Why is the set automatically greyed out iPhone?

Can’t change the time on your iPhone? Some users are finding the ‘Set Automatically’ option for their iPhone’s Date & Time is grayed out and, therefore, inaccessible. This happens for a number of reasons, which we’ll discuss below.

Typically an iOS device uses its location to automatically set the clock to the appropriate time zone. However, there are plenty of reasons you might not want it to do so: changing the time zone to a few hours early, making your clock fast to avoid being late, or maintaining a constant time on your device regardless of location.

Whatever the reason, you need to be able to turn off the Set Automatically option in your Date & Time settings. And, if it’s grayed out or can’t be turned off, try out the troubleshooting tips in this post to fix it.

Related:

• There’s a widespread time zone bug in iOS 11 & iOS 12 — Here’s what you need to know
• iPhone 5’s time and date not working properly, showing wrong time
• iPhone Searching or No Service, how-to fix

Contents

• How do you change the time in iOS?
• Check Screen Time’s share setting
  • Turn off Screen Time’s share across devices feature
• Turn off your Screen Time passcode
  • How to turn off the Screen Time passcode:
  • Or turn off Screen Time altogther
• Change your Location Services.
  • How to turn off the automatic time zone locations in iOS:
• Check your carrier settings.
  • How to update carrier settings on iOS:
• Restart or restore your iPhone.

How do you change the time in iOS?

You should be able to change the date and time on your device by going to Settings > General > Date & Time.

Ideally, you’d be able to turn off the Set Automatically button and manually input your preferred date and time. Of course, if you were able to turn off the button you wouldn’t be reading this post in the first place. 

Make sure you return to this page in your iPhone settings after each troubleshooting step below to find out if you’ve fixed the problem.

When you share screen time information across device, iOS and iPadOS lock your device’s Date & Time settings so you get accurate reporting of your time on all your device’s screen.

When you turn on Share Across Devices in Screen Time that this grays out the Set Automatically option for your device’s Date & Time.

So try turning this off, and see if you can now adjust your date and time settings.

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time
2. Scroll down to Share Across Devices and toggle it off
   
3. Go to Settings > General > Date & Time
4. Confirm you can toggle Set Automatically on or off and that it’s not grayed out

Turning Screen Time off also accomplishes this task.

Turn off your Screen Time passcode

Screen Time was introduced in iOS 12 and allows you to restrict app usage based on certain times of the day. It’s great not just for personal productivity, but also to control the technology use of children.

If Screen Time has been turned on with a passcode — recommended if kids are about — then it’ll block you from being able to turn off the automatic date and time setting. This stops clever miscreants from simply changing the time whenever they want to bypass the Screen Time restrictions.

You can remedy it by turning off your Screen Time passcode, making any date and time changes you want, then turning the passcode back on again.

How to turn off the Screen Time passcode:

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time
2. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode
3. Then tap Turn Off Screen Time Passcode
4. Enter your Screen Time Passcode

Or turn off Screen Time altogther

Another option is to temporarily turn off Screen Time and see if you can now toggle Set Automatically on or off.

How to turn off the Screen Time

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time
2. Scroll down and tap Turn off Screen Time
   
3. Enter your Screen Time passcode
4. Check Settings > General > Date & Time and see if you can now toggle Set Automatically 

Change your Location Services.

Your iPhone uses its location to find the right time zone. The first thing to do is turn this feature off in Location Services to see if that lets you manually change the time.

How to turn off the automatic time zone locations in iOS:

1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services
2. Scroll to System Services
3. Turn off the Setting Time Zone button

Be sure to turn the Setting Time Zone button back on if you want your iPhone to be able to automatically set the date and time in the future.

Check your carrier settings.

Some mobile carriers don’t allow you to turn off the automatic date and time settings on your device. You’ll first want to update your carrier settings and then contact your carrier directly to find out.

How to update carrier settings on iOS:

1. Go to Settings > General > About
2. Wait 30 seconds, allowing your device to check for an update
3. That’s it! If nothing happens you’re already up-to-date

If a carrier settings update doesn’t help matters you could call your carrier directly. They’ll be able to tell you if their policy allows you to manually set the date and time.

Restart or restore your iPhone.

If you’ve gotten this far with no other solution it’s likely that a software error is causing the problem. 

Perform a simple restart on your device by holding the power button until you’re prompted to slide across the screen to power off. Wait 10 seconds before powering on again.

Once the iPhone has restarted return to the settings to see if ‘Set Automatically’ is grayed out still. If so, it’s time for a restore.

A restore will return your device to factory settings, so you’ll want to make a backup on iCloud or iTunes first. Once you’ve done that, restore your device using the instructions below and then recover all your data from the backup.

How to factory reset an iPhone:

1. Go to Settings > General > Reset
2. Choose to Erase All Content and Settings
3. Enter your Apple ID and passcode when prompted

It’s about time we got all that sorted. If you found the help you need, please let us know in the comments below. 

Dan writes tutorials and troubleshooting guides to help people make the most of their technology. Before becoming a writer, he earned a BSc in Sound Technology, supervised repairs at an Apple Store, and even taught English in China.