Show seconds on the taskbar clock — via Winaero
Registrylow riskWindows 11 22H2 with the May 2023 update or later
Adds seconds to the clock in the corner of the taskbar. Useful for timing things or syncing up with someone.
Restart Explorer (or sign out) to see it
The easy way
- The easy way: Settings → Personalization → Taskbar → Taskbar behaviors → tick Show seconds in system tray clock.
Registry change
Double-click a .reg file and confirm to merge it. Right-click → Edit first if you want to read it, which is always a good idea with any .reg file from the internet.
Apply
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Oddbyte.Me: Show seconds on the taskbar clock
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowSecondsInSystemClock"=dword:00000001Undo
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Oddbyte.Me: undo Show seconds on the taskbar clock
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowSecondsInSystemClock"=dword:00000000Same thing from a command prompt
Run in a normal (non-admin) Command Prompt or Terminal.
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v "ShowSecondsInSystemClock" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /fUndo:
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v "ShowSecondsInSystemClock" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /fSources
- How to enable seconds for the taskbar clock in Windows 11 — by Winaero
- May 24, 2023 Windows configuration update — by Microsoft Support
- Source reviewed
- 2026-11-02
- Link checked
- Not yet
- Tested hands-on
- Not by Oddbyte.Me
Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every Windows build, so keep the undo handy.