If your organization is spread across multiple countries and you have laptops and desktops managed by Intune, you may need to configure the time zone for each country on the devices, ensuring that all your devices are synchronized and display the correct local time.
You can group your devices in an Entra ID dynamic security group based on the Country and target the security groups to configure time zone information. Let’s check the steps:
Table of Contents
Create a Device Configuration Profile
To create a device configuration profile, follow the below steps:
- Sign in to the Intune admin center.
- Go to Devices > Configuration > Create > New Policy.
- Select Platform as Windows 10 and later.
- Profile type as Settings Catalog.
Basics Tab
Provide a Name and Description of the profile
Configuration Settings
- Click on “+ Add settings“
- In the Settings picker, search for “time zone“
- Select or check the box labeled “Configure Time Zone“
- Enter the Time Zone ID value in the text box. For instance, you can input “Mountain Standard Time”.
To find the Time Zone ID of any country, Jump to the section: How to find the Time Zone ID of any country.
Assignments
Click Add groups and select the Entra security group containing Windows 10/11 test devices. Once testing proves successful, you can expand the deployment by including additional devices in the group.
Review + Create
Review the deployment and click on Create to start the deployment process.
Sync Intune Policies
The device check-in process might not begin immediately. If you’re testing this policy on a test device, you can manually kickstart Intune sync from the device itself or remotely through the Intune admin center.
Alternatively, you can use PowerShell to force the Intune sync on Windows devices. Restarting the device is another way to trigger the Intune device check-in process.
End-user Experience
Previously, the device I targeted with this policy was set to GMT Standard Time. However, after applying a policy to change the time zone on all devices to Mountain Standard Time. The device now reflects the updated time zone as Mountain Standard Time when checked using the tzutil /g command.
FAQs
How to find the Time Zone ID of Any Country
To configure devices, we must obtain the Time Zone ID information via Intune. You can find the Time Zone ID using various methods. Here’s the information with examples:
1. Using Windows time zone utility (tzutil.exe)
The Windows Time Zone utility, known as tzutil.exe, is a small program located at C:\ WINDOW\Ssystem32\tzutil.exe. It is integrated into Windows 10 and 11 devices and provides easy access to time zone settings.
To check the Time Zone ID of your device using the tzutil.exe command, please follow these steps:
- Click on the Start button and search for Command Prompt.
- In the Command Prompt window, type the following command:
tzutil /g. - This will provide the current time zone ID set on your device.
- To find the Time Zone ID for any country, you can use the command
tzutil /l. This command will provide a list of available time zones, and you can identify the one you need for configuration.
- Use
tzutil /l | moreto display one output screen at a time.
2. Using Powershell to find the Time Zone ID
You can also utilize PowerShell cmdlets to obtain Time Zone ID information for your device or any country. The Get-Timezone cmdlet is a useful tool for straightforwardly retrieving this information.
Get-Timezone
get-timezone -ListAvailable | ft DisplayName, Id
3. Using Registry Editor to find Time zone ID
Another method for obtaining Time Zone ID information for your device is using the Windows Registry Editor. You can check for the specific registry key associated with time zone information and locate its value to get Time Zone ID information for your device.
- Click on Start and search for Registry Editor.
- In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation.
- On the right-hand side, look for the
TimeZoneKeyNameregistry entry. - The value of TimeZoneKeyName represents the Time Zone ID currently configured on your device.
4. Using Microsoft documentation (TimeZones)
The easiest way to find Time Zone ID information for any country is to use the TimeZone link, which offers a table with this data. You can bookmark the page for quick access later on.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we’ve explored multiple methods for finding Time Zone IDs on your device and for various countries. We’ve harnessed this information to configure device configuration profiles, ensuring that the correct time zone settings are applied to all devices our organization manages via Intune.
