On any modern version of Windows, Microsoft limits the taskbar clock to the default display of hours and minutes. This is fine for most users, but some people may want to display seconds in the taskbar of the operating system. Unlike Windows 10, Windows 11 doesn’t allow seconds to be displayed on the taskbar.
On Windows 11, it is no longer possible to edit the registry file to enable clocks with seconds (unless you are upgrading from a computer that has been set up for Windows 10).
In response to a user’s question, a Microsoft representative said that the company had completely removed the feature, and one of the reasons was performance: Please note that displaying seconds in the taskbar is not currently supported, but your interest has been shared with the team for future consideration.
IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT THIS WAS NOT THE CASE IN THE 90S, WHERE EARLIER VERSIONS OF THE TASKBAR SUPPORTED DISPLAYING TIME AS ACCURATE AS THE SECOND, BUT THE FEATURE WAS LISTED AS AN OPTION IN THE STABLE VERSION BECAUSE IT CAUSED PERFORMANCE ISSUES FOR EVERYONE. SINCE THE SYSTEM ONLY HAD 4MB OF MEMORY AT THE TIME, THE IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE WAS OBVIOUS, BUT THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE, AS MOST SYSTEMS HAVE MORE THAN 8GB OF MEMORY.
SO WHY NOT BRING THE CLOCK OF THE TASKBAR BACK AND SUPPORT THE NUMBER OF SECONDS? THE REASON IS STILL PERFORMANCE. ALTHOUGH SYSTEM MEMORY IS NO LONGER THE MAIN ISSUE, AS ALL DEVICES NOW HAVE A LOT MORE MEMORY THAN 4MB, THE FREQUENT UPDATES REQUIRED TO DISPLAY THE SECOND HAND ON THE TASKBAR WILL STILL MAKE THE DEVICE SLOWER THAN USUAL.
Let’s switch the scenario to a windows configuration with multi-user support, in a multi-user supported device, Windows will try to update the taskbar clock once per second, and each logged-in user has its own taskbar clock. That means Windows will flip through a hundred stacks to draw a taskbar clock a hundred times.
This is a bad thing for performance, as this basically means that Windows will need to spend extra time updating the clock, which will increase the load on the CPU. For this particular reason, server administrators often disable the “flash clock” effect to reduce CPU usage, as flashing clocks for a hundred users significantly increase CPU usage. In fact, many server administrators even disable the taskbar clock entirely to reduce the load on processing power.
Another major problem is that periodic activity caused by the taskbar clock will prevent the CPU from entering Windows 11’s low-power mode, and the company has been working to reduce cyclical activity in this operating system, which is why the minimum cycle of the system’s periodic timer is one minute.
of course, disabling the optional registry definition that enables seconds on the taskbar isn’t a good idea for many, but according to Microsoft’s current stance, the feature won’t be back anytime soon.