How to Fix Windows 10/11 Time Zone Keeps Changing to Pacific

If no matter whether you set your time zone manually or automatically, it reverts to Pacific, I will show you how to fix Windows 10 time zone that keeps changing back to Pacific Time Zone.

This issue often happens because you turn off the location services when choosing privacy settings for your device. So, the simple fix to this issue is to allow access to location on your device. Here is how to do it:

Windows 10

1. On Windows Search, enter Location Privacy Settings and click on Open.
2. Under Allow access to location on this device, click on the Change button to enable Location:
   
   

Windows 11

1. On Windows Search, type Location Privacy Settings, and then click on Open:
   
2. On Privacy Security > Location, toggle on Location.
   

So far, this is the only solution that will permanently prevent the time zone from changing to Pacific.

If you are not okay with turning location settings on for privacy reasons, I will show you below some alternative fixes that might work for you without enabling location settings.

(If your weather tile is missing on Windows 10, check the article I‘ve written on it.)

How to Set your Time Zone Manually on Windows 10/11

Setting your time zone manually is a good alternative if you are unwilling to enable the location settings on your Windows PC. Follow the steps below to set your time zone manually (they are the same for both Windows 10/11):

1. On Windows Search, enter Date & Time, and then click on Open:
   
2. Under Date & Time, toggle off Set time zone automatically.
3. Then select your preferred time zone (for example, Eastern Time (US & Canada)) manually:
   

This will change your time zone, but keep an eye out if your time zone will revert to Pacific. If it happens, you can try the method below or just enable location settings as suggested above.

(If your lock screen shows the wrong time, even though you see the correct time when logged in, I’ve written an article on how you can quickly fix that.)

How to Set your Time Zone via PowerShell on Windows 10/11

If setting the time zone manually via Windows Settings didn’t work, you can also try to set your time zone via PowerShell. It is not complicated if you follow the step-by-step below:

1. On Windows Search, enter Windows PowerShell, and then click on Run as Administrator:
   
2. On PowerShell, enter the following command to see a list with all available timezones:
   Get-TimeZone -ListAvailable
   
3. To set the new time zone, type the following command:
   Set-TimeZone -Name Eastern Standard Time
   
   (You can choose any location here by replacing “Eastern Standard Time” with the Id of the time zone you chose in Step 2. My example uses Eastern Standard Time.)

To confirm whether the time zone was successfully changed, enter the command Get-TimeZone on PowerShell.

Conclusion

If your time zone keeps changing back to Pacific Time Zone after trying to set it manually, it is probably due to you having the location settings turned off on Windows 10/11.

In this case, open Location Privacy Settings by typing it on Windows Search, and then turn on the Location settings. This will do it.

If you don’t want to change your privacy settings, you can still try to set your time zone manually via Windows Settings or PowerShell, as I explained above.

To learn how to improve your privacy regarding which data you share while using Windows, remember to check this article on how to permanently turn off Microsoft Compatibility Telemetry.