How to Fix Automatic Date and Time Greyed Out on iPhone

Can’t figure out why the automatic date and time option is greyed out on your iPhone?

Recently, there have been reports from some iPhone users who encounter issues with the data and time settings on their devices. As it turns out, the ‘Set Automatically’ option for their iPhone’s date and time is greyed out. 

When this happens, you cannot enable/disable the feature, which prevents you from configuring your device’s date and time manually. 

There are several reasons why this issue occurs. 

Usually, our iOS devices use your location to automatically set the clock to the correct time zone. However, some users prefer setting the date and time on their phones manually to adjust for whatever needs they have. 

If you are struggling to disable or enable the auto date and time function on your iPhone, we’ve got you covered. 

Today, we will show you how to fix automatic date and time if it’s greyed out on your iPhone. 

Let’s jump right in!

1. Restart Your iPhone. 

Before tweaking your configurations, we suggest restarting your iPhone if you encounter issues with the date and time settings. This should reload your resources and eliminate temporary errors that may have occurred during use. 

For iPhone X, 11, 12, or later: 

1. Hold down the Volume Down button and Side button until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt appears. 
2. Now, drag the slider to the right and wait for 30 seconds. 
3. Press the Side button afterward to turn on your device. 

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For iPhone 6, 7, 8, or SE: 

1. Locate the Power button on your device. 
2. Now, hold the button until the ‘Slide to Power Off’ prompt shows up.
3. Drag the slider to the right and wait for 30 seconds before turning on your device. 

Head back to the settings and see if you can now enable or disable the automatic date and time feature. 

2. Check Screen Time Sharing. 

If you enable share screen time information sharing across your Apple devices, it will lock your date and time settings so you can get accurate reporting of your time on all your devices, such as iPhones and Apple Watch. 

If you are not using this feature, it may have been accidentally turned on. See the steps below to rule this out: 

1. Access the Settings on your iOS device. 
2. Next, go to Screen Time and scroll down to the Share Across Devices section. 
3. Make sure that the toggle switch beside this option is set to ‘Off’. 

Now, head to Settings > General > Date & Time to see if you can now toggle the ‘Set Automatically’ option on and off. 

3. Disable Screen Time Passcode. 

Screen Time is a feature introduced in iOS 12 that allows users to restrict application usage depending on the time and date. If you have this feature enabled with a passcode, your automatic date and time settings will be restricted to prevent individuals from changing the date and time to access applications. 

If you don’t want this feature and need to configure your date and time settings, see the steps below to disable the passcode for Screen Time. 

1. First, go to your home screen and tap on the Settings app. 
2. Inside the settings, scroll down and access the Screen Time tab. 
3. Tap on Change Screen Time Passcode and choose Turn Off Screen Time Passcode. When prompted, enter your passcode to disable the feature. 

Once done, restart your iOS device and see if you can now manually change the date and time on your iPhone. 

4. Check Your Location Services Settings. 

There’s also a possibility that the ‘Setting Time Zone’ option is enabled on your Location Services settings, which explains why the ‘Set Automatically’ option is disabled from your settings. 

To fix this, follow the steps below to tweak your location services configurations: 

1. Head to the Settings app on your iOS device. 
2. After that, go to Privacy > Location Services.
3. Scroll down to System Services and turn off the Setting Time Zone option. 

Restart your device, and you should now be able to change the date and time on your iPhone. 

5. Update Your iOS Device. 

There might be an issue with the version of iOS you’re using that causes the automatic date and time settings to be greyed out. To rule this out, try updating your device to the latest version available. 

Check out the steps below to update your iPhone: 

1. Open the Settings app on your iOS device. 
2. After that, go to General > Software Update. 
3. Finally, go to Automatic Updates and enable all the options under it. Head back to the previous page and tap on Download and Install. 

Once done, go back to the settings and see if you can now toggle the automatic date and time settings. 

6. Reset Your iPhone Settings. 

You can also try resetting your iPhone’s settings if you still encounter issues with the automatic date and time feature. This should roll back any changes on your configurations that cause the feature to be unavailable. 

Follow the guide below to reset your settings: 

1. First, go to your home screen and launch the Settings app. 
2. After that, tap on General and access the Transfer or Reset iPhone tab. 
3. Now, choose Reset and tap on Reset All Settings. 

Wait for your device to restart and check if the problem is solved. 

7. Contact Apple Support. 

At this point, the last thing we can recommend is to let the professionals take over the situation. 

Visit Apple’s support page and browse the guides available on their page and see if you can find viable solutions. On the other hand, you can also speak with a representative to ask for assistance regarding the issue. 

When asking for help, make sure to provide important details like the exact model of your iPhone, the version of iOS it’s running, and the screenshot of the problem. 

This should help Apple’s team assess the situation and provide the best solution for your problem. 

That ends our guide on how to fix the automatic date and time feature if it’s greyed out on your iPhone. If you have questions or other concerns, please let us know in the comment section, and we’ll do our best to respond. 

If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂