Guide: Configuring NTP Source on Windows

This guide explains how to manually configure an NTP source on a Windows machine.

If the system is joined to an Active Directory domain, the default time source is the domain controller. In such cases, any manual changes may be overridden and reset to the domain defaults.

To ensure consistent synchronization across the environment, configure the NTP source on the domain controllers. All domain-joined machines will then automatically inherit the updated time from their respective domain controllers.

You must run all of these commands in a command prompt with administrator privileges.

Check existing time source

w32tm /query /source

Stop the Windows Time Service

net stop w32time

Configure Your NTP Source

Set your preferred NTP server:

w32tm.exe /config /syncfromflags:manual /manualpeerlist:"<YOUR NTP SOURCES>"

You can specify NTP sources using DNS names or IP addresses. To define multiple sources, separate them with spaces.

Start the Time Service

net start w32time

Verify Configuration

Check the active time source::

w32tm /query /source

View full configuration details:

w32tm.exe /query /configuration

Look under:

• NtpServer → the server(s) Windows is configured to sync with.
• Type → NT5DS (domain-based) or NTP (manual server).

Initiate time synchronization

Sync time from new time source:

w32tm.exe /resync

Check synchronization status:

w32tm /query /status

This return:

• Source: the current time server (e.g. time.windows.com or a domain controller).
• Last Successful Sync Time.
• Stratum: how close the source is to UTC.
• Root Delay / Dispersion: network delay and accuracy.

If synchronization fails, restart the machine, run w32tm /resync, and verify the status.

Your Windows system now uses your selected NTP sources for time synchronization.