17T22:14:01.270

128

As Kyle said w32tm /resync is the modern way to do this. See this Link to Microsoft Knowledgebase (KB 307897) for more information on the w32tm command.

There is also net time which is an older version but perhaps easier.

edited Oct 17 '17 at 22:14

answered Jul 27 '11 at 21:52

Seanchán Torpéist

1,958

score 66 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 28 '15 at 08:05

For those that still asking this question.

To update, use the command below (2008 and 2012 server compatible)

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"ntp_server" /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:yes /update

change the ntp_server with your source

Restart the time service
```
net stop w32time
net start w32time
```
Resync the time
```
w32tm /resync
```
Verify your sync status
```
w32tm /query /status
```

Commands above should be fine if your sources are working correctly and/or your connection is OK (firewall or Microsoft Forefront can be an issue also). The commands below can help with troubleshooting

To list out peers

w32tm /query /peers

To list out NTP Sources:

w32tm /query /source

score 25 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 27 '11 at 21:47

25

You can use the following command:

w32tm /resync

answered Jul 27 '11 at 21:47

Kyle Brandt

85,693

score 25 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 28 '17 at 20:29

25

You can use:

w32tm /resync

Additionally, using w32tm /resync /rediscover will also "force redetection of network resourced before resynchronization."

Or using:

net time /set

Will prompt you to set the time to the DC. (Works for older versions of Windows)

edited Aug 28 '17 at 20:29

answered Dec 11 '12 at 16:44

Brett Larson

944

score 13 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 15 '21 at 02:34

13

change your time server

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"0.pool.ntp.org 1.pool.ntp.org" /syncfromflags:manual /update

fore update time

w32tm /resync /force

answered Jun 15 '21 at 02:34

user5723841

241

score 7 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 15 '20 at 14:47

7

Powershell one liner if ntp server is configured:

gsv w32time | sasv; w32tm /resync /force

You can put this .bat file in the startup if you CMOS batery failed so it can resync upon OS start:

@powershell -NoProfile -Command 'gsv w32time | sasv; w32tm /resync /force'

edited Apr 15 '20 at 14:47

GAThrawn

2,484

answered Aug 06 '16 at 13:18

majkinetor

411

Akos · Answer 7 · 2017-05-14T08:05:25.740

OS: MS Windows 7

All above ideas have been tried but did not help. The original problem still exists: "The computer did not resync because the required time change was too big."

Solution is found in the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\w32time\Config

change this if the local time is in a hurry (e.g. 31-Dec-2050): MaxNegPhaseCorrection
change this if the local time is delayed (e.g. 1-Jan-1980): MaxPosPhaseCorrection
The default values are 0xD2F0 (i.e. 54000 sec. = 15 hours)

(use Google for more details)

I use this simple win_clock_sync.bat file from Start Menu StartUp:

echo off
echo Sync computer time from internet
echo.
echo Back-up registry w32time\Config
reg export HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\w32time\Config exported_w32time.reg /y
rem changing the registry keys temporarly:
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\w32time\Config /v MaxNegPhaseCorrection /d 0xFFFFFFFF /t REG_DWORD /f
reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\w32time\Config /v MaxPosPhaseCorrection /d 0xFFFFFFFF /t REG_DWORD /f
echo.
echo w32tm /config /update
w32tm /config /update
echo.
echo w32tm /resync /rediscover 
w32tm /resync /rediscover 
echo.
echo Restore registry w32time\Config
reg import exported_w32time.reg

Enjoy! :-)

p0wd3r · Answer 8 · 2023-02-08T23:28:19.457

3

The computer did not resync because the required time change was too big.

powershell> Set-Date "02/01/2023 4:20:00 PM"

Check your phone or VCR for current approximate time, Windows will be mad if the drift is +/- 5 minutes, so you have some wiggle room.

edited Feb 08 '23 at 23:28

answered Feb 08 '23 at 23:26

p0wd3r

31

score 2 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 04 '20 at 13:53

Based on my research, I bookmarked this:

If Hyper-v host server is a part of the same domain, disable time sync for PDC guest vm
On PDC(or any single workstation), update from quoted internal DNS or ip untrusted address(0x8):

W32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"192.168.0.254,0x8" /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:yes /update

Powershell Restart-Service w32time

W32tm /resync /nowait
on dc that is not PDC:

w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /update

W32tm /resync /rediscover
On servers and other stations for update time only, not config:

W32tm /resync /nowait
Check that time is really updating(difference ):

w32tm /stripchart /computer:192.168.0.254 /samples:15 /dataonly
if time service broken or failed and need reset:

Powershell Stop-service w32time W32tm /unregister Timeout 30 W32tm /register Powershell Start-service w32time

Note: NTP port is 123 UDP and should give the same output on any healthy computer

Powershell Get-NetUDPEndpoint -LocalPort 123
LocalAddress                             LocalPort

::                                       123
0.0.0.0                                  123

Other commands w32tm /query /status w32tm /query /peers w32tm /query /configuration

Best practice from ms: Time Sync best practices

Nato Boram · Answer 10 · 2017-11-28T21:15:24.203

1

net start w32time
w32tm /resync

According to Riot Games

edited Nov 28 '17 at 21:15

answered Sep 08 '16 at 00:59

Nato Boram

111

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 08 '19 at 12:02

I have a Win10 image that I can restore to a snapshot where this error message is always reproducible: "The computer did not resync because the required time change was too big."

I have tried to script a solution to this problem with no avail:

reg import nettime.reg # updates MaxPosPhaseOffset and MaxNegPhaseOffset

net start w32time
w32tm.exe /config /manualpeerlist:"pool.ntp.org",0x8 /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:no /update  
w32tm.exe /query /configuration
w32tm.exe /resync /rediscover
w32tm.exe /resync /force

Neither the /reliable:no nor the MaxPosPhaseCorrection settings, nor any other commands indicated here worked immediately in a reproducible way.

After updating the registry, starting the service, updating the configuration and again restarting the service I still had to wait many minutes before I w32tm /resync /rediscover would succeed.

The time syncronization does succeed eventually, just not in a timely and reliable manner.

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Apr 09 '22 at 19:58

Nothing worked for me because "The computer did not resync because the required time change was too big.", I ended up using node with ntp-client to set the approximated current time and then be able to resync

.bat file

::time service needs to be started before changing time
net start W32Time
node.exe time_set.js
w32tm /resync
pause

time_set.js

const ntp_server = 'localhost'; //replace with your ntp server address
const ntp_port = 123; //replace with your ntp server port
const ntp_client = require('ntp-client');
const {exec} = require('child_process');
//get ntp time
ntp_client.getNetworkTime(ntp_server, ntp_port, (err, ntp_date) => {
  //exit with error code
  if (err) { process.exit(1); }
  //go back to 23:59:30 if close to midnight
  if (ntp_date.getHours() === 23 && ntp_date.getMinutes() === 59 && ntp_date.getSeconds() > 30) {
    ntp_date.setSeconds(30);
  }
  //set date
  exec(date ${ntp_date.toLocaleDateString()}, {shell: true});
  //set time
  exec(time ${ntp_date.toLocaleTimeString()}, {shell: true});
});

Notes:

This has to be run as administrator
This seems to work with different default regional formats. If you are setting custom date and time formats, set them after synchronizing time.
If you need custom date and time formats support you might need to read the formats from the registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International (most likely values sShortDate and sTimeFormat) and then manually format the date or use a tool like date-and-time

score 0 · Answer 13 · edited Nov 30 '22 at 17:54

0

Try one-line command. Works all the time.

w32tm /unregister && w32tm /register && net stop w32time && net start w32time && w32tm /resync

edited Nov 30 '22 at 17:54

djdomi

2,287

answered Oct 04 '18 at 20:11

slayernoah

1,810

Ding-Yi Chen · Answer 14 · 2019-07-19T08:10:33.150

Almost none of the solutions (except @Akos) work if the host is an Windows Server 2016 Active Directory Domain Controller (ADDC), as it treats itself as a "reliable" source that cannot make big time change.

w32tm /resync /force does not work, because the /force does not appear in server 2016.

net time /SET /Y does not work either, because it would have asked:

Do you want to set the local computer's time to match the time at \AD.example.net? (Y/N) [Y]

Of course, it won't work if you are on AD.example.net, /Y just hides the question.

The steps work for me using PowerShell:

Set w32time service as unreliable:

w32tm /config /reliable:no /syncfromflags:manual /update

Option /syncfromflags:manual means sync with NTP listed in peer list (i.e. external NTP), /update for notifying the time service the configuration have changed.

Restart the w32time

Stop-Service w32time
Start-Service w32time

Sync

w32tm /resync

This should work.

If you DO need ADDC as a reliable time source, make it reliable again:

w32tm /config /reliable:yes /update
Stop-Service w32time
Start-Service w32time

How do I force sync the time on Windows Workstation or Server?

14 Answers14