How to Show Full Date in Windows 11 Taskbar

Microsoft introduced a more compact date format for the taskbar in the latest Windows 11 updates. Instead of showing the full date, the new format drops the year value. E.g. you will see 02/11 instead of 02/11/2024. The change is aimed at saving space and making the taskbar look cleaner and give more room to icons.

Depending on your regional settings, the shortened format usually includes the month number and the date of the month. Microsoft is trying to build a clean and simple UI in each and every app and place of the OS.

Moreover, the change also affects the clock. It lacks the AM/PM indicator, if your regional settings assumes its presence.

Some of us may find the change controversial. How you perceive the abbreviated date format depends on your personal preference. Some people find it convenient, while others find it the opposite. Obviously, it takes up less space on the taskbar, which is great if you have a small screen. Besides, it's hard to imagine that one day you'll forget what year it is for no reason.

Still, many users find the full date more informative, and the lack of the year doesn't look classic, it looks less formal and maybe even not professional.

ℹ️ If you aren't aware, Microsoft is rolling out the abbreviated date-time to everyone since January 2025 with Patch Tuesday updates.

If you are from the latter category of users, you may be happy to learn that it is very easy to restore the full date and time format in the taskbar on Windows 11. There are several methods for that, with the easiest one is the Settings app. Let's review each of them.

Show Full Date in Windows 11 Taskbar

1. Open the Settings app by pressing the Win + I keys.
2. Navigate to Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time.
3. Look for the section titled "Show time and date in the system tray" and click on the small down-arrow icon to expand it.

   

4. Remove the check mark from the "Show abbreviated time and date" option. By default, this option might be enabled, which applies the shortened date format. Unchecking it will restore the full date format.
5. Close the Settings app. The changes will apply immediately without requiring a restart.

That's it! This is the easiest and most straightforward way to get the full date and time format.

💡Tip: There are faster ways to access the Date & Time page of settings. First of all, you can simply right-click the date value in the system tray, and select "Adjust date and time" from the context menu. One more alternative is too press Win + R and type ms-settings:dateandtime. Once you press Enter, the command will lead you to the Date & Time page. You can learn more about such ms-settings commands from this post.

You can re-enable the checkbox at any moment, and Windows 11 will return to the shorten date-time format in the system tray.

If you are customizing Windows in your own way, prefer to apply tweaks manually or in a batch, the Registry method may be what you are looking for.

Enable Full Date-Time for Taskbar in Registry

1. Open the Registry Editor app by typing regedit right in the Start menu.
2. Navigate to the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. Simply paste this path into regedit's address bar to open it directly.
3. On the right, look for an entry named ShowShortenedDateTime. If it doesn't exist, right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it ShowShortenedDateTime.
4. Double-click ShowShortenedDateTime and set its value to 0 to enable the full date-time format. Set it to 1 to revert to the shortened format.

   

5. Now you may need to sign out and back in for the changes to take effect.

That's it.

↩️ Note: To undo the change, set the reviewed ShowShortenedDateTime value  to 1.

Download REG files

To save your time, you can download these REG files I made here.

Download files

Extract the ZIP archive to any folder, and open the Show Full Date and Time.reg file. Click OK in the User Account Control dialog, then click OK in the Registry Editor confirmation, and finally click OK in the confirmation to make changes.

If your way of tweaking the OS includes some bits of automation, you can make the change from the command prompt or PowerShell, and then use the appropriate commands in your scripts and batch files.

Using PowerShell

1. Right-click the Start button in the taskbar and select Terminal.
2. In the PowerShell tab of Terminal run the following command to enable the full date and time format in Windows 11:
   New-ItemProperty -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced -Name ShowShortenedDateTime -Value 0 -PropertyType DWORD -Force.
3. You may need to sign out and sign in for the changes to take effect if you don't see the change instantly.

That's it.

↩️ The undo command if you need it: New-ItemProperty -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced -Name ShowShortenedDateTime -Value 1 -PropertyType DWORD -Force.

Finally, here's how you do the same in the classic command prompt with help of the built-in reg.exe tool.

Using Command Prompt

1. Press Win + R and type cmd.exe in the Run dialog.
2. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter: reg add HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced /v ShowShortenedDateTime /d 0 /t REG_DWORD /f.
3. Sign out and sign in for the changes to take effect if required.

That's it! You can use any of the above commands in your automation tasks on demands.

↩️ Note: The undo command is reg add HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced /v ShowShortenedDateTime /d 1 /t REG_DWORD /f.

The reviewed methods deal with the regular option in Settings, but it is not the only way to set it. Additionally, Windows 11 offers a Group Policy configuration to set the date format in the taskbar. You can use either a Group Policy tweak, which works even in Home editions of the OS. Or you can go with the gpedit.msc tool, which is only available in Pro, Education and Enterprise versions.

Turn off abbreviated time and date format in Group Policy

1. Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
2. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar in the left pane.
3. Find the policy titled "Turn off abbreviated time and date format" and double-click it.

   

4. Select Enabled to display the full date format. Click Apply and then OK.

   

5. Restart your computer for the changes to apply.

That's it. As said, the Local Group Policy Editor app is only available in Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows 11. If you run Windows 11 Home, go with the Registry tweak discussed in the next chapter.

Set the Policy in the Registry

1. Launch the Registry Editor by right-clicking the Start button and selecting "Run" from the context menu.Type "regedit" and press Enter in the Run window.
2. Go to the following Registry branch: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer. If the "Explorer" folder is missing, then create a new key by right-clicking the "Windows" folder and selecting "New > Key".
3. Within the "Explorer" key, right-click an empty space on the right side and choose "New > DWORD (32-Bit) value". Name this new value "TurnOffAbbreviatedDateTimeFormat".
4. Now double-click the TurnOffAbbreviatedDateTimeFormat value and set its data to "1".
5. Finally, sign out of Windows 11 and then sign back in for the changes to take effect.

That's it. For your convenience, you can use console commands and REG files to automate the policy setting.

Ready-made Registry Files

⬇️ Get the files from this link: Download REG Files

Extract them from the ZIP folder to any location. For example, your desktop folder is suitable.

Now, open the file Turn off abbreviated time and date format.reg. You'll be asked to confirm the action twice, one by UAC and secondly by the Registry Editor. After opening the file reboot your computer.

Command Prompt

Open Windows Terminal (Press Win + X > select Terminal). From the chevron drop-down, select Command Prompt.

Now, type and run this command:

reg add HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer /v TurnOffAbbreviatedDateTimeFormat /d 1 /t REG_DWORD /f.

Note: Actually, you can run the above command right in PowerShell.

To apply the policy properly, I recommend you to sign out from your user account, and then sign in back to Windows 11.

↩️ Finally, this is the undo command: reg delete HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer /v TurnOffAbbreviatedDateTimeFormat /f

It removes the value from the Registry.

Closing words

The shortened date format on the Windows 11 taskbar is part of Microsoft's effort to make the user interface more convenient for everyone. But it may not suit everyone's preferences. Fortunately, restoring the full date format is straightforward using any of the methods we reviewed today. Whether you choose the compact or traditional format ultimately depends on your workflow and personal taste!

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