Clocks Fall Back: How to Make Sure Your Computer and Phone Change on Their Own

Short answer: Your computer and phone will fall back an hour on their own as long as they're set to get the time and time zone automatically, and they have an internet or cell connection. Take one minute this weekend to check that setting on each device. If a clock is still an hour off on Sunday morning, turning the automatic setting off and back on usually fixes it.

In 2026, daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 1, according to NIST, the federal agency that keeps official U.S. time. At 2 a.m. the clock goes back to 1 a.m., so that hour happens twice. Everywhere in the Columbia River Gorge, on both the Oregon and Washington sides, is on Pacific Time and falls back together.

Why a wrong clock matters more than you'd think

An hour off is mostly an annoyance: a missed alarm, a calendar reminder at the wrong time, a photo stamped with the wrong hour. But a computer whose clock is badly wrong can also have trouble with secure websites, because the security certificates websites use are only valid for certain dates, and some sign-in codes depend on the time being right. Keeping the clock automatic avoids all of that.

Windows 11 and Windows 10

• Open Start, then Settings, then Time & language, then Date & time.
• Make sure Set time automatically is turned on.
• Make sure Set time zone automatically is on, or that the Time zone box shows (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada).
• Microsoft says that when Set time zone automatically is on, daylight saving time is handled for you. If you've turned that off and picked the time zone yourself, also turn on Adjust for daylight saving time automatically.
• If the page has a Sync now button, clicking it makes Windows check the time right away.

These steps come from Microsoft's page on setting the time, date and time zone in Windows.

Mac

• Open Apple menu, then System Settings, then General, then Date & Time.
• Turn on the option to set the time and date automatically, and the option to set the time zone automatically.
• Apple also says to check Privacy & Security, then Location Services: Location Services should be on, and under System Services (the Details button) the time zone setting should be on. That's how the Mac knows which time zone it's in.
• If the time is still wrong after that, Apple suggests restarting the Mac.

iPhone and iPad

• Open Settings, then General, then Date & Time, and turn on Set Automatically (on newer versions of iOS it may say Set Time Automatically).
• Open Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services, scroll to the bottom, tap System Services, and make sure Setting Time Zone is on.
• If the automatic setting is grayed out, Apple says a Screen Time passcode, a work or school device profile, or your carrier can lock it.

Apple's steps for all of its devices are in If you can't change the time or time zone on your Apple device.

Android phones and tablets

• Open Settings, then System, then Date & time. Menu names vary a little by phone maker; on some phones it's under General management instead.
• Turn on Set time automatically and Set time zone automatically. On older Android versions these are called Use network-provided time and Use network-provided time zone.
• Google notes that some phones use your location to work out the time zone, so if Use location is turned off, the time zone may not update on its own.

Google's own steps are in Set time, date and time zone in Android Help.

If a clock is still an hour off on Sunday

• Make sure the device is online. Phones and computers get the correct time from the internet or the cell network. If you're somewhere with no signal, as in some canyons and back roads around the Gorge, the phone catches up once it reconnects.
• Turn the automatic time setting off, wait a few seconds, and turn it back on.
• Install any waiting system updates. NIST points out that computers get the time itself from time servers, but it's the operating system that applies the daylight saving rules, so an out-of-date system is the usual cause of a clock that changes on the wrong day.
• Restart the device.
• As a last resort, set the time by hand. Just remember to turn the automatic setting back on later, or you'll be fixing it again in March.

The clocks that won't change themselves

Plenty of things in the house still need a hand: many microwaves, stoves, car dashboards and plain bedside alarm clocks. "Atomic" or radio-controlled clocks should change on their own; NIST says if one doesn't, check that it has picked up the time signal recently and that its time zone is set right. NIST also warns that some older auto-set clocks that don't receive a signal were built with the old pre-2007 dates, so they may change on the wrong weekend and need to be set by hand.

Heading south for the winter?

If you spend part of the winter in Arizona, note that Arizona doesn't use daylight saving time (the Navajo Nation is the exception). That means Arizona is an hour ahead of the Gorge in winter and on the same time as the Gorge in summer. A phone or laptop set to update the time zone automatically will sort that out for you when you arrive. A device set to a time zone by hand will not.

Sources and Further Reading

• Daylight Saving Time Rules, NIST
• Set time, date, and time zone settings in Windows, Microsoft Support
• If you can't change the time or time zone on your Apple device, Apple Support
• Set time, date and time zone, Android Help
• Time overview, Android Open Source Project