Add Multiple Clocks to Ubuntu Linux Top Bar

Adding multiple clocks to the Ubuntu top bar lets you track up to three different time zones next to your local time. The foreign times show up when you click the clock on the top bar, so you can check global hours without opening another app.

You only need the standard desktop settings and the GNOME Clocks app, which handles the world clock list. No extensions or third-party tools are required. This applies to current Ubuntu releases with the default GNOME desktop.

How to display multiple times in Ubuntu Linux

Setting this up takes about a minute. The Clocks app stores the cities, and the top bar reads that list. Once you add your first city, it appears when you click the main clock in the top bar.

First check that Clocks is installed. If it is missing, install it in one of two ways:

1. Open App Center, search for “Clocks,” and press Install. You should see the install progress and then an Open button.
2. Or open Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the command below. It asks for your password. Nothing shows as you type, which is normal.

sudo apt install gnome-clocks (this command installs the Clocks app).

No restart is needed. If the app was already installed, the command just reports that it is up to date.

Now add your first city:

1. Click the time on the top bar. The calendar fly-out opens.
2. Click Add world clocks… at the bottom of the calendar. The Clocks app opens. If you are already in the app, skip this step.
3. Press Ctrl+N or click the Add World Clock button. A search box🔍 appears.

If you don’t see Add world clocks…, the Clocks app is probably not installed yet. Go back to the install step above.

1. Type your city’s name into the search🔍 box. Matching cities appear in a list below it.

If nothing matches, try a larger nearby city in the same time zone or a different spelling. The search matches city names, not time zone codes.

1. Pick the correct city from the list. Check the country, since some names exist in more than one place.
2. Press Add. The city now appears in the Clocks window with its local time.
3. Repeat for each time zone you want to track. The original guide covers up to three.
4. Click the time on the top bar again. Your chosen cities now appear in the calendar fly-out, with each city’s current time.

The extra clocks are shown in that fly-out, not as permanent text on the bar itself. Your local time stays on the bar as usual.

Managing your World Clocks

When your schedule shifts, open the Clocks app to remove or change cities. You can delete a time zone with a right-click. To swap one city for another, remove the old one and add the new one in its place. There is no separate edit button for a city.

• To deleteOpen the Clocks app, right-click on the city you want to remove, and select Delete. The city disappears from the app and from the top bar fly-out.
• To editSimply delete the old entry and add the new city you need, using the steps above.

If right-click does nothing on your version, use the selection button in the Clocks title bar to tick the city, then press Delete. If you delete a city by mistake, add it again with Ctrl+N.

That covers the complete setup process.

Adding multiple clocks helps you track different time zones. The GNOME Clocks app keeps schedules organized, no matter where contacts are located globally.