3 Methods to Display Complete Date and Time on Windows 11 Taskbar

2024/12/04

Essential Information

A recent Windows 11 update has caused the taskbar’s date and time display to be more concise, eliminating the AM/PM notation as well as the year. However, reverting to the original format is quite simple.
Navigate to Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time > Show time and date in the System tray and deselect Show abbreviated time and date.
Access the Registry Editor by going to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, then double-click on ShowShortenedDateTime, set the Value data to 0, and hit OK.
Open the Local Group Policy Editor, find User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. Then double-click on the setting Turn off abbreviated time and date format, select Enabled, and click Apply > OK. Restart your PC or Windows Explorer to apply the changes.

The latest Windows 11 update has modified the date and time display in the taskbar, resulting in an abbreviated view that omits the AM/PM reference and the year from date representations.

This change can be quite annoying, especially since the shortened date-time option is activated by default. Thankfully, there are several methods to turn off this condensed view and restore the full date and time format that users are accustomed to in the taskbar.

Three Methods to Remove Abbreviated Time and Date in Taskbar on Windows 11

If you want to revert back to the complete date and time format in the Windows 11 taskbar, here are a few approaches you can take.

Method 1: Via the Settings Page

Step 1: Right-click on the date/time segment in the taskbar and choose Adjust date and time.

Alternatively, you can access the Settings app by navigating to Time & Language > Date & Time.

Step 2: Locate the dropdown option Show time and date in the System tray.

Step 3: Deselect the checkbox labeled Show abbreviated time and date.

And that’s all! You should now see the complete date and time in the taskbar (as it was meant to be).

Method 2: Through the Registry Editor

You can also turn off the abbreviated date and time format in the taskbar by adjusting a registry value. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Launch the Registry Editor. You can locate it from the Start menu or use the RUN dialog box (Win+R) to input the regedit command.

Step 2: Navigate to this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Step 3: Double-click the DWORD value named ShowShortenedDateTime.

Step 4: Change the value data to 0 and click OK.

The adjustments should take effect immediately, and you will see the full date and time format restored in the taskbar.

Method 3: Using Group Policy Editor

If you are a Windows 11 Pro user, you can also utilize the Local Group Policy Editor to disable the abbreviated date and time format. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Local Group Policy Editor from the Start menu, or you can initiate it via the RUN dialog box (Win+R) with the command gpedit.msc.

Step 2: In the navigation pane on the left, go to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar.

Step 3: Scroll down and double-click on the policy option Turn off abbreviated time and date format.

Step 4: Set it to Enabled , then click Apply > OK.

Step 5: The changes will not be applied immediately. Therefore, you need to either restart your computer or restart the Windows Explorer. To restart Explorer, right-click on the taskbar and choose Task Manager.

Step 6: Find explorer in the list, select it, and click Restart task.

The updates will now be in effect, restoring the complete date and time format that includes AM/PM and the year.

The shortened date and time format has already been rolled out to Windows Insiders on the Canary, Release Preview, and Dev channels. Currently, it’s not found in the Beta or stable builds. Microsoft has noted on its Windows Insiders blog:

“We are testing a more streamlined system tray that emphasizes the date and time in a concise way.”

Despite the mixed reception from the Windows community, it seems Microsoft is proceeding with this new ‘simplified system tray’. Fortunately, the methods mentioned above allow users to switch back to the traditional full date and time format effortlessly.

Author: Egor Kostenko

My goal is to make complex technical topics simple and accessible. On this site, I gather unique and useful content that not only solves users’ problems but also helps them better understand the capabilities of Windows.