Incorrect Time Zone After Autopilot Deployment

When a user or admin provisions a Windows device using Autopilot, after deployment is completed successfully, the user may notice that the correct time zone is not getting updated successfully. This issue is particularly prevalent in scenarios involving an Incorrect Time Zone After Autopilot Deployment.

This article explores the root cause of the Incorrect Time Zone After Autopilot Deployment issue and provides step-by-step solutions to ensure that devices deployed via Autopilot correctly update their time zones based on the user’s geographic location.

Issue: Incorrect Time Zone After Autopilot Deployment

the admin says, I have configured the Autopilot profile with the correct Region, but after the device completed the Autopilot deployment the correct time zone is not set according to the region configured on the profile, and the time zone is configured to Pacific Standard Time (UTC-08:00)

Analysis: Incorrect time zone after Autopilot deployment

The issue arises because the automatic time zone setting is disabled by default in Windows. Without this setting enabled, devices rely on the default time zone (Pacific Time, UTC-08:00) and do not update based on the user’s geographic location.

from the setupact logs

Info [CloudExperienceHostBroker.exe] Set time zone to [Pacific Standard Time]

But currently, Microsoft Intune does not provide a native feature to enable automatic time zone updates directly, so how to solve this issue?

Solution: Incorrect time zone after Autopilot deployment

There are two options to solve this issue, either to set a specific time zone via settings catalog or custom OMA-URI policy and deploy it for each region profile, this will set a specific time zone for the device, but if the user travel to different location the time will not change as the time zone is not set automatically

the other solution will be to set the time zone to update automatically, this will need to be completed via script

Let’s explain the two solutions in details

First Solution: Configure a manual time zone

Using settings catalog profile:

1. In Microsoft Endpoint Manager, go to Devices > Configuration profiles > +Create New Policy> Settings catalog

To get the list of available time zones, run Get-TimeZone -ListAvailable in PowerShell.

Using OMA-URI custom profile:

OMA-URI: ./Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/TimeLanguageSettings/ConfigureTimeZone

Second Solution: Deploy a PowerShell script to enable Automatic Time Zone

To allow Windows to automatically detect and update the time zone based on the device’s location, follow these steps:

1. Enable Location Access for Apps: We need to deploy an MDM setting to allow apps to use Location services
   • Navigate to Devices > Configuration in the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center.
   • Create a Settings Catalog (preview) policy.
   • Add the Let Apps Access Location setting from the Privacy category.
   • Configure the setting to Force Allow.
   • Assign the policy to a device group to be delayed during device setup category in ESP

2. Deploy a PowerShell Script to Enable Automatic Time Zone Updates : Use a PowerShell script to modify the registry and enable automatic time zone updates. Deploy the script via Intune to apply the changes:

Set-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CapabilityAccessManager\ConsentStore\location -Name Value -Value "Allow"
Set-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\tzautoupdate -Name Start -Value "3"

• Registry Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\tzautoupdate\Start
• Value: 3 (enables automatic time zone updates)

3. Upload the Script to Intune
   • Go to Devices > Scripts and remediations in the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center.
   • Select Platform scripts > +Add to upload the PowerShell script.
   • Assign the script to the appropriate device groups “Autopilot devices group”

During Enrollment Status Page enabled, the setting for App Location and the script setting the Time Zone Automatic settings will apply, And once the account setup is a completed, the user will see the correct time on the desktop:

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