Forcing Windows 10 to Sync with a Time Server

[mikse5j]

My Windows 10 clock is over 30 seconds slow, even though I restarted my computer less than 15 hours ago. I can't find a way to force Windows 10 to sync with a time server. I used to use a program called SocketWatch to update the clock with the NIST time server, but it no longer works on Windows 10. Any suggestions?

 

[Bighorn]

Right-click the clock in the Notification Area, make sure the settings are set to On.

 

[mikse5j]

I checked and the settings are set to On but my clock is still not syncing properly. I also clicked on Sync now in the Date & Time settings, but it didn’t seem to do anything. Do you have other suggestions?

 

[Bighorn]

The only time I see the seconds is when I do a manual sync since the seconds don't routinely show anywhere else on mine. It probably is not the CMOS battery causing a problem but that may depend upon how old it is. I haven't had to change one in a long time, several computers.

 

[Grizzly]

You can change the update interval in the registry. I have mine set to 3600 (1 hr). open registry editor and go here:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\W32Time\Config

scroll down and look for update interval. My default was set to 360000 (100hrs in Windows 11). Right click on the value and click on modify, then change the value to your liking (might want to click on 'decimal' first, unless you can translate the value in hexadecimal)

this should be the same in Windows 10....

just an idea came to mind: if your clock is slow, you might want to change the CMOS battery (a button cell). It could be the reason why your clock is slow

 

[Bighorn]

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\W32Time\Config

scroll down and look for update interval. My default was set to 360000 (100hrs in Windows 11). Right click on the value and click on modify, then change the value to your liking (might want to click on 'decimal' first, unless you can translate the value in hexadecimal)

this should be the same in Windows 10...

Just checked my Win10 and it is the same.

 

[Jonathan990]

You can consider using the Command Prompt to force a time sync. Here’s how you can do it:
Open Command Prompt as an Administrator. You can do this by typing cmd in the Start menu, right-clicking on Command Prompt, and selecting "Run as administrator."
Type the following commands:
shell
net stop w32time
w32tm /unregister
w32tm /register
net start w32time
w32tm /resync

This sequence stops the Windows Time service, unregisters and re-registers it, and then forces a resync. This should work when the GUI method failed.