Garmin Watch Time Wrong

Garmin manufactures high-quality smartwatches and fitness trackers, which are the most popular. However, as an electronic gadget, users report an issue with their Garmin watch that shows the wrong time. 

It is frustrating if you have already set up a time on your watch, but it keeps going wrong itself. So, don’t worry; in this article, we will discuss the possible solutions for this issue. 

Let’s look at the general step, which will help fix the wrong time problem. 

The basic step is to ensure that your watch is securely connected to a compatible phone or PC via the Garmin Connect or Garmin Express app. This is why because your watch will show the time according to the connected device (mobile/ PC) 

Let’s take a deep look at its possible solutions. 

How to Fix Garmin Wrong time Issues

Garmin Watch Time Wrong

These steps will help you to fix the wrong time on your Garmin watch. 

Set Time on Automatic 

While you are facing the wrong time issue with your Garmin, it keeps showing the wrong time; you should ensure that you have enabled automatic time setup from the watch settings. 

Once you have enabled the Automatic set time option on your Garmin watch and paired it with your phone/ PC, it will update the time based on your phone/ PC. 

To turn the auto time set up, follow the below steps: 

  1. Turn on your Garmin watch. 
  2. Open the menu tab.
  3. In the menu tab, go to Settings> and scroll down to the System option. 
  4. In the system settings, tap the Clock option. 
  5. Then scroll all the way down> and toggle the Set Automatic switch ON. 

Although each Garmin watch series have various settings to enable the automatic time settings, you can check them on the Garmin website. 

When you have changed the time settings, the next step will be to check if the GPS technology is enabled on your device. 

Enable GPS

After changing the time settings from manual to automatic, you should ensure that you have enabled GPS on your Garmin watch. 

Because GPS technology is used to acquire the satellite near you. And on the base of signals coming from a satellite, it will update the time of your watch. 

Although you should enable the GPS and GLONASS, which will help increase the GPS performance. 

You can follow the below steps to check GPS settings: 

  1. Select Menu by pressing the runner button. 
  2. Then tap the Activity Settings. 
  3. And go to the GPS> here, and you can enable the GPS+GLONASS option.

Once you have turned these settings, you should ensure that the watch has been updated to the right time and date. 

If the time issue isn’t fixed, you should put your watch under the clear sky; to locate the satellite. This way, the watch will find the correct satellite location or signals and update the watch time. 

Select Outdoor Activity Profile

Just enabling the GPS on your Garmin watch will not be enough. You should go outdoors and select an outdoor activity profile, such as running. Also, you can start an outdoor activity until the watch acquires the GPS signals. 

And then, wait until the GPS indicator is ready; after this, your watch will update your time according to your paired device. 

Check Time on your Phone

After all those steps, you should ensure that the time on your connected device (phone/ PC) is correct. 

As we discussed, while your watch is set up on the Set Automatic time mode, it will update time-based on your connected device. 

So, if you still have the wrong time issue with your Garmin watch, check that your phone time is not incorrect. 

This can be a potential reason why your watch keeps showing the wrong time. If that is not the reason, there are a few other steps that you can try to fix. 

Setup Manually 

The other step to try to fix the wrong time on your Garmin is to set up the time manually. 

Turn the Set Automatic time option off and then manually enter the correct time. In this way, you can set up a time on your watch. 

Here are the steps that you can follow:

  1. Go to the Menu> and tap on Settings. 
  2. Then select System> tap on the Clock option. 
  3. Ensure the Set Automatic option is Off. 
  4. After this, tap Set Time and enter the correct time of the day. 

Check Software Updates

Software is a data or program which runs on your watch and completes all tasks on your device. If you want to keep your device working normally, it should be updated timely. 

The issue can be common if the watch is not running on an up-to-date software version. So, you should install the latest software version to fix the issue. 

Installing software or firmware updates helps to ensure your device performance and remove all temporary bugs which might cause issues on the watch. 

Check the steps to update your Garmin:

  1. Open the menu> and then tap on Settings. 
  2. Under the Settings tab, scroll all the way down and tap on System. 
  3. And then tap on Software Update. 
  4. Here you will see the latest update available> tap on Install Now. 
  5. After finishing up the update, the watch will automatically be restarted. 

Restart Watch

Restarting or rebooting your Garmin watch is another step that will help you fix the wrong time problem for your watch. 

Rebooting the watch helps to refresh the device or remove temporary glitches. After rebooting the watch, several other issues will also be fixed, such as connectivity, sound, or pairing issues. 

Follow the below steps to restart your watch:

  1. Press and hold the power button until the watch turns off (about 10 seconds). 
  2. Once the watch turns off, press and hold the power button to turn it back on. 
  3. Release the button while you see a Garmin logo appears on the screen. 
  4. If your watch does not have a physical power button:
  • Plug it into a power source with the help of an original charger. 
  • Unplug from the power source instantly; this will cause an internal restart on your watch. 

Reset Watch

In addition, if the issue is not fixed, you can reset your watch; the issue can be due to a software glitch or bug resetting will refresh your watch. 

Resetting is a way which helps to remove all these temporary software glitches, refresh the device and turn it to the factory default settings. 

However, another advantage is that if you have mistakenly set up any settings on your watch that can cause the wrong time, after resetting, the watch will turn to default factory settings, and those settings will be disabled. 

Note: Before resetting, you should back up all your essential data files because you can not access this data after resetting. Factory reset will wipe all user-entered data and files. 

Follow the below steps to reset Garmin:

  1. Go to the Menu> and scroll down to Settings. 
  2. Then scroll all the way down and tap on System. 
  3. In the system settings, again scroll down and tap on Restore Defaults. 
  4. Select Yes to confirm your choice. 

Contact Customer Support

If non of the above solutions has helped fix your Garmin watch time issue, you should contact Garmin customer support. 

The customer support team will be able to assist you with different solutions. Also, they can inform you of other possible solutions. 

If there is no possible way to fix the watch, consider asking Garmin for a replacement or refund. 

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