How to enable seconds in system clock

Anonymous
2023-02-02T20:46:44+00:00

Title says it all.

Found this article, which had a couple suggestions: https://winaero.com/how-to-enable-seconds-for-the-taskbar-clock-in-windows-11/

" Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors, and check the “Show seconds in system tray clock” option."

Is not there for me

Tried registry fixes, but that made it worse and actually removed the system clock all together, while also breaking the start menu completely. Had to undo that change and now back to square one.

Why on Earth would Microsoft remove the seconds from the clock? I use it quite often for a game I play.. Very frustrating when they remove common sense features like this. Really looks like MSoft put some extremely incompetent people in charge of Win 11. Reminds me of when they hired the guy from Nike to design Win 8 Metro UI. I think we all remember how that went!!

EDIT: WAS fixed for about 2 months with April update, but now it's gone again!!!

Someone from Microsoft owes me an explanation!!

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings

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Anonymous
2023-04-29T09:12:23+00:00

Fix in latest stable update from April (then one bot on Path Tuesday, but later).

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-03-19T20:17:14+00:00

    You can enable this setting using the Registry Editor. 

    1. Open Registry Editor and navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
    2. Create a new DWORD (32Bit) value
    3. Rename it to: ShowSecondsInSystemClock.
    4. Set the value to 1.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-03-17T13:43:07+00:00

    Don't know how to upload a screen shot here but the way to get seconds on your clock is simple.

    Right click on Start.

    Click on Settings.

    On the left side in Settings click on Time & language.

    Click on Date & time.

    EXPAND the option Show time and date in the System tray.

    Check the box for Show seconds in System tray clock.

    That's it! Hope this helps

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-03-16T14:51:08+00:00

    Could someone post a screenshot of 'Show Date and Time on the System Tray'. I can't find it anywhere. This is why I run updates on Sundays. There's always a good chance something will be broken and today I can't see the seconds. Why would the option to display seconds be removed in the first place??

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-03-14T18:27:26+00:00

    Open the Settings App, then go to Time and Language - Date and Time.

    Expand the 'Show Date and Time on the System Tray' then check the 'Show seconds in system tray clock'.

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