How to change the time on your Fitbit explained

Picture of two Fitbit watches.


Picture of two Fitbit watches.

You normally won’t need to fiddle with the time on a Fitbit device, as it is synced to the time on your phone. But there are times where you can’t sync your Fitbit, or you just changed time zones and the Fitbit hasn’t caught up, so you need to know how to change the time on your Fitbit to get things working again.

If you don’t know how to change the time on your Fitbit, it can be a problem if you are trying to keep track of your daily steps. Changing the time on your Fitbit is easy, and there are several ways to do it. You won’t have to worry about your the Fitbit displaying the wrong time, and can go back to syncing once the problem is solved.

How to change the time on your Fitbit

Before going for the manual settings, it’s worth checking if your phone is able to change the time on your Fitbit. Sometimes it’s just a communication error that can resolve itself, but you must switch the time immediately. The process is largely the same depending on your phone, but there are slight differences.

Changing the time on iPhones

You just have to change the time zone, as the correct time should show up once the time zone is correct. For iPhone users, go into App Settings and select the Time Zone option. Turn off the option to set the time zone automatically, then manually set the correct time zone. The correct time should be reflected once it is done. If you made a mistake, you can go back in and readjust until you have selected the correct one.

Changing the time on Android phones

The process for adjusting the time zone on Android phones is similar to the iPhone. Go to App Settings and turn off the Automatic time zone setting. You can then adjust the time zone that reflects your current location. When you sync with the Fitbit, it should reflect the correct time.

Changing the time on Fitbit.com

If your phone isn’t available, you can change the time through the Fitbit website itself. Log into your account that the Fitbit is registered to, then go to the Settings. You should be able to find the Clock Display Time, which is synced to a specific time zone. Change that and you should be able to see the proper time appear on your Fitbit. If not, wait for the device to finish syncing or adjust the time zone if it is incorrect.

Sync Your Devices To Change The Time On Your Fitbit

Other than adjusting the time zone, there isn’t anything you can do to manually adjust the time yourself. There are no settings to control the precise time, as your Fitbit syncs with the time zone that you selected. Sometimes it can automatically detect the time zone if your device manages to do it. Otherwise, you must manually fix it yourself through the methods that were provided.

You can’t manually edit the time zone settings yourself, and it will automatically match whatever your phone displays. If you miss a particular day due to the settings, you can’t do anything to get that day back or redo it. The exception would be switching the time zone on a computer, which would allow you to get around your phone’s settings.

If you want to adjust the 12 hour display to a 24 hour display, you can change it in the App Settings through the Clock Display Time. That’s as close as you can get to changing the time yourself, though that only controls how the time is displayed. Other methods of changing the time usually reflect the display changes as well, which doesn’t change the fundamental time zone.

You shouldn’t have to edit the time zone on your Fitbit often, unless something has happened to your device and it isn’t working as intended. With the multiple ways to sync your Fitbit, there shouldn’t be an issue. If the issue continues to persist, a full reset of the Fitbit should clear up the problem.

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