Fall Back 2026: Clocks Go Back November 1 as Daylight Saving Ends

If you are searching when the clocks change this fall, the answer is Sunday, November 1.

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, November 1, 2026, when clocks move back one hour to 1 a.m., USA Today and timeanddate reported. The change brings back standard time, gives an extra hour of sleep, and means sunrise and sunset come about an hour earlier.

Why the change is still happening

Congress has not changed the law. The Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, passed the House in July but has stalled in the Senate, USA Today reported on October 16. Lawmakers left Washington without passing it, so the fall change stays on the schedule.

Under current law, daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. It began on March 8 this year and, after the November change, is due back on March 14, 2027.

Who does not change clocks

Hawaii and most of Arizona stay on standard time all year, except the Navajo Nation in Arizona, USA Today reported. American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also do not observe daylight saving time.

Phones and computers update on their own. Wall clocks, car clocks and older appliances are the ones to set back by hand on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

What actually happens at 2 a.m.

The fall change is the gentle one. When the clock reaches 2 a.m., it jumps back to 1 a.m., so the hour between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. happens twice in one night. Anyone awake at that hour sees 1:30 a.m. come around two times. The spring change is the opposite: clocks jump from 2 a.m. straight to 3 a.m., and that hour never happens at all.

The result on Sunday is a 25 hour day. Most people spend the extra hour asleep, which is why the November change is the popular one. The trade is on the other end of the day: sunset comes about an hour earlier in the evening, and the darker evenings last until daylight saving time returns in March.

A short history of the switch

The United States first used daylight saving time in 1918, during the First World War, and brought it back during the Second World War. The patchwork of local start and end dates that followed was sorted out by the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which put the whole country on one system while letting states opt out entirely, the route Hawaii and most of Arizona took. The current span, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November, was set by a 2005 energy law and has been in place since 2007.

The argument over ending the switch has run for years. Supporters of permanent daylight saving time point to lighter evenings. Critics answer that permanent daylight time would leave winter mornings dark late into the school and work day, and others argue for permanent standard time instead. Congress has taken up bills in both directions, and the stalled Sunshine Protection Act described above is only the latest one. Until a bill passes both chambers and is signed, the twice a year change stays.

A useful weekend chore

Phones and computers update on their own. Wall clocks, car clocks and older appliances are the ones to set back by hand on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Fire departments have long used the clock change weekends as a reminder to test smoke alarms and swap their batteries, and the fall weekend, with an hour gained rather than lost, is the easier one to do it on.