When does daylight saving time end? Here's when we 'fall back'.

Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAYSun, March 8, 2026 at 7:01 AM UTC

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Daylight saving time has arrived — and for those of us who hate losing sleep, the countdown to it ending has begun.

As we "spring forward" from winter, American clocks will move ahead one hour. The dark winter hours will give way to evenings full of more light, but pushing time forward also means losing an hour of sleep, which can be an unpleasant adjustment.

The United States has tried to do away with daylight saving time more than once, proposing bills that have stalled over the century the country has observed the practice. So far, no luck, but lawmakers are still trying.

Already looking forward to the day daylight saving ends and we "fall back?" Here's what to know.

1 / 0Holi captures the spirit of spring in brilliant colorA girl smeared with colored powder celebrates the Hindu spring festival of Holi in Chennai, India on March 4, 2026.When does daylight saving time end in 2026? When will we 'fall back'?

In 2026, daylight saving time ends on Sunday, Nov. 1. At 2 a.m. local time, Americans will set clocks back one hour to 1 a.m.

Moving the clock back one hour means more light in the morning and less in the evening - and an extra hour of sleep.

When do we 'spring forward'?

We will "spring forward" at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 8. Americans should set their clocks forward one hour, to 3 a.m., to account for the change.

That day, sunrise and sunset will be about one hour later than the previous day, and there will be more light in the evening and less light in the morning.

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We "fall back" and get an extra hour of sleep on Sunday, Nov. 1 this year.What is daylight saving time? Why do we have it?

Daylight saving time was first introduced in the United States during World War I to make better use of natural daylight. It entails setting the clocks forward one hour during part of the year: in the Northern Hemisphere, that's currently between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November.

While the idea came from an essay by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, it wasn't adopted in the United States (and other countries, including Australia, Great Britain and Germany) until WWI necessitated the conservation of fuel used for artificial lighting, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 made daylight saving a uniform, federal matter. Previously, the Standard Time Act of 1918 established time zones but left the timing of DST to the states, some of which weren't consistent even within states themselves, according to National Geographic. Subsequent laws and amendments changed the start and end times of DST until the current dates were established in 2007.

Does every state observe daylight saving time?

Nope! Currently, the following states and territories do not observe daylight saving time.

Hawaii

Arizona (except the Navajo Nation)

American Samoa

Guam

Northern Mariana Islands

Puerto Rico

U.S. Virgin Islands

Most Americans want to say goodbye to daylight saving time

Polls have shown that the majority of Americans are on board with changing DST. A 2023 YouGov poll found that 62% of respondents agreed that they want to stop changing the clocks twice yearly. A 2025 Gallup poll found that 54% of Americans also wanted to see the demise of DST; however, 48% preferred standard time year-round, while 24% wanted permanent daylight saving time.

Several laws proposing an end to the practice have been introduced. The most recent, the Daylight Act of 2026, introduced to Congress in February, proposed permanently shifting all U.S. time zones forward 30 minutes.

If passed by Congress, the time change would kick in 90 days after President Donald Trump signs it into law.

Contributing: Julia Gomez, Emily Vetter, Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When does daylight saving time end? See when clocks go back an hour.

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