Having a simple trick, you can force the taskbar in Windows 10 to show seconds in the clock. Follow the steps below to do so.

Generally, the seconds within the taskbar clock aren't shown. However, should you click on the clock, you will see the seconds appear over the calendar. Regardless of how you attempt to configure the taskbar clock within the Time and date tool in windows, you just cannot result in the taskbar show the seconds in its default system clock. Windows will just ignore your settings.

One of the main causes of this behavior is that in the old days (the 90s), showing seconds within the taskbar clock is resource-intensive. However, the computers now are much more powerful and the performance impact is nothing to nothing.

The good thing is, with a simple registry tweak, you may make the taskbar show seconds within the clock. Let me show you how.

Though I'm demonstrating this in Windows 10, the technique shown below works on Windows 7 and Windows 8 too.

Show Seconds in Taskbar Clock

To make things easier, I'll show two methods to display seconds in the system clock.

The first technique is automatic. i.e, you can easily download the .reg file and let seconds within the taskbar clock. On the other hand, if you don't mind editing the registry manually, stick to the second method.

Automatic Method with .reg File

This is actually the easiest way if you don't like editing the registry manually.

1. First, download this zip file and extract the contents inside it towards the desktop.

2. To show the seconds, double-click on the "show seconds in taskbar clock.reg" file.

3. You will see an alert message, click the "Yes" button.

4. Now, restart the Windows and you should begin to see the seconds within the system clock around the taskbar.

Should you ever want to hide or remove the seconds from the system clock, simply double-click on the "hide seconds in taskbar clock.reg" file and you're simply good to go.

Manual Method (Edit Registry Yourself)

If you're a bit more adventures, you are able to manually edit the registry yourself. Just be sure that you can good backup so that you can restore the registry in case of any mishaps.

1. First, open the beginning menu, search for "Registry Editor" and click on the end result to open the Registry Editor.

2. In the registry editor, copy the below path, paste it in the address bar and press Enter. You will be instantly taken to the folder where we need to create new value.

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

3. Right-click on the empty space on the right-panel and choose "New → DWORD (32-bit) Value" option.

4. Name the new value as "ShowSecondsInSystemClock" and press Enter to confirm the name.

5. Now, double-click around the new value. In the Edit Value window, type "1" in the Value Data field and click on the "Ok" button to save changes.

6. Finally, reboot Windows and you'll begin to see the seconds in the taskbar clock.

If you ever want to rever back, you may either delete the "ShowSecondsInSystemClock" value or change its Value Data to "0".

That's all. It is that simple to help make the taskbar clock show seconds in Windows 10.