Any known workaround for the taskbar clock to show seconds?

Mooly · Jul 1, 2021

I was surprised when Shawn's reg file to enable seconds on the taskbar clock doesn't seem to work in W11. The key seems to have been written to registry OK, but no seconds.

Any known fixes?

Taken from:
Hide or Show Seconds


HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

ShowSecondsInSystemClock DWORD

0 = Hide seconds
1 = Show seconds

Warewasher2025 · Jul 1, 2021

Mooly said:
I was surprised when Shawn's reg file to enable seconds on the taskbar clock doesn't seem to work in W11. The key seems to have been written to registry OK, but no seconds.

Any known fixes?

Taken from:
Hide or Show Seconds

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced ShowSecondsInSystemClock DWORD 0 = Hide seconds 1 = Show seconds

I also tried this a couple of times and it does not work. Works perfectly on Windows 10 .

Mooly · Jul 1, 2021

I really miss it actually. Guess we need to get @Brink on the case

JAM83 · Jul 1, 2021

Looks like as of right now, the only way is to download a 3rd party app, such as Taskbar Tweaker or the other one that has been mentioned on here. . I can't remember the name of it. But, I'm not even sure if they'll work on 11.

JGToy · Jul 1, 2021

Me either, tried the reg key hack and no changes.
My laptop after using this reg key it started showing seconds on the lock screen but, nothing on the clock.

Mooly · Jul 2, 2021

I've dropped a hint here so fingers crossed:

Feature request

BrianInEngland · Jul 2, 2021

Tried this too, doesn't work. It's only taken me 5 years to realise I could do it on Windows 10 with this registry hack

StanP50 · Jul 2, 2021

Winaero Tweaker works with 11 with no issues, and that tweak is in the newest version along with other Win11 tweaks.

Wisewiz · Sep 27, 2021

Looking for an update on this: Has anyone found a way to add seconds to the 11 taskbar clock without third-party software?
(This is an end-of-September, 2021 post)

BunnyJ · Sep 27, 2021

Wisewiz said:
Looking for an update on this: Has anyone found a way to add seconds to the 11 taskbar clock without third-party software?
(This is an end-of-September, 2021 post)

I haven't seen any changes yet.

Wisewiz · Sep 27, 2021

Tx, Bun.

Wisewiz · Sep 28, 2021

StanP50 said:
Winaero Tweaker works with 11 with no issues, and that tweak is in the newest version along with other Win11 tweaks.

@StanP50
The newest version just has the same tweak of the same reg key, and it doesn't work on 11. I'm hoping someone at Winaero will figure this out (assuming @Brink doesn't figure it out first, and that's a really dumb assumption to make).

The-Hive · Sep 28, 2021

Wisewiz said:
Looking for an update on this: Has anyone found a way to add seconds to the 11 taskbar clock without third-party software?
(This is an end-of-September, 2021 post)

If you find a tweak let me know, I really want one to change the font to a nice bold one

clam1952 · Sep 28, 2021

As well as seconds I could do with the day being displayed as well, I live in hope! Someone will eventually fathom out just how the "new" Taskbar is coded as clearly it isn't the same beast.

Wisewiz · Sep 28, 2021

clam1952 said:
As well as seconds I could do with the day being displayed as well, I live in hope! Someone will eventually fathom out just how the "new" Taskbar is coded as clearly it isn't the same beast.

Not sure what you mean by "the day," but I have this in 11 194, and it just took adjusting settings, not any third-party stuff.

clam1952 · Sep 28, 2021

In Win10 I have this:

OK, I obviously needed to dig a bit deeper!
As in Time and Language > Administrative Language Settings > Formats > Additional Settings > Date > change short date to ddd dd/MM/yyyy and apply, talk about making things complicated!

And success!

Seconds are in the same place under time however it doesn't work.

Wisewiz · Sep 28, 2021

Yea, verily! Every time I start configuring a new machine, I have the damnedest time finding the right settings panel for making the change to exactly what I want in the date line. Obscurity, thy name is Windows.

Stigg · Sep 28, 2021

clam1952 said:
In Win10 I have this:

View attachment 8648

OK, I obviously needed to dig a bit deeper!
As in Time and Language > Administrative Language Settings > Formats > Additional Settings > Date > change short date to ddd dd/MM/yyyy and apply, talk about making things complicated!

And success!

View attachment 8649

Seconds are in the same place under time however it doesn't work.

I don't have Administrative Language Settings.

Edit: I found it under Language & Region.
The only problem with that is it puts the day throughout File Explorer.