Old Clock in Windows 10 & 11: Show Seconds, Extra Clocks, What Works

The old clock in Windows 10, the Windows 7-style clock and calendar you got by setting UseWin32TrayClockExperience in the registry, no longer works. Microsoft removed it with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (version 1607) in 2016, and Windows 11 never had it. Setting the value today does nothing at all, which is why so many people try it and conclude they did it wrong. They did not. What you can do in 2026 is get back most of what people liked about the old clock: seconds on the taskbar clock in Windows 11, extra clocks for other time zones in both versions, your own time and date format, and a proper clock app with world clocks and alarms. All of that is on this page, along with the one honest route to the full classic look if you really want it.

Jake asked about this because his father, who ran a small office on Windows 7 for a decade, missed the old analog clock face that popped up from the taskbar. Ethan explained what had changed and then set up the closest thing: two extra clocks for the cities his father's suppliers are in, visible by hovering over the time, and seconds on the clock because his father times phone calls. His father's verdict was that it was "not the same, but better". That is the realistic goal here.

If the clock shows the wrong time rather than the wrong look, that is a different fix; the time sync guide and the change time guide cover it.

What the "old clock" was, and why the registry tweak stopped working

In Windows 7 and 8, clicking the clock opened a small panel with an analog clock face and a month calendar. The first versions of Windows 10 replaced it with a new, larger calendar flyout, but kept the old one hidden behind a registry switch: a DWORD named UseWin32TrayClockExperience, set to 1 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ImmersiveShell. That is the tweak almost every "old clock" guide, including the 2015 version of this one, describes.

With the Anniversary Update, version 1607, Microsoft removed the old panel's code. The registry value is still read by nothing, so setting it is harmless, but it changes nothing. Every Windows 10 release since 2016 and every version of Windows 11 behaves the same way. If you find a guide promising the tweak works on a current build, it was written before 2016 or never tested.

If you set the value while trying, you can leave it or remove it; it has no effect either way. To remove it, delete UseWin32TrayClockExperience from that key in regedit.

How to show seconds in the taskbar clock (Windows 11 and 10)

This is the most requested part of the old experience, and Windows 11 added it back in 2023.

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Date & time.
2. Expand Show time and date in the System tray.
3. Check Show seconds in system tray clock.

On some Windows 11 builds the same option lives under Settings → Personalization → Taskbar → Taskbar behaviors → Show seconds in system tray clock; if it is not in Date & time, look there. Showing seconds uses slightly more power, which matters a little on a laptop running on battery.

Windows 10 has no switch in Settings, but it does support seconds through the registry, using the same value Windows 11's switch writes. In PowerShell (no administrator needed):

Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced' -Name ShowSecondsInSystemClock -Value 1 -Type DWord
Stop-Process -Name explorer -Force   # Explorer restarts with seconds on the clock

Set the value to 0 to turn seconds off again. If Show seconds in system tray clock is missing on Windows 11, your build predates the June 2023 update that added it; install the latest updates, or use the same registry value.

Add clocks for other time zones (both versions)

This is the feature Jake's father ended up loving, and it has been in Windows since Vista.

1. Press Win + R, type timedate.cpl, and press Enter. (Or search for "Date and Time" in Control Panel.)
2. Open the Additional Clocks tab.
3. Check Show this clock, choose a time zone, and type a name such as "Chennai office". You can add two.
4. Click OK.

On Windows 11 you can reach the same panel from Settings: right-click the time → Adjust date and time → Additional clocks under Related links.

Hover the mouse over the time on the taskbar to see all clocks at once. In Windows 10 they also appear when you click the time, above the calendar. In Windows 11 the hover tooltip shows them, and on current builds the calendar flyout does too. If you changed time zones recently and the extra clock looks wrong, check that the zone's daylight saving rules are current; the Alberta and BC time change guide is a recent example of a rule Windows needed an update for.

Old clock features and what replaces them today

What the old clock did	Windows 11 today	Windows 10 today
Analog clock face on click	No built-in face; Clock app or a widget	No built-in face; Clock app
Month calendar on click	Calendar in the notification panel (click the time, or Win + N)	Calendar flyout with agenda (click the time)
Seconds	Yes, Show seconds option	Yes, through the ShowSecondsInSystemClock registry value
Two extra time-zone clocks	Yes, Additional Clocks	Yes, Additional Clocks
Change date and time settings link	Right-click the time → Adjust date and time	Same
Custom time format (24-hour, AM/PM text)	Regional format settings	Regional format settings

Change how the clock shows time and date

Many people who miss the old clock actually miss a format: a 24-hour clock, the day of the week, or a date written the way their country writes it.

1. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region.
2. Under Regional format, click Change formats (Windows 10: Region → Change data formats).
3. Pick a Short time such as HH:mm for 24-hour, and a Short date you like.

For full control, such as adding the weekday to the taskbar date, use the old Region panel: press Win + R, type intl.cpl, click Additional settings, and on the Date tab set the short date to something like ddd dd-MMM-yyyy, which shows "Thu 01-Oct-2026". The taskbar updates within a few seconds, or after restarting Explorer.

Windows 11 also lets you hide the time and date entirely: turn off Show time and date in the System tray in Date & time settings. Useful for screenshots and presentations.

The Clock app: world clocks, alarms, timers and stopwatch

The built-in Clock app (called Alarms & Clock on older Windows 10 installs) is the modern home for everything the old clock face did and more. Open it from Start by typing "Clock". It offers:

• World clock: add as many cities as you like, shown on a map with the time difference.
• Alarms: they ring when the PC is awake; most PCs cannot wake from sleep for an alarm.
• Timer and stopwatch, with laps. The stopwatch is handy for timing calls and tasks, even with seconds on the taskbar.
• Focus sessions in Windows 11, a timer for blocks of concentrated work.

You can pin a world clock to Start, and keep the stopwatch in compact overlay mode so it floats on top of other windows. If the app is missing, install Windows Clock free from the Microsoft Store.

Clock and calendar shortcuts

Most of the clock's features are a key press away, which is faster than any tweak ever was:

Shortcut	What it opens	Works in
Win + Alt + D	The date and time flyout	Windows 11 and 10
Win + N	Notification center with the calendar	Windows 11
Right-click the time	Adjust date and time	Both
Win + R → timedate.cpl	Classic Date and Time window: Additional Clocks, Internet Time	Both
Win + R → intl.cpl	Classic Region window for custom time and date formats	Both
Start → type "Clock"	The Clock app: world clock, alarms, timer, stopwatch	Both

The two .cpl shortcuts are worth remembering because they still open the classic panels that Settings has not fully replaced, and they are the same on every PC.

Can you get the full classic look back?

Only with third-party software. Tools that replace the Windows taskbar, such as ExplorerPatcher or StartAllBack, can restore a Windows 10 or Windows 7-style taskbar and, with it, older clock behavior; small apps such as ElevenClock add a configurable clock to every monitor. Ethan's honest advice: these tools hook deep into Explorer, and a Windows update can break them, sometimes leaving you with no taskbar until you uninstall the tool. If you use one, keep it updated, know how to uninstall it from Safe Mode, and do not install them on a PC someone else depends on. For most people, the extra clocks, seconds and the Clock app cover what they actually missed.

For IT admins: clock settings across a fleet

• Seconds in the clock is a per-user setting stored as the DWORD ShowSecondsInSystemClock under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced (1 shows seconds). Deliver it with Group Policy Preferences or an Intune script in user context.
• Additional clocks are per-user too, under HKCU\Control Panel\TimeDate\AdditionalClocks; configure one profile and export the keys, or set them in the default user profile for new users.
• Time formats follow the user's regional settings; set a corporate default through Group Policy regional options or your deployment's unattend settings rather than per machine.
• Time accuracy matters more than appearance: domain members sync from the domain hierarchy, and a clock more than five minutes off breaks Kerberos sign-in. If users report "the clock is wrong", treat it as a time-service ticket, not a cosmetic one.

Jake's father still calls the new arrangement "not the same", and still uses it every day: the two supplier cities on hover, seconds on the clock, and the stopwatch for long calls. The old clock face is gone for good, and no registry value will bring it back. What replaced it does more, once someone shows you where it is. If you spent an evening trying the old tweak, it was never going to work, and it was not your mistake.

Revision note. Written October 1, 2026, replacing a 2015 guide to a tweak that no longer works. If you miss the Windows 7 clock, you are in good company, and most of what you liked is still here.