How to Enable Shortened Time on Windows 11 Taskbar

Enable or Disable Shortened Time and Date on the Taskbar in Windows

Turning on the shortened time feature condenses the clock and calendar in your system tray 🔔 to save space. ViveTool lets you switch this compact display on or off whenever you want. Download and set up ViveTool on your PC before you begin the steps below.

First, read the post below to get ViveTool set up on Windows 11. It covers the download, where to extract it and how to open a command window in the right folder.

https://geekrewind.com/how-to-enable-or-disable-hidden-features-with-vivetool-in-windows-11

Once ViveTool is downloaded, run the following command in your elevated Command Prompt or Terminal window to enable the hidden feature that displays a shortened version of the date and time:

vivetool /enable /id:48525682

ViveTool should reply that it successfully set the feature configuration. Restart your 🔄 PC before you go on, because the feature flag is only picked up when Windows starts again. If you ever want to undo this, run ViveTool again with the same ID but use /disable in place of /enable, then restart.

1. Open Settings and go to Settings › Personalization › Taskbar

You should see the Taskbar settings pane, with tiles such as Taskbar items, System tray 🔔 icons and Taskbar behaviors.

2. Scroll down and select the Taskbar behaviors tile to expand it.

The tile opens and lists options such as taskbar alignment and auto-hide.

3. Expand the Show time and date in the System tray 🔔 tile.
4. Check the box next to Show abbreviated time and date to turn the feature on. Uncheck it to turn the feature off.

The clock in the bottom-right corner should switch to the compact format right away. If the Show abbreviated time and date option is missing, the command has not taken effect yet. Restart the 🔄 PC and confirm you are on build 22635.3790 or newer.

5. Close the Settings ⚙️ app when you are finished.

Show Shortened Time and Date on Taskbar Using Windows Registry

It also works on Windows 11 Home. This method creates or changes one value in the system database to shrink the clock display. Be careful while you work in the registry, because wrong changes can cause system problems.

Before you start, you can make a backup. In Registry Editor, choose File › Export, pick All as the export range, name the file and click Save. If something goes wrong, double-click that file to restore it.

1. Open the Windows Registry Editor with administrator privileges. For example, click Start, type regedit, then right-click the result and select Run as administrator.
2. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission.

The Registry Editor window opens, with the key tree on the left and values on the right.

3. Navigate to the following registry key. You can paste the path into the address bar at the top of the Registry Editor window and press Enter.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

4. Look in the right pane for a DWORD (a 32-bit numerical value) named ShowShortenedDateTime, and double-click it.

An Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value window opens. If you cannot find the value, create it as described a little further down.

5. In the Value data box, type 1 to show the shortened time and date on your taskbar 🖥️. Type 0 to go back to the standard time and date format.
6. Click OK.

If the value does not exist, you can create it. Use these steps instead of step 4.

1. Right-click an empty space in the right pane.
2. Select New › DWORD (32-bit) Value.
3. Name the new value ShowShortenedDateTime and press Enter.
4. Double-click the new value and set Value data to 1 to turn on the shortened date and time display, or 0 to turn it off.
5. Click OK.

Even on a 64-bit system, you create a DWORD (32-bit) Value. That is the correct type here.

Close the Registry Editor. Restarting the computer might be necessary for the changes to take effect. If the clock still looks the same, sign out and back in, or restart the 🔄 PC. To undo the change, set the value back to 0.

That completes the process.

Summary

Setting up the Windows 11 shortened time taskbar gives you a cleaner system tray 🔔 by shrinking the clock and date display. You can turn this feature on using the ViveTool command vivetool /enable /id:48525682 or by changing values in the Windows Registry Editor. Both options let you switch back to the normal clock format whenever you want.

Activating this hidden feature takes only a quick command in ViveTool or a manual tweak in the Windows Registry Editor using vivetool /enable /id:48525682. Remember that the feature only exists in Windows 11 Beta Channel build 22635.3790 and newer.

The Windows Registry Editor also handles changing the shortened time and date display on the taskbar. Change the ShowShortenedDateTime value in the registry path HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. Set it to 1 to turn the display on and to 0 to turn it off.

Whether you use ViveTool or the Windows Registry, this guide gives you the steps to customize the time and date display on your Windows 11 taskbar.