How to Change the Time on a Casio Watch

Casio watches are the ideal lightweight and comfortable companion for your wrist. Most of their watches, however, have as many as five buttons, which makes it a bit confusing to set the time.

Fear not, in this article we’re going to be giving you a breakdown of how to set the time on just about every type of Casio watch. From those with 3, 4, or even 5 buttons, to G-SHOCKs, and other types of Casios as well, we’ve got you covered.

Use the table of contents below to jump to the instructions for the type of watch you have. If you’re still stuck, feel free to drop us a comment with your model, and we’ll help you out!

How to Change the Time on a Casio Watch With 3 Buttons

Many of the most popular watches, like the F91-w, use a 3 button layout.

The buttons are located on the top left, bottom left, and bottom right for this configuration. They have different functions and names, as listed below:

Button Layout

• LIGHT – located at the top left. It is used to illuminate the display and to switch between values to be changed, e.g., switching between minutes and seconds. 
• MODE – located at the bottom left. This button switches between different watch modes, such as timekeeping, alarm, and stopwatch mode. 
• START or START/STOP – located at the bottom right of the dial. It modifies the value to be adjusted. 

Changing the Time

To change the time on a Casio watch with 3 buttons:

1. Push the MODE button three times when the watch is in timekeeping mode. You will pass through the stopwatch and alarm modes of the watch and get to the timekeeping mode, but with seconds blinking. 
2. Push the MODE button to highlight hours. Push the START button to change the hour value. Note that the value can only be increased. 
3. Push MODE to highlight minutes and change its value using the START button.
4. Pushing MODE at this point takes you to a new screen where the month will be highlighted. Pushing it again will highlight the day of the month (upper right corner), then the day of the week. Their values are adjusted using the START button. 

Setting an Alarm

To set the alarm on a Casio Watch with 3 buttons:

1. In the timekeeping mode, press the MODE button once. This takes you to the Alarm mode screen. 
2. Push the LIGHT button to highlight the hour value. Use the START button to highlight the desired value. Note that only minutes and hours are available in this mode. 
3. Increase the values using the START button until the desired time is achieved. 

Activating/Deactivating the Alarm and Hourly Signal

To turn on the alarm sound and the hourly signal (the chime/beep that sounds every hour) on a Casio watch with 3 buttons: 

1. Switch to Alarm mode using the MODE button.
2. Observe which icons are shown above the alarm time. No icons mean the alarm and hourly signal are off. A bell icon at the top left means the chime is on, but the alarm is off. The audio wave icon means the alarm is on but not the hourly signal. Both the sound wave and bell icons mean the hourly signal and alarm sound are on.
3. Press the START button until you arrive at a combination that suits you best, such as hourly signal + alarm sound or alarm sound only. 
4. Press MODE to exit. 

How to Change the Time on a Casio With 4 Buttons

Some Casio watches, such as the AE-1200, have an additional, fourth button. This function varies, depending on the watch.

Button Layout

The four buttons present are in the order shown below:

• Top left – ADJUST 
• Bottom left – MODE 
• Top right – LIGHT 
• Bottom right – 12/24 Hour button (some models have SEARCH or START/STOP instead) 

Setting the time

1. Long press ADJUST. The seconds will start to blink once it has been pressed long enough.
2. Reset seconds using the 12/24 hour button. 
3. Press MODE to highlight hours. Use the 12/24 hour button to increase the value of hours.
4. Continue pushing mode to highlight the minutes, year, month, and the date and then back to seconds, in that sequence. 
5. Use the 12/24 hour button to adjust the values in step 4 above. 
6. To stop adjusting time, press the ADJUST button. 
7. To toggle between 12 and 24-hour modes, press the 12/24 hour button (bottom right) on the timekeeping mode when nothing is flashing. 

How to Change the Time on a Casio G-SHOCK

Button Layout 

G-Shock models have either 4 or 5 buttons as listed below:

• ADJUST button (A button) – located on the top left. 
• START/RESET (B button) – located on the top right. 
• MODE (C button) – bottom left. 
• START/STOP or (D button) – bottom right. 
• LIGHT button – located at the front part at the bottom portion of the dial. Usually labeled “G.” Not present on the GA2100

How to Change the Time on a Digital G-SHOCK

These are models that have only a digital display. Some examples are the Casio DW-5600, DW-9052, GW-6900 and DW5900:

Follow these steps to set the time on a digital G-SHOCK:

1. Long press the Adjust button. This highlights seconds in timekeeping mode. Use the START/STOP button to reset seconds. 
2. Press MODE to highlight the hour, minute, year, month, and day. After the day, it will cycle back to seconds.
3. Use the START/STOP button to change the values of each option above. 
4. Press the ADJUST button to exit when done. 
5. Pushing the LIGHT button at the bottom of the dial while anything is flashing in timekeeping mode switches the display between 24 and 12-hour formats 

How to Change the Time on an Analog G-SHOCK

These models have both analog hands and a digital display, and one such model is the Casio GA-2100. Setting the digital display also sets the analog hands. 

Follow these steps to set the time on an analog G-SHOCK: 

1. Long press A until you hear a beep. This will take you to time zone settings. Use B and D to cycle through time zones 
2. Push C. You will be prompted to choose your city to set the time zone. Choose your city or one whose time zone matches yours by using the B and D buttons. 
3. Push C, which takes you to the Daylight Savings Time Mode (DST). Use D to toggle DST on or off. 
4. Push C. This prompts you to choose between 24-hour and 12-hour time formats using the D button. 
5. Pushing C takes you to the timekeeping mode with seconds flashing. Use D to reset seconds to zero. 
6. Push C to highlight the hours, minutes, month, date and button operation, in that sequence. Use B and D to search for your desired values in each of these.  

How to Set the Time on an Analog Casio Watch

These watches have the traditional hour, minute and seconds hands with no digital display. An example is the Casio MDV106. They are operated using a crown, usually at the 3 o’clock position.

1. Pull the crown 2 clicks out and rotate the crown clockwise to set the time. 
2. To set the date, pull the crown 1 click out and rotate it counterclockwise. 
3. Push the crown to the zero position when done. 

How to Set the Time on a Solar Casio

We’ll be using the Tough Solar 5208 as an example. This model has both an Analog display in the middle of the dial and a digital display located on the bottom half. The Analog display on this model, however, is automatically set using the digital display. 

Button Layout

This model has four buttons:

ADJUST – located at the 10 o’clock position

MODE – located at the 8 o’clock position 

FORWARD – located at the 4 o’clock position

REVERSE – located at the 2 o’clock position

There are two ways to set the time on a Tough Solar 5208: automatic and manual. For both of these methods, we will be focusing on the digital display. 

How to Automatically Set The Time on a Solar Casio Using Time Zones

1. If the digital display is not already in timekeeping mode, push the MODE button till Timekeeping mode is reached
2. Long press the ADJUST button until ADJ appears, immediately followed by the blinking abbreviations of a city. 
3. Use the forward and reverse buttons to search for your city. If your city is not available, search for one whose time zone matches yours. 
4. Push the MODE button to enter Daylight Savings Time mode. Use forward to toggle between on and off.
5. Push MODE to choose between 24 and 12-hour clock systems. Use FORWARD to toggle between the two. 
6. Push the ADJUST button to switch back to timekeeping mode. The watch will be set to automatically match your selected time zone. 

How to Set Tough Solar 5208 Manually

1. Push the MODE button to get into the timekeeping mode. 
2. Long press the ADJUST button to set your preferred clock system display (12/24-hour). Use FORWARD to toggle between the two. 
3. Pressing MODE takes you to a new screen where you will set the time. Seconds will be highlighted, and you can reset them using FORWARD. 
4. Push MODE to switch to hours. 
5. Use the FORWARD and REVERSE buttons to increase and decrease the hours to your desired value. 
6. Push MODE to cycle through minutes, year, month and day, in that sequence. Repeat step 5 when setting the value for each. 
7. Push the MODE button to select the duration of light. Use the 
8. REVERSE/FORWARD buttons to toggle between LT1 and LT3. LT1 means the light illuminating the dial lasts for 1.5 seconds, LT3 lasts 3 seconds. 
9. Press MODE to change the language in which the day of the week is displayed. Use the REVERSE/FORWARD button to modify. 
10. When done, press the ADJUST button once to exit. The hands will move on their own to the correct position. 

Watch this video on how to set the time on a Tough Solar 5208:

How to Set The Time in the Casio Atomic G-SHOCK Using Atomic Tower Signal

The button configuration used for this model is identical to that of the Tough Solar 5208 above, so refer to the instructions above for button arrangement. There are three ways to set the Atomic G-Shock: 2 automatic methods and one manual. 

This model has a miniature antenna built into it. It receives time signals from 6 atomic towers around the world and accurately adjusts the time. 

1. To check when the watch last received a signal from an atomic tower, push FORWARD. This time will be shown in place of the current time. “GET” will appear at the bottom of the display to the right of the date, indicating when the signal was last received. 
2. To manually force the watch to get a signal, long press FORWARD until it beeps. The display will show a small blinking tower and tower signal strength (L1, L2, L3). L1 is the lowest signal, and L3 is the highest. 
3. Let the watch sync for a while, and it will correct itself. 
4. Press FORWARD to exit. 

How to Set The Time On A Casio Atomic G-SHOCK Automatically Using Time Zones 

• Long press ADJUST until a blinking time zone (city name) appears in place of the day of the week. 
• Use FORWARD/REVERSE to cycle through the time zones. The hour value will change as you scroll through cities. 
• Press MODE to enter Daylight Savings Mode. A flashing “AUTO” replaces the city time zone. Push FORWARD to toggle DST between on, off and auto. 
• Push MODE and choose between 24-hour and 12-hour formats using the FORWARD/REVERSE buttons. 

How to Set Time in the Casio Atomic G-SHOCK Manually 

This is especially useful for places not served by the tower signals. 

1. Press ADJUST. The seconds start to flash.
2. Push FORWARD to reset seconds. 
3. Press MODE to highlight hours. Use FORWARD and REVERSE to search for your desired value. 
4. Keep pressing MODE to highlight the minutes, year, month, day and keynote in that order. 
5. Keynote (shown as “key🎶”) determines whether there is a beep every time you hit a button. FORWARD toggles between keynote and mute. 
6. Push MODE to go into Light mode (LT3 and LT1) 
7. Press MODE to enter Power Save Mode. When on, the watch shuts itself down if it has not moved for some time or has not been exposed to a light source for a while. It turns back on automatically when exposed to light or when picked up. FORWARD toggles power saving mode on and off. 
8. Press MODE to return to the time zone screen. 
9. Push ADJUST to exit. 

Watch this video on how to set the time on a Solar Atomic G-Shock:

How to Set the Time on a Casio Tough Solar Baby-G

Button Layout

• ADJUST – top left

• MODE – bottom left

• LIGHT (REVERSE in some models) – top right

• SEARCH (FORWARD in some models) – bottom right

Setting the Time

1. Hold the ADJUST button for 3-4 seconds. You will be prompted to enter your city. Cycle through them with the FORWARD or REVERSE button. 
2. Press MODE to go to Daylight Savings Time settings. Use FORWARD/SEARCH to toggle it on or off. 
3. Press MODE to enter 12/24 hour settings. Use FORWARD/SEARCH to change between 12 and 24-hour formats.
4. Press MODE highlight seconds. Use FORWARD/SEARCH to reset the seconds. 
5. Press MODE to highlight the hour, minutes, year, month and day in that sequence. Cycle through the values using the FORWARD and REVERSE buttons. 
6. Press ADJUST to exit. 
7. Some models may have a different sequence of modes, such as seconds > DST > time zone > hour > minutes > 12/24 hour formats > year > month > day. Changing these values, however, follows the same procedure. 

How to Set the Time on a Solar Casio Edifice

1. Pull the crown two clicks out. Rotate the crown to set the time. Check the 24-hour subdial to know whether you are setting the time in AM or PM. 
2. To change the date, push the crown back to the zero position and rotate the crown counterclockwise. Avoid changing the date between 9 pm and 1 am.
3. Push the crown back in. 

Button Layout

There are two buttons above and below the crown:

• START/STOP button – 2 o’clock position 
• RESET button – 4 o’clock position 

Using the Stopwatch

1. Press the START/STOP button to start the stopwatch.
2. When whatever is being timed has elapsed (e.g., a race), push START/STOP again to stop the timer. 
3. To position the timer back to zero, press the RESET button. 

Checking Solar Battery Level in the Solar Casio Edifice

1. Long press the RESET button. 
2. This will cause the stopwatch’s second hand to rotate and stop at a point indicating the solar battery level. 
3. The levels are indicated as:
   1. H – 2 months or more
   2. M – 2 to 4 months
   3. L – 2 months at most
4. The second hand will return to its original position after about 2 seconds.

When the battery is low, the second hand will move at 2-second intervals instead of the usual one. This is a low-battery alert. 

How to Set the Time on a Casio Tough Solar Protrek

Button Layout

A common button configuration for the Protrek model is:

• SENSOR – Top left
• MODE – bottom left
• COMPASS (COMP) – top right
• BAROMETER(BARO) – mid right
• ALTIMETER (ALTI) – bottom left
• ADJUST – bottom left of the front face of the dial
• LIGHT – bottom right of the front face of the dial. 

Setting the Time

1. In the timekeeping mode, press and hold the ADJUST button. The city will start to flash. 
2. Use the COMPASS and ALTIMETER buttons for cycling through the cities to set your time zone. 
3. Press the MODE button once to enter the DST settings. Press the ALTIMETER button to shuffle between on and off.
4. Press the MODE button to enter the 12/24 hour settings. Use the ALTIMETER button to toggle between the two. 
5. Press the MODE button, which will take you to set the seconds. Use the ALTIMETER button to reset the seconds. 
6. Continue pressing the MODE button, which will take you to set the hours, minutes, year, month and date. 
7. Change the values in step 6 using the COMPASS and ALTIMETER buttons. 
8. Press MODE to enter the button operation settings (Keynote settings). Use the ALTIMETER button to toggle between Keynote and Mute. 
9. Press the MODE button to enter the illumination duration settings. Use the ALTIMETER to toggle between LT1 (1.5 seconds) and LT3 (3 seconds). 
10. Press MODE to enter power saving mode settings. Use the ALTIMETER button to shuffle between on and off. 
11. Press MODE to enter the unit settings mode. 
12. Push the COMPASS button to switch between Celsius and Fahrenheit for temperature.
13. Press the BAROMETER button to shuffle between inches per Hg and hectopascals for the barometer. 
14. Press the ALTIMETER button to shuffle between feet and meters. 
15. Pressing the MODE button takes you back to city mode. 
16. To save the settings and exit, press the ADJUST button twice. 

How to Set the Time on a Casio Tough Solar Waveceptor

Button Layout

This model has three buttons designated as:

• A – top right or left
• B – bottom left
• C – bottom right

Changing the Time Zone

1. In timekeeping mode, press and hold A for about 3 seconds “ADJ” appears briefly on the digital display, followed by a flashing 12H or 24H. The second hand returns to the 12 o’clock position. 
2. Use C to toggle between 12 and 24-hour formats.
3. Press B to enter city mode. 
4. Push C to cycle through different cities. 
5. Push A to exit. The second hand goes back to its correct position and continues to tick. The hour and minute hands also rotate to their new positions, matching the time zone that has been set. 

Automatic Time Setting 

The Waveceptor has a receptor that receives accurate time signals sent via worldwide radio waves. To synchronize your Waveceptor with time signals:

1. Long press C. The digital display will show “RC,” meaning Receiving. The second hand will also swoop to point to a little R located between the 8 and 9 o’clock positions. 
2. The watch will sit in this position for a while as it tries to receive a signal. This may take 30 seconds to 2 minutes. 
3. If you get satellite reception, one of these messages will display:
   1. Ready (R) – bad reception
   2. Work (W) – good reception
4. If you do not get any reception, “ERROR” will appear on the display. 
5. Push C to exit. 

Changing the Time Manually

In areas not near the cities provided by Casio or where there is no signal coverage, this comes in handy. To change the time on a Casio Waveceptor manually:

1. Press and hold A. 
2. Push B three times through 12/24-hour mode, city mode and satellite mode until the seconds start flashing.
3. Reset the seconds using C.
4. Push B to highlight the hour, minutes, year, month, day, keynote settings, and languages and to get back to 12/24 hour mode. 
5. Use C to change the values in step 4 above. 
6. Press A to exit and save the settings. 

How To Set the Time on a Casio Touch Watch

This model has no buttons and is purely controlled from its screen, almost like your phone. 

1. Press the display once to display the digital time. 
2. Long press the screen till the display starts flashing. 
3. Choose between 12-hour and military formats by touching the display. 
4. Long press the screen. The hour value appears as a flashing digit, and the letters A or P appear on its right if you choose the 12-hour format. A means AM, while P means PM. 
5. Press the display in short successions to increase the hour value to the desired value. The value can only be increased, not reduced. 
6. Long press the screen to set the minutes. The hour and minutes will be displayed, with the minutes blinking. Repeat step 5 to set the minutes. 
7. Long press to set the year. Repeat this step for the month and day. Repeat step 5 to set your desired values. 

Conclusion 

We hope this article was helpful in setting the time on your Casio watch. If not, feel free to drop us a comment below, or visit Casio’s official website to download your watch’s manual. You’ll need to know your watch’s model number, a 3 or 4-digit number found on the back of your watch, or on the watch box itself.