Fixing Date & Time Issues on Meta Quest 3 Using ADB and SideQuest

One strange issue I ran into with my Meta Quest 3 was that the system clock got stuck on an old date. No matter what I tried inside the headset, there was no way to fix it. Apparently, when the battery runs out (or for some other reason), the headset doesn’t always recover its time and date correctly. Since the Quest doesn’t provide a built-in option to manually adjust the clock, apps and services depending on the correct date can start acting weird.

After some trial and error, here’s the method that finally worked for me — using ADB commands via SideQuest.

Step 1: Connect with SideQuest

Make sure you have SideQuest installed on your PC and your headset connected with developer mode enabled. This will allow you to send ADB commands directly to the Quest 3.

Step 2: Manually Set the Date and Time

Use the following command to set the system clock:

adb shell service call alarm 2 i64 1711602457000

The long number (1711602457000) is a Unix timestamp in milliseconds. You can generate a new one for the exact date and time you want. There are plenty of online converters that let you pick your time and copy the corresponding timestamp.

Step 3: Verify the Clock

To check if the new date and time are applied, you can run:

adb shell toybox date

This will display the current system time as seen by the headset.

Why This Matters

If your Quest 3 is stuck on the wrong date, you might run into problems like:

• Apps refusing to load or showing errors
• Certificates failing due to mismatched system time
• Sync issues with services like Meta accounts or cloud saves

Unfortunately, since there’s no in-headset way to fix the clock, this ADB method is the most reliable workaround for now.

Final Thoughts

It’s a bit surprising that Meta hasn’t provided a simple option in settings to adjust the clock manually. Until they do, this little hack via SideQuest can save you from a lot of frustration. If you often let your Quest 3 battery run completely flat, you may want to keep this command handy — just in case you need to quickly reset the time again.