How to fix an error that occurred while synchronizing Windows

 

Your Windows PC's date and time app goes well beyond just showing the date and time. There are many Windows services that require correct date and time settings, for example Windows Update, without which you would miss some very important updates in time, or you might miss a Windows Store app download in time.

Microsoft long ago introduced an automatic clock synchronization service that allows the Windows operating system to manage the date and time settings in line with the time zone. This helped avoid problems with the Windows services that arise due to the date and time settings. Microsoft also recommends users to synchronize time settings with time.windows.com, an online server.

When time.windows.com fails to sync with Windows operating system, then your Windows PC encounters “ There was an error synchronizing Windows ” issue . It is clearly the time service that has been affected and for some reason has stopped running.

However, it is a fairly common problem and can be solved easily. Let's see how.

Method 1: By starting the Windows time service

Step 1: Simultaneously press the Windows + R keys on your keyboard to open the Run command.

Step 2: In the search box , type run command services.msc .

Press OK to open the Service Manager window .

Step 3: In theService Manager window, go to the right side of the pane. Now look for Windows Time in the Name column .

Right click and restart the service.

Step 4: After that, double-click the Windows Time service to open its Properties dialog box . On the General tab , go to Startup type and set it to Automatic .

Step 5: Now go to the service status and check if it is already running. If not, click Start to start the service.

Press Apply and then OK to save changes and exit.

Now you can proceed with your Windows Update or an app download from the Microsoft Store. If you still get the error, you can try the second method.

Method 2: Using Command Prompt

Step 1: Navigate to the Start button and type command prompt in the search box .

Step 2: Now right-click on the result and select Run as administrator to run Command Prompt with administrator privileges. p>

Step 3: In theCommand Prompt (Admin Mode) window, run the following commands one by one and press Enter after each command :

Net stop w32time

w32tm /unregister

w32tm /register

Net start w32time

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:pool.ntp.org /syncfromflags:manual /update

This will stop the Windows Time service, unregister it, reregister it, and start the service again.

You can restart your computer and the error should be resolved. You can easily update your Windows or download a Windows Store app.

How to sync time settings with Time.Windows.Com

Before trying to troubleshoot, make sure you have synchronized the time settings with the online server time.windows.com. That's how it's done.

Step 1:  Search timedate.cpl in Windows 10 search box.

Step 2: Click on timedate.cpl

Step 5: Then click Change date and time in the Date and Time tab of the dialog box .

Step 6: Now select Internet Time tab and click on Change Settings button .

Step 7: In the Internet Time Settings dialog box , check the box next to Synchronize with an Internet time server .

Now click the Update Now button next to Server .

Press OK to save the changes. You return to the Date and Time dialog box . Here, press the OK button again to finally save the changes and exit.

Once you have finished syncing Windows with the online server time.windows.com everything should be fine, but if you are still getting the error message " An error occurred while synchronizing Windows " problem on your Windows PC, then you need to proceed with the following solutions.