On October 5, 2022, the Syrian government made an official announcement about a Daylight-Saving Time (DST) time zone change. Since then, the official time has not advanced by an hour and has permanently shifted to the UTC+3 time zone.
The impact of this change is as follows:
- Since October 2022, Syria has observed the UTC+3 time, which is the country’s new standard time.
- Late October 2023: Windows non-security preview release will include the update to address this time change for Windows 11 and Windows 10, version 22H2.
- November 14, 2023: Windows monthly quality release will include the update to address this time change for all supported versions of Windows.
The following platforms will receive an update to support this time zone change as part of October 2023 quality update or the November 2023 security update:
- Windows 11, version 22H2
- Windows 11, version 21H2
- Windows 10, version 22H2; Windows 10, version 21H2
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019; Windows Server 2019
- Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2016; Windows Server 2016
- Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB
- Windows Server 2012
- Windows Server 2008 SP2
- Windows 8.1
- Windows 7.0 SP1
Interim guidance
In the meantime, we recommend that affected organizations with devices in Syria use the following workarounds: temporarily disable automatic DST adjustments in Windows and/or set a different time zone to reflect the correct local time.
Temporarily disable automatic DST adjustments in Windows
Temporarily disable automatic DST adjustments in Windows to reflect the correct local time between September 03, 2023, and November 14, 2023.
This can be done in one of the two ways:
- Select the Windows logo key, type "Date and time", and select Date and time settings. From the Date & time settings page, toggle Adjust for daylight saving time automatically to Off.
- Go to Control Panel > Clock and Region > Date and Time > Change time zone and uncheck the option for “Automatically adjust clock for Daylight Saving Time”.
Re-enable automatic DST adjustments in Windows.
For those in the Syria time zone, after 10:00 A.M. on November 14, 2023, re-enable automatic DST adjustments and ensure accurate time switching with future DST transitions.
This can be done in one of the two ways:
- Select the Windows logo key, type "Date and time", and select Date and time settings. From the Date & time settings page, toggle Adjust for daylight saving time automatically to On.
- Go to Control Panel > Clock and Region > Date and Time > Change time zone and check the option for “Automatically adjust clock for Daylight Saving Time”.
Temporarily set a different time zone on the devices
Microsoft recommends that users temporarily set the time zone on their devices to “(UTC+3) Amman”. Selecting this time zone will ensure that devices reflect the correct local time. (Note: events that have occurred in the past, before the update, will not show correctly.)
This can be done in one of the two ways:
- Select the Windows logo key, type "time zone", and select Change the time zone. From the time zone dropdown, select “(UTC+3) Amman”.
- Navigate to Control Panel > Date and Time > Change time zone. From the time zone dropdown, select “(UTC+3) Amman”. Select OK to apply the change.
For additional information, please review our official policy page and How Windows manages time zone changes.
