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?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

For those that still asking this question.

1. 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

2. Restart the time service

   net stop w32time
   net start w32time
   

3. Resync the time

   w32tm /resync
   

4. 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

Answer 3

You can use the following command:

w32tm /resync

Answer 4

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)

Answer 5

• change your time server

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

• fore update time

w32tm /resync /force

Answer 6

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! :-)

Answer 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'

Answer 8

Based on my research, I bookmarked this:

0. If Hyper-v host server is a part of the same domain, disable time sync for PDC guest vm

1. 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

2. on dc that is not PDC:

   w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /update

   W32tm /resync /rediscover

3. On servers and other stations for update time only, not config:

   W32tm /resync /nowait

4. Check that time is really updating(difference ):

   w32tm /stripchart /computer:192.168.0.254 /samples:15 /dataonly

5. 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

Answer 9

net start w32time
w32tm /resync

According to Riot Games

Answer 10

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.

Answer 11

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:

1. 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.

2. Restart the w32time

Stop-Service w32time
Start-Service w32time

3. Sync

w32tm /resync

This should work.

4. 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

Answer 12

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.

Answer 13

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

Answer 14

Try one-line command. Works all the time.

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