Set or Remove Time Restrictions in Windows 11 and 10

Windows 11 has no single "time restriction" setting for local users. What looks like one is three separate systems: Active Directory logon hours for work accounts, Microsoft Family Safety for child accounts, and clock sync problems that make Windows think you are outside allowed hours. The counterintuitive part: when you see "Your account has time restrictions that prevent you from signing in at this time," it is almost never a Windows bug. It is either a policy someone set on purpose, or your computer's clock is wrong and Windows is faithfully enforcing a schedule you are actually inside.

If you are staring at "Your account has time restrictions that prevent you from signing in at this time. Please try again later," you are in one of three situations, and each one has a different fix. Most guides cover exactly one of them and ignore the other two. This one covers all three, the failure modes for each, and what to do when the standard advice does not work.

The reason this is confusing: Windows has never shipped a consumer-facing "time restriction" toggle. The effect is produced by enterprise account management (Active Directory), parental controls (Family Safety), or time synchronization — three systems that share nothing except the word "time" and the error message they can produce. If you do not know which one is hitting you, you will waste hours fixing the wrong thing.

What "time restrictions" actually means in Windows

The error message comes from the Windows security subsystem, but the policy behind it lives somewhere else. Here is where:

Active Directory logon hours. If your computer is joined to a domain — typical for work or school machines — your IT department can set a grid of allowed sign-in hours for your account. Outside those hours, Windows refuses to let you log on, whether you are at the physical machine or connecting through Remote Desktop. The grid is set per-user in Active Directory Users and Computers, on the Account tab, under the Logon Hours button. This is an enterprise feature. It has existed since Windows NT domains and has not moved.

Microsoft Family Safety. For child accounts in a Microsoft family group, a parent can set device screen time limits, app limits, and schedules. When the limit hits, the child is locked out or the app closes. This works on Windows 11, Windows 10, Xbox, and Android through the Family Safety app. The parent organizer controls it; the child cannot remove it themselves.

Time synchronization. If your computer's clock drifts far enough from the domain controller's clock, Windows may reject authentication or calculate that you are outside your allowed logon hours when you are not. The Windows Time service (W32Time) is supposed to keep clocks in sync automatically. When it fails, the symptoms look exactly like a time restriction policy — because Windows is comparing your wrong clock against the policy and concluding you are locked out.

There is a fourth thing people search for that is not a time restriction at all: Active Hours. That is Windows restricting itself from restarting for updates during your working time. It is related by name only. I cover it further down because the confusion is real.

"The honest answer," Ethan told Jake over coffee, "is that most people who search for this are chasing the wrong problem. They Google 'remove time restriction Windows 11' and get told to edit Group Policy — but they are on Windows 11 Home, which does not have Group Policy, and their actual problem is a dead CMOS battery resetting the clock to 2010 every boot. The fix they need costs four dollars, not a registry edit."

That is why this guide starts with diagnosis, not fixes.

Which system is blocking you: the two-minute diagnostic

Before you fix anything, identify which of the three systems is producing your symptom. Answer these questions in order:

1. Is the computer from work or school, or does it connect to a work network? If yes, it is probably joined to an Active Directory domain, and logon hours are set by IT.
2. Is the account signed in with a child's Microsoft account, or is there a parent in a Microsoft family group managing it? If yes, Family Safety screen time limits are the cause.
3. Is the computer's clock showing the wrong time, wrong date, or wrong time zone? If yes, fix the clock first — a wrong clock can produce a false "time restrictions" result even when no policy exists.

The fourth row is the one almost no guide covers. A used computer can carry a domain join or a Family Safety enrollment from its previous owner, and both produce time restriction errors that have nothing to do with anything you did.

Fix time sync in Windows 11 Settings (do this first)

This is the free fix that takes 30 seconds and eliminates the most common cause. Do it before anything else, even if you are sure your clock is right — the time zone can be wrong while the clock looks correct, and a wrong time zone shifts your effective logon hours by hours.

Steps in Windows 11 Settings

1. Press Win + I to open Settings.
2. Go to Time & Language on the left, then Date & Time at the top of the right panel.
3. Turn on Set time automatically. This tells Windows to sync its clock with a network time server at regular intervals.
4. Turn on Set time zone automatically. Windows detects your zone from your location or network. If you travel or use a VPN, this can pick the wrong zone — set it manually if the automatic choice is wrong.
5. Scroll down to Additional settings and click Sync now. This forces an immediate sync rather than waiting for the next scheduled one.
6. Check the clock in the taskbar. If it is now correct, reboot and try signing in again. If the error persists, the clock was not your problem — move to the next section.

What each toggle actually does

"Set time automatically" enables the Windows Time service to contact a Network Time Protocol server and correct the system clock. "Set time zone automatically" uses location services or network information to select your UTC offset. When both are on, the clock should self-correct within minutes of connecting to the internet.

When "Set time automatically" is on but the clock is still wrong, the Windows Time service is failing to reach its time source or is configured with a bad source. That is what the command-line fix in the next section addresses.

Fix time sync from the command line (when Settings is not enough)

If the Settings toggles are already on and the clock is still wrong, the Windows Time service itself is the problem. The w32tm command-line tool is Microsoft's documented utility for configuring and troubleshooting it. You need an administrator command prompt.

Diagnose and force a resync

1. Right-click the Start button and choose Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin). Click Yes on the User Account Control prompt.
2. Type w32tm /query /status and press Enter. This shows the current state of the Windows Time service: the stratum (how many hops from the reference clock), the last successful sync time, and the time source.
3. If the output shows the service is running and has a source, type w32tm /resync to force an immediate sync. If it succeeds, the clock should correct within a few seconds.
4. If the resync fails with "The computer did not resync because the required time change was too big" or "no time data was available," the service needs reconfiguring — continue to step 5.
5. Type net stop w32time then net start w32time to restart the service, and try w32tm /resync again.
6. If it still fails, reconfigure the service to use a known-good time server: w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"time.windows.com" /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:no /update then net stop w32time, net start w32time, and w32tm /resync.

The /reliable:no flag tells this machine it is not a time authority for other machines — which is correct for a workstation. If you are fixing a domain controller, the flag and the peer list are different; that is a server administration task, not a workstation fix.

When the service itself is broken

If w32tm /query /status returns "The service has not been started" even after net start w32time, the service registration may be corrupted. The repair documented by Microsoft is to unregister and re-register the service:

1. In the administrator prompt, type w32tm /unregister. This removes the service from the registry.
2. Type w32tm /register. This re-creates the service with default settings.
3. Type net start w32time.
4. Type w32tm /resync.

After re-registering, the service returns to its default configuration and should sync with time.windows.com. If you are on a domain network, the domain controller should take over as the time source automatically.

When the clock resets every boot: the hardware cause

If the clock resets to a past date every time you power on the machine — often something like January 1, 2010, or the BIOS manufacture date — the problem is not software. Desktop and laptop motherboards carry a small battery that keeps the hardware clock running when the machine is unplugged. When that battery dies, the clock resets on every power loss.

The battery is a CR2032 coin cell, the same type used in car key fobs and kitchen scales. It costs a few dollars at any hardware store or pharmacy. Replacing it involves opening the case and swapping the battery on the motherboard — on a desktop this is a five-minute job with a screwdriver; on a modern laptop it may require significant disassembly.

Symptoms of a dead clock battery, beyond the time resetting:

• The BIOS or UEFI shows the wrong date before Windows even loads.
• Windows takes an unusually long time to sign in after a cold boot, because authentication with online services fails until the clock syncs.
• The error appears only after the machine has been powered off overnight, not after a restart (a restart keeps power to the board; a full power-off does not).

"That laptop Jake's customer brought in?" Ethan said. "The one with the 'time restrictions' error on a personal machine? Nine times out of ten, it is that battery. The clock resets, Windows thinks it is 2010, and any policy with a time component goes haywire. You swap the battery, the clock holds, and the error never comes back. I have seen this fix machines that were about to be thrown out."

The software fix — keeping "Set time automatically" on — will correct the clock after Windows boots and connects to the internet. But between power-on and the first successful sync, the machine is running on the wrong clock, and that window is when authentication and logon-hour errors occur. The battery fix eliminates the window.

Remove Microsoft Family Safety screen time limits

If the restriction is on a child account, it is coming from Microsoft Family Safety. This is Microsoft's parental control system, and it works across Windows 11, Windows 10, Xbox, and Android. The parent organizer — the adult who created the family group — is the only person who can change or remove the limits.

Family Safety supports two types of time limits: device limits (how many hours per day the child can use a specific device) and app and game limits (how many hours per day a specific app or game can run). Both can have schedules — allowed hours of the day, not just total time.

Remove limits using the Family Safety app

1. Open the Microsoft Family Safety app on your Windows device. If it is not installed, download it free from the Microsoft Store or Google Play.
2. Sign in with the parent Microsoft account — the organizer of the family group.
3. Select the child's name from the family members list.
4. To remove device time limits: go to Screen time, find the device, and either turn off the limit toggle or set the allowed time to the maximum.
5. To remove app and game limits: go to App and game limits, find the specific app, and turn off its limit or set it to unlimited.
6. To remove a schedule (time-of-day restriction): in the screen time or app limit settings, remove the blocked hours or set the schedule to allow all hours.

Remove limits using the Family Safety website

1. Open a browser and go to account.microsoft.com/family.
2. Sign in with the parent organizer's Microsoft account.
3. Find the child's name and click Screen time or Content restrictions.
4. Adjust or remove device limits, app limits, and schedules the same way as in the app.
5. Changes apply to the child's devices within a few minutes — the child may need to sign out and sign back in for device limits to refresh.

When Family Safety limits do not work (or will not come off)

Family Safety is reliable when the child's device is properly connected to the family group, but several failure modes produce confusing symptoms:

The child's device is not connected to the family group. If the child signed in with a local account instead of their Microsoft account, or if the device was never added to the family, the limits do not apply. Fix: have the child sign in with their Microsoft account, and verify the device appears in the parent's Family Safety dashboard under the child's profile.

Limits appear removed but the child is still blocked. The child may need to sign out and back in for changes to take effect. On Windows, the Family Safety settings refresh at sign-in, not continuously. A reboot also forces a refresh.

The child removed themselves from the family group. Microsoft allows family members over a certain age to leave a family group from their own account settings. If the child left, all limits stop applying — which looks like Family Safety "not working" from the parent's side. Fix: send a new family group invitation and have the child rejoin.

A used computer has a previous owner's family settings. If you bought a machine and the previous owner's child account is still signed in or the device is still enrolled in their family group, you inherit their restrictions. Fix: sign out of all Microsoft accounts on the device, remove the device from the previous owner's Family Safety dashboard (if you can contact them), or perform a clean reinstall of Windows.

You are the parent and you cannot sign in to Family Safety. The parent organizer account is the Microsoft account that created the family group. If you do not know which account that is, check your email for messages from Microsoft Family Safety — they go to the organizer's address. If the organizer account is inaccessible, Microsoft support can verify identity and help recover access, but this is a support-ticket process, not a self-service fix.

Remove Active Directory logon hour restrictions

If your computer is from work or school, it is probably joined to an Active Directory domain. In AD, administrators can set "logon hours" — a weekly grid of hours during which each user is allowed to sign in. Outside those hours, sign-in is refused with the exact error this article is about.

You cannot remove this yourself. The setting lives on the domain controller, not on your computer. If you try to sign in at 11 PM on a machine where your logon hours end at 6 PM, Windows will refuse — and no amount of local settings changes will override it.

What to ask your IT administrator

If you need your logon hours changed, contact IT and ask them to:

1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers on a domain controller or management workstation.
2. Find your user account and double-click it to open Properties.
3. Go to the Account tab and click Logon Hours.
4. In the grid, blue means allowed and white means denied. To allow 24/7 sign-in, select all hours and set them to allowed. To give specific hours, drag across the grid.
5. Click OK to save. The change applies within minutes — no reboot needed on the workstation.

IT can also apply logon hours to groups of users through Group Policy, but the per-user method in Active Directory Users and Computers is the standard approach for individual changes.

"Logon hours are a sledgehammer," Ethan said. "They were designed for factory floors and shift workers — machines where the company genuinely does not want you logged in after your shift ends. For an office worker who occasionally needs to sign in at 8 PM to finish a report, they are the wrong tool. But IT departments set them because they are easy to configure and hard to argue with. If you are hitting this wall, the conversation with IT is not 'remove my restrictions' — it is 'here is the business reason I need access outside these hours.' That conversation goes better than a complaint."

Remote Desktop and time-of-day restrictions

Remote Desktop sessions are subject to the same Active Directory logon hours as local sign-ins. If your AD account is restricted to 6 AM–6 PM and you try to RDP into a work machine at 9 PM, the connection is refused with the time restrictions error.

But there is a second policy that specifically controls what happens when a Remote Desktop session is already active and the logon hours expire. This is where most guides stop — they tell you the error exists but not that there is a distinct setting for what happens next.

"Force logoff" vs "Disconnect" when hours expire

Windows has two Group Policy settings that control the end-of-hours behavior:

• Network security: Force logoff when logon hours expire — located at Computer Configuration → Windows Settings → Security Settings → Local Policies → Security Options. When enabled, the user is fully logged off when hours expire, not just disconnected.
• Microsoft network server: Disconnect clients when logon hours expire — also under Security Options. This disconnects SMB sessions but does not necessarily log the user off.

The distinction matters: a disconnected Remote Desktop session keeps the user's session alive on the server — their apps are still running, their unsaved work is still in memory. A logged-off session terminates everything. If users complain about losing work when hours expire, the "Force logoff" policy is the cause.

Change the policy (administrator)

1. Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter. This requires Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education — Home does not include the Group Policy Editor.
2. Navigate to Computer Configuration → Windows Settings → Security Settings → Local Policies → Security Options.
3. Double-click Network security: Force logoff when logon hours expire.
4. Set it to Enabled to force a full logoff, or Disabled to allow disconnected sessions to persist.
5. Click OK, then run gpupdate /force in an administrator command prompt to apply the change immediately.

On Windows 11 Home, you cannot use gpedit.msc. The registry equivalent for this specific policy is under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters, but changing security policy through the registry on Home is undocumented territory for this setting — if you need this level of control, you need Pro.

How to set time limits on Windows (for adults and kids)

Here is the part most guides gloss over: Windows 11 has no built-in time restriction for adult local accounts. None. If you want to limit your own computer use — or set a schedule for a teenager who is too old for Family Safety — you are choosing between the options below.

Focus sessions: the built-in option most people do not know exists

Windows 11 includes Focus sessions in the Clock app — a timer that mutes notifications, optionally plays ambient sound, and tracks your focus streaks. It does not lock you out of anything; it is a self-discipline tool, not an enforcement tool. If your goal is "work for 25 minutes without checking Slack," Focus sessions do that. If your goal is "stop using the computer at 10 PM," they do not.

To use it: open the Clock app from the Start menu, go to Focus sessions, set a duration, and click Start. Windows mutes notifications and optionally displays a do-not-disturb mode. When the timer ends, everything returns to normal. There is no lock, no password, no enforcement — just the timer.

Task Scheduler: the blunt-instrument approach

If you genuinely want the computer to become unusable after a certain hour — for yourself or for a household member on a local account — Windows can do it with Task Scheduler and a shutdown command. This works on any edition including Home.

1. Press Win + R, type taskschd.msc, and press Enter.
2. Click Create Basic Task in the right panel.
3. Name it something clear — "Evening shutdown" — and click Next.
4. Choose Daily and set the trigger time (for example, 10:00 PM). Click Next.
5. Choose Start a program and click Next.
6. In the Program/script field, type shutdown. In the Arguments field, type /s /f /t 300. The 300 is seconds — this gives a five-minute warning before the machine powers off. Click Next and Finish.

Every night at the set time, Windows displays a five-minute countdown and then shuts down. Unsaved work is lost (that is what /f does — it forces running applications to close). If someone is an administrator on the machine, they can open Task Scheduler and delete the task in ten seconds, so this is a reminder, not a security boundary.

"I set that up for my daughter's desktop," Jake said. "She is fourteen, her account is a local account because she does not have an email address, and Family Safety wants a Microsoft account for everyone. The Task Scheduler thing works — the computer just goes off at ten. She is not happy about it, but that was never the goal."

"It is a blunt tool," Ethan replied. "No grace period, no 'five more minutes,' no per-app distinction. But for a household that needs a hard stop and does not want to buy anything or manage Microsoft accounts for children too young to have them, it is the built-in answer. Just be honest about what it is: a scheduled power-off, not a parental control system."

Active Hours: the time restriction Windows sets on itself

Windows Update has its own time restriction: Active Hours. This is the window during which Windows promises not to restart your computer to install updates. Outside your active hours, Windows can restart automatically, closing everything you had open.

This is not the same as user time restrictions — it does not lock you out, it controls when Windows restarts for updates — but the names are close enough that people search for one and find the other.

Set your Active Hours

1. Open Settings and go to Windows Update.
2. Click Advanced options.
3. Under Active hours, click the dropdown and set your start and end times. Windows will not restart for updates during this window.
4. Alternatively, turn on Automatically adjust active hours for this device based on activity. Windows learns when you actually use the machine and sets the window itself.

If you are getting restarts during your working day, the automatic adjustment is worth enabling — it tracks actual sign-in patterns rather than relying on you to guess a fixed window. The trade-off is that you are trusting Windows to notice your schedule, and it occasionally gets it wrong on machines with irregular use patterns.

What this is NOT: Software Restriction Policies and other look-alikes

Several Windows features produce errors that contain the word "restrictions" but have nothing to do with time. If you landed here searching for one of these, here is the redirect:

Software Restriction Policies (SRP) — "This program is blocked by group policy" is SRP, not time restrictions. SRP is a Group Policy feature that controls which programs can run, based on file path, hash, or certificate. It lives at Computer Configuration → Windows Settings → Security Settings → Software Restriction Policies. If you are getting a "blocked by group policy" error, you have an SRP or AppLocker issue, not a time issue.

AppLocker — The modern replacement for SRP, available on Enterprise and Education editions only. Produces "This app has been blocked by your system administrator" errors. Also not time-related.

Controlled Folder Access — "Controlled folder access has blocked an unauthorized change" is Defender's ransomware protection. Not time-related.

The rule of thumb: if the error mentions time or hours, it is one of the three systems in this article. If it mentions programs, apps, or files, it is a different policy entirely.

Windows 10: what still works and what does not

Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025. It no longer receives free security updates — though Extended Security Updates (ESU) are available through October 2027 for enrolled devices. The machine still boots, activates, and runs; it is not dead. But every fix in this article should be weighed against the fact that the operating system underneath it is no longer being patched.

The time restriction systems work the same way on Windows 10 as on Windows 11:

The steps for fixing time sync, removing Family Safety limits, and asking IT about logon hours are identical on both operating systems. The only difference worth noting is Focus sessions, which is a Windows 11 feature and does not exist on 10.

When nothing works: the last-resort fixes

If you have fixed the clock, confirmed you are not in a family group, and you are certain the machine is not on a domain, but the error persists, here is what is left:

Check if the machine is actually domain-joined. You might not know it is. Open Settings → Accounts → Access work or school. If there is an account listed there with a domain name, the machine is connected to an organization, and logon hours could be set through that connection even if you signed in with a personal Microsoft account. Disconnect it if the connection is no longer needed.

Check for a leftover Microsoft account with Family Safety. Settings → Accounts → Family & other users. If there is an account listed under "Your family" that you did not create, or a child account from a previous owner, that account may be the source. Remove it if you are the administrator.

Create a new local administrator account and sign in with it. If the error follows the account, not the machine, the restriction is tied to the account — which points to Family Safety or a domain account. If the new account signs in fine, the problem is specific to the original account's enrollment. You can migrate your files to the new account and use it instead.

Reset or reinstall Windows. This is the nuclear option, and it works because it removes every account, every policy, and every domain connection in one pass. Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC. Choose "Keep my files" if you want to preserve data, or "Remove everything" if the machine is being handed to someone new. After the reset, sign in with a fresh account and the time restriction error cannot follow, because nothing from the old configuration survived.

What we cannot help with: if your account is on a domain and IT has set logon hours, no local fix will override it. The policy is enforced by the domain controller, not your machine. The only path is through your IT department. If you do not know who manages your domain, the error message itself is your clue — it means someone, somewhere, has administrative control over your sign-in schedule, and you need to find out who.

Frequently asked questions

Why does Windows say I have time restrictions when I am the only user?

Three possibilities: your clock is wrong and Windows is comparing it against a policy that does not exist (fix the clock), your Microsoft account is enrolled in a family group with limits (remove the enrollment), or the machine is domain-joined without your knowledge (check Settings → Accounts → Access work or school).

Can I set time limits on Windows 11 for myself as an adult?

Not with a built-in lockout. Focus sessions in the Clock app provide a timer and notification, but do not enforce anything. For a hard stop, use Task Scheduler to run a shutdown command at a set time, or use a third-party screen time tool that supports self-imposed limits with enforcement.

How do I remove time restrictions in Windows 10?

The same three fixes apply: fix time sync in Settings → Time & Language → Date & Time, remove Family Safety limits from the parent's account at account.microsoft.com/family, or ask IT to remove Active Directory logon hours. Windows 10 and 11 handle all three identically.

What does "Your account has time restrictions" mean?

Your account is restricted to sign in only during certain hours. This is set by Active Directory logon hours for domain accounts, or by a wrong system clock making Windows think you are outside hours when you are not. The message itself is Windows faithfully reporting a policy, not an error.

How do I turn off screen time restrictions in Family Safety?

The parent organizer opens the Family Safety app or account.microsoft.com/family, selects the child, goes to Screen time or App and game limits, and turns off the limit toggles or sets them to unlimited. The child cannot remove these themselves.

How do I fix Windows not setting time automatically?

Open Settings → Time & Language → Date & Time. Turn on "Set time automatically" and "Set time zone automatically," then click "Sync now." If the clock is still wrong after that, open an administrator command prompt and run w32tm /resync. If that fails, restart the Windows Time service with net stop w32time and net start w32time, then resync again.

Can I set logon hours for a local user (not a domain account)?

No. Windows 11 and 10 do not support time-of-day logon restrictions for local accounts. Logon hours are an Active Directory feature for domain accounts. For local accounts, you can set account expiration (when the account stops working entirely) in Local Users and Groups, but not time-of-day restrictions.

How do I remove a time-of-day restriction from Remote Desktop?

The restriction comes from Active Directory logon hours set on your domain account. Contact your IT administrator — they need to open Active Directory Users and Computers, find your account, go to the Account tab, click Logon Hours, and set the grid to allow the hours you need. There is no local override.

Why is my Windows time wrong even with automatic sync on?

The Windows Time service may be failing to reach its time source, the service may be stopped, or the hardware clock battery may be dead and resetting the clock on every power-off. Run w32tm /query /status in an administrator prompt to see the service state. If the clock resets to a past date on every cold boot, the CR2032 motherboard battery is the cause.

How do I restrict screen time on a laptop for my child?

Use Microsoft Family Safety. Create a Microsoft account for your child, add them to your family group at account.microsoft.com/family, sign them in on the laptop with that account, then set device and app limits from the Family Safety app or website. The limits apply automatically on the child's next sign-in.

What is the difference between "Force logoff" and "Disconnect" for Remote Desktop?

"Disconnect" leaves the user's session running on the server — apps stay open, unsaved work stays in memory. "Force logoff" (the Group Policy setting "Network security: Force logoff when logon hours expire") terminates the session entirely. The difference is whether the user's work survives the hour expiration.

Can I use Family Safety on a local account?

No. Family Safety requires the child to sign in with a Microsoft account that is a member of your family group. Local accounts are invisible to Family Safety. If the child does not have a Microsoft account, you can create one during the family group setup, or use Task Scheduler with a shutdown command as an alternative enforcement method.

How do I set a time limit on a specific app in Windows?

For a child account, Family Safety supports app and game limits — you can set a daily time allowance for individual apps and games. For an adult account, Windows does not have a built-in per-app time limit. You would need a third-party tool for that level of control.

I bought a used computer and it has time restrictions. How do I remove them?

Check Settings → Accounts → Access work or school (for a domain connection) and Settings → Accounts → Family & other users (for a family enrollment). Remove any connections or accounts you did not create. If the error persists, create a new local administrator account and use it, or reset Windows entirely — Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC.

What is "rest time" on a computer?

If you are asking about scheduled break reminders, Windows 11 Focus sessions in the Clock app can do a version of this — set a timer, get a notification when it ends, and take a break. Windows does not have a built-in feature that forces you to stop using the computer for rest. For enforced breaks, you need a third-party tool or a Task Scheduler approach.

Why does my clock keep resetting to the wrong time?

If it resets only after the machine has been powered off (not after a restart), the CR2032 battery on the motherboard is dead. This battery keeps the hardware clock running when the machine is unplugged. It costs a few dollars and takes minutes to replace on a desktop, longer on a laptop. Until it is replaced, "Set time automatically" will correct the clock after boot, but the machine runs on the wrong time during startup.

Revision note. Written September 2026, covering Windows 11 25H2 and Windows 10 22H2. The Active Directory logon hours system has not changed in years and is unlikely to. Family Safety evolves as Microsoft updates the service — app names and menu locations may shift. If a future Windows update moves the time sync settings or renames the Family Safety sections, this article will need a revision. If you have been locked out by a policy you did not set and spent an evening fighting it — you were not doing anything wrong, and the fact that you got here means you are one step from the right fix.