How to restore the full date and time format on Windows 11’s taskbar | Free Download

Microsoft recently made a change on Windows 11 that removed some information from the taskbar. For dates, only the day and month are shown, while the year is removed. For time, only hour and minute are shown. Information like AM or PM has also been removed.

Microsoft says this was done to free up space on the taskbar. While some users may like this change, as it gives them more space for other icons and information on the taskbar, others may dislike it.

The good news is that Microsoft has also added a new preference that allows users who don’t like the change to restore the classic behavior.

tip: You can move the mouse cursor over the date and time to get a small popup with complete information.

How to restore full date and time on Windows 11

Here’s a step-by-step guide to restore the classic taskbar behavior:

1. Right-click Date and Time on the taskbar.
2. Select “Adjust date and time.” You can also manually open Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time instead.
3. Expand “Show time and date in system tray” by clicking the down-arrow icon.
4. Uncheck “Show brief time and date”.

The change is immediate. You should see the full date and time again on the taskbar.

Using the Registry

Administrators can modify the registry to restore the classic display of date and time on the Windows 11 taskbar.

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Type regedit and press Enter.
3. Confirm the displayed security prompt.
4. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
5. Check if showShortenedDateTime is present on the right side.
   1. If this happens, go to step 6.
   2. If this does not happen, do the following:
      1. Right-click Advanced.
      2. Select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
      3. Name it showShortenedDateTime.
6. Double-click showShortenedDateTime.
7. Set its value to 0.
8. Restart the PC.

tip: To restore the default, delete the key showShortenedDateTime, or set its value to 1.

Using the Group Policy Editor

Note: Group Policy Editor is only available in Pro, Enterprise, Workstation, or Education editions of Windows 11. Home users may want to use the registry directly to make changes, as described above.

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter-key.
3. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar.
4. Double-click “Turn off abbreviated time and date formats.”
5. Change the value from “Not Configured” to “Enabled”.
6. Click OK.
7. Close the Group Policy Editor.
8. Restart the PC.

concluding words

There you have it. It takes just a few clicks to restore the full date and time format on the taskbar on Windows 11 devices.

Now it’s your turn. Do you like the new format? Or do you prefer the old one? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading..