Daylight saving time 2026: Did the clocks change today, and when do they go back in the US?

The clocks did not change in the US today. Daylight saving time (DST) is still in effect and will end next Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. Halloween falls on Saturday, Oct. 31, so trick-or-treaters still get the extra evening light. The time change follows the next day.

Daylight saving time ends next Sunday: did the time change today?

No. The change happens at 2 a.m. local time on Sunday, Nov. 1. At that moment, most clocks in the country will move back to 1 a.m. People call this “fall back.” Standard time then runs through the winter.

DST returns at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, 2027, when clocks “spring forward” by one hour.

The dates follow a fixed rule. DST begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November. That means the country spends about eight months of the year on DST.

Not every place changes its clocks. Arizona, except the Navajo Nation, and Hawaii stay on standard time all year. So do Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The easiest way to avoid confusion is to set your clocks back on Saturday night. Phones, laptops and smart devices usually update on their own. Wall clocks, car dashboards and ovens often need to be changed by hand.

Why Americans still change clocks, and what Congress is doing

The country’s time zones date to the railroad boom of the late 1800s. DST was first used in 1918, but cities and states followed different rules for decades. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 ended the confusion. It set one national system with fixed dates for both changes.

The US has tried year-round DST before. In January 1974, during the energy crisis, President Richard Nixon introduced it to save fuel. Public support faded fast. Mornings stayed dark for months, and parents worried about children walking to school or waiting at bus stops before sunrise. In October 1974, Congress and President Gerald Ford brought back standard time.

The topic is back in Washington. The Sunshine Protection Act would make DST permanent and end the twice-yearly change. The Senate passed an earlier version in 2022, but it stalled in the House. This year, the House passed the bill 308-117 on July 14. States could opt out in favor of permanent standard time, but only before the law takes effect.

The bill still has to clear the Senate. It needs 60 votes there, and Majority Leader John Thune said in July that senators were divided. No vote had been scheduled at that point. I found no report of a Senate vote since then. If the Senate passes it, the bill goes to the president. Until it becomes law, the clocks will keep changing.

Most Americans want the changes to end. A YouGov poll from October 2024 surveyed more than 1,100 adults. It found 63% want the clock changes gone, 17% want to keep them and 20% were unsure.

The real argument is over which time to keep. Some lawmakers want DST all year, which means later sunsets in winter. Others want standard time all year. A rival bill, the Sunshine for Our Kids Act, would make standard time permanent. President Donald Trump said in a 2024 post that the Republican Party would try to end DST. He called it inconvenient and costly for the country.

Sleep and health groups mostly back permanent standard time. These include the National Sleep Foundation, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms. They say standard time fits the body’s natural clock better.

Joseph Dzierzewski, a senior vice president at the National Sleep Foundation, says DST creates a gap between the clock on the wall and the body’s own clock. He links it to mental health concerns, more heart-related events and drowsy driving. He also points to child safety, since kids may walk to school or wait for a bus in the dark. In his view, many people favor DST because they link it with summer, but summer would still be summer under permanent standard time. He adds that more state-level bills now back permanent standard time than in past years.

How the change affects sleep, and how to prepare

Falling back gives you an extra hour on Sunday, but it can still upset your routine for a few days. Dzierzewski says people with good sleep habits cope better. That is a problem for many adults, since most Americans do not get the 7 to 9 hours of sleep the foundation recommends.

A few steps can help:

• Move your bedtime and wake-up time by about 15 minutes a day before the change.


• Bright light on the morning of the change helps reset your body clock.


• Stay active during the day and eat meals at regular times.