How to enable seconds in system clock

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share a simple solution I discovered (Courtesy of ChatGPT) for displaying the seconds on the Windows taskbar clock, which doesn't require any third-party software. Here's a quick method using the Registry Editor:

Steps:

1. Press Windows Key + R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
3. Right-click on the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it ShowSecondsInSystemClock.
4. Double-click on the new value and set its value data to 1.
5. Restart your computer to see the changes.

For your convenience, I've created a .reg file that automates this process. Here's the content you can copy to a new text document and save with a .reg extension:

regCopy codeWindows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowSecondsInSystemClock"=dword:00000001

Instructions for using the .reg file:

1. Copy the above text into a new text file using Notepad.
2. Save the file with the .reg extension, for example,

DisplaySecondsInClock.reg. 3. Right-click on the saved file and select 'Merge' or double-click the file to run it.

1. If prompted by User Account Control (UAC), click 'Yes' to allow the changes.
2. A confirmation dialog box will appear. Click 'OK' to apply the changes.
3. Restart your computer, and you should now see the seconds on your taskbar

Can't find Taskbar behaviors, and check the “Show seconds in system tray clock” option.

Short answer:

Chances are your version of Windows does not apply.

For me, I did the regedit, the forced short time format mentioned below, and after a system restart, my clock now shows seconds and I am running Windows 10 Pro Version 21H2, OS build 19044.3393

Speculative long answer (with alternative suggestion):

The post doesn't specify what version of Windows this applies to. I'd guess it's WIndows 11 because I don't have it either, or it's a later version of Windows 10 that I had refused to update to after the last update started giving me BSODs like no other. There were replies about the selected answer as being exclusive to an Insider's Preview version of Windows (regarding the show seconds tutorial linked in OP's question) while numerous responses claim similar circumstances.

Alternatively, you can try combining the number of other replies that have suggest various methods:

• Navigate to Control Panel\Clock and Region(or just "Region")\Region\Change date, time, or number formats* >> In the Region pop-up click on "Additional Settings..." navigate to the "Time" tab and manually set the format for "Short Time" to "h:mm:ss tt" or whichever you prefer, ignoring the fact that at the bottom it says "s = seconds (long time only)" and click apply/OK. Then apply the registry edit suggested.
• Using either regedit or the cmd line, add the DWORD "ShowSecondsInSystemClock" and set to 1 under the address HKEY\_LOCAL\_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\
• Reboot or Log Off or reset Explorer

Otherwise there are Windows 10 Apps that offer extra clock widgets or whatnot but they don't necessarily address the issue of a clock with seconds being in the taskbar. However, there is Windhawk which appears to offer a Taskbar Clock Customization mod that supports Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 11 allows for customization configured by the time and format settings and in the screenshot, shows seconds being displayed. Though, I haven't used it myself to speak on to it's affect on performance.

* You must reach these settings using Control Panel, you will not be able to reach this same setting by right-clicking on the clock, selecting "Adjust Date/Time" then under Related settings, there's Date, time & regional Formatting because that will take you to the screen below:

And if you click on "Change data formats" it will bring you to similar settings area but this setup does NOT allow you to manually type in the specified settings.

When navigating from the Control Panel, you should be using the more WIndows 7 looking interface like below:

as that gives you this window:

Whereby you click on "Additional settings..." to give you:

and as noted, I simply added the "ss" in the Short time format, regardless of it telling me, long time only.

No no I said, me no love you long time only.

GL

Can't find Taskbar behaviors, and check the “Show seconds in system tray clock” option.

Seconds cannot be set in windows 10, but my windows 11 installation does show it. The battery does not show either; there isn't even a link or icon to click to get the system to show the battery. Such indifference does not inspire loyalty or appreciation to microsoft.