How to Prevent Users from Changing the Date and Time in Windows

By default, Windows users can easily change the Date and Time, especially in single-user conditions with administrative privileges. For a shared computer, if you are the administrator and don’t want any other users to change the Date and Time, you have the right to effortlessly prevent users from changing the Date and Time by using the following methods in this NewsPivot post.

Issue: How to Prevent Users from Changing the Date and Time in Windows

Help: I'm having an issue with Family Safety. While setting the time limit on a kid's PC works fine, it's really easy to get around it, just changing the Time on the device is enough to make the limit not work.
Is there any way to disable the ability to change Time and Date?answers.microsoft.com

Take this condition into consideration that as an owner, you share a computer with others, but someone may change the settings without your approval, or permission. Or, people in a company change the Date and Time on their PCs individually, leading to inconsistent computer settings. So, if you are an administrator, what should you do to prevent users from changing the Date and Time?

Method 1: Prevent Changing by Using Registry Editor

To prevent Windows users from changing the Date and Time, you can use the Registry Editor as an administrator. Here are the detailed steps.

Step 1: Press the Windows + R together to open the Run command dialog box.

Step 2: Type regedit in the field and hit Enter to continue.

Step 3: In the pop-up windows, navigate to the target key with the following path:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power

Step 4:  You need to find a file called International. If the International folder doesn’t exist, you need to create one. To do this, right-click on Power and select New > Key. Then name it International.

Step 5: Next, right-click on International and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Step 6: Name the newly created value PreventUserOverrides and double-click it. Then change the value to 1 and click OK.

After finishing the above process and ensuring the changes are saved in the Registry window, you are recommended to restart your computer.

If you want to negate this restriction, you can follow the above tutorial to open the Registry Editor and delete the PreventUserOverrides DWORD value or change this value to 0.

Method 2: Prevent Changing by Using Local Group Policy Editor

If you are an administrator who manages several computers in an organization and wishes to restrict users from changing the Date and Time, you can also use the Local Group Policy Editor to stop users from changing the Date and Time. Here’s the procedure to change the settings for users.

Step 1: Press Win + R to open the Run window.

Step 2: Type the command gpedit.msc and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor

Step 3: Shift to the following path:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Locale Services

Step 4: Double-click Disallow user override of locale settings to open its properties window.

Step 5: Change the state of this policy to Enabled and clickOK.

Now there are two things you should know. First, when it is enabled, local users can still select alternate locales installed on the system unless blocked by another policy. However, they will not be able to customize those selections. Second, this system will apply to all users, not a specific one.

Editing the group policy is the most effective way because it will restrict Windows users from customizing their locale by changing their user overrides. Changing this policy will supersede any user-specific settings. If you want to modify this policy again, you need to reset the restriction from the Local Group Policy Editor.

Bottom Line

For a shared computer, restrictions on the Date and Time are necessary. Some people tend to prevent users from changing the Date and Time in Windows for diverse reasons, such as security concerns, usage requirements, etc. If you are one of them, try the above methods to complete the setting. Hope this helps!