Tech brief

Clocks Fall Back Sunday, Nov. 1: Which Gadgets Fix Themselves and Which Need You

By , Tech Cheat Codes Team

Published 4 min read

Illustration: a phone, a microwave, a car dashboard and a bedside alarm clock in a row, with the phone showing the right time and the others showing an hour ahead.
Image: Illustration: Tech Cheat Codes
On this page · 3 sections
  1. The ones that fix themselves
  2. The ones you fix by hand
  3. Where the clocks don't change

At 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, daylight saving time ends in most of the US and the clocks go back to 1 a.m. You get the extra hour of sleep. You also get a week of walking into the kitchen and finding the microwave an hour ahead of everything else you own.

Most of the gadgets you touch all day will handle it without you. The ones that won't are mostly the ones with a plain number display and no internet connection.

The ones that fix themselves

Your phone, whether it's an iPhone or an Android, changes on its own as long as it's set to update the time automatically. Laptops and desktops do the same. So do smartwatches, which follow the phone they're paired with, and most smart TVs, streaming boxes and game consoles that are online.

Smart speakers and smart displays usually fix themselves too, and so do most cable and satellite boxes. Many newer cars with a connected system or built-in navigation will also update, though some wait until the car gets a GPS fix after you start it.

If your phone is the one that's wrong on Sunday morning, it's usually a setting. On an iPhone, go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. On Android, go to Settings > System > Date & time and turn on automatic date and time (the names shift a bit between Samsung, Pixel and other brands). Toggle it off and back on if it's already enabled and still wrong.

Illustration: a microwave with its Clock button lit and the display blinking an hour ahead. The microwave is usually the first one you'll notice. Illustration: Tech Cheat Codes

The ones you fix by hand

Gadget Changes itself?
Phone, tablet, laptop Yes
Smartwatch Yes
Smart TV or streaming box Usually
Smart speaker or display Usually
Cable or satellite box Usually
Newer connected car Usually
Older car dashboard No
Microwave No
Oven or stove No
Basic alarm clock No
Coffee maker No
Wall or analog clock No
Thermostat Wi-Fi models only
Camera or dashcam Often not
Older DVR or VCR No

The microwave is the easy one. Press Clock (or hold Start or Timer on some models), type the new time, and press Start. Ovens and stoves vary, but it's usually a Clock button, or a Clock and Timer pair you hold together, then the plus and minus keys to move the hour back and a press to lock it in. If the manual is long gone, the model number and "set clock" in a search box will find it.

Car dashboards are the one people put off for months. Most have a Clock or Settings button on the radio or the instrument cluster, and some older cars hide the hour and minute buttons right next to the display itself. Hold one and tap the other until the hour is right. Don't do this while you're driving.

Alarm clocks and coffee makers usually want you to hold a Time or Set button and use the hour and minute buttons. It matters more for the alarm than for the coffee, since an alarm that's an hour off means a wrong wake-up. A battery-powered wall clock is simpler: take it off the wall and turn the small wheel on the back. If it chimes, don't spin the hands backward. Move them forward 11 hours instead.

Illustration: a car dashboard with a small clock display and its hour and minute buttons beside it. Older dashboards hide the clock buttons. Illustration: Tech Cheat Codes

Cameras and dashcams are the sneaky ones. Nothing breaks if the time is wrong, but the timestamp on your photos and driving video will be off by an hour, and that matters if you ever need the footage for an insurance claim. It takes a minute in the camera's date and time menu.

Thermostats are a mixed bag. Wi-Fi models like Nest, Ecobee and Honeywell Home sync on their own. Basic programmable ones don't, and an hour of drift means the heat comes on at the wrong time. Older DVRs and VCRs need the same manual fix if you still record anything on them.

Where the clocks don't change

Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the other US territories stay on the same time all year, and so does most of Arizona. The Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona is the exception and does change. If you live in one of those places, leave your clocks alone. Your time difference with places that do change shifts by an hour until clocks spring forward in March.

Saturday night is also a fine time to put a fresh battery in your smoke alarms.

If you're in a hurry Sunday morning, start with the car and the microwave, since those are the two you'll look at the most.