Windows 10 Quick Tips – Clock Shows Seconds

System Tray Clock

Windows 95 was the last version of Windows to display the seconds in the System Tray clock. Microsoft’s reasoning when they removed this feature was, since system memory was limited at that time (measured in megabytes), that continually updating the seconds put undue stress on those few resources. Prior to Windows 95, there was an option to “Show seconds”, but no longer so. Windows 10 still ships without the seconds showing.  That memory restriction no longer exists which means you can once again display the seconds if you have a need to do so. (Maybe you don’t have a need but merely want to, dang-it.)

The image to the left shows you how the clock looks when displaying hours, minutes, and seconds and this week’s Quick Tips article will show you how to do this.

[message type=”warning”] Standard Registry Editing Warning: The following instructions will ask you to edit your Windows Registry. Be sure to make a backup of your Registry before you make any changes. Making mistakes in the Registry can cause hard-to-diagnose problems, or even keep Windows from functioning properly. If you don’t know how to back up your Registry, please read Windows Quick Tips – Backup/Restore Registry. [/message]

Adding Seconds To The Display

Open the Registry Editor

1. 1. Use the Windows Key + R hotkey to open a Run Box
   2. Type regedit and hit Enter

Registry Editor

1. Navigate to the following location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
2. Once there, right-click an open area in the right panel and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value
3. Name the new Value ShowSecondsInSystemClock
4. Double-click the new value and set the Value data to 1 (one)
5. Click OK

That should be seeing something like this:

You can now close out of the Editor. To make your settings active you will either have to reboot your computer or log out, then back in, to your account.

Note: To undo any of these changes you can simply delete the new Value you just created, or you can change its Value data to 0 (zero). Deleting it is probably the better of the two choices– why have an extra Registry entry that will never be used? Once again, a restart of some sort will be needed for your changes to take effect.

That’s it– a simple change but one which might be useful for some.

As always, if you have any helpful suggestions, comments or questions, please share them with us,

Richard
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