How to Hide Clock in Windows 11: Step-by-Step Guide

Key Takeaways:

• You can hide the clock in Windows 11 by modifying the date and time settings.
• You can also use third-party free and open-source applications like Win11ClockToggler to remove or hide the date and time on Windows 11 taskbar.
• Unlike Windows 10, Windows 11 has no built-in option to remove the clock as of now.

Looking for a way to hide the clock in Windows 11? There are a number of reasons why you might want to remove the clock, such as for a more minimalistic look, to save taskbar space, or to avoid distractions. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps to remove the clock from your taskbar and provide a clean and uncluttered look to your desktop.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has not made it easy to hide the clock in Windows 11, but with my simple hack, you’ll be able to get rid of it in no time.

Additionally, I’ll also discuss why the clock is tightly integrated with the taskbar in Windows 11 and what users can expect in future updates.

Keep reading to learn how to remove the date and time on the taskbar in Windows 11.

Table of contents:

1. How to hide the clock in Windows 11 via Settings
2. Use Win11ClockToggler to hide the clock in Windows 11
3. What’s changed from Windows 10?
4. Conclusion

How to hide the clock in Windows 11 via Settings

To remove the date and time from the Windows 11 taskbar, you have to edit the Windows 11 clock settings. Specifically, you much change the date and time format in such a way that they don’t appear (almost) on the taskbar.

Here’s how to hide the clock in Windows 11 taskbar:

1. Right-click on the clock on the taskbar**.
2. Select the “Adjust date and time” option.
3. Click on the “Language & Region” option.
4. Click on the “Administrative language settings” option.
5. Go to the “Formats” tab.
6. Click on the “Additional Settings” button.
7. Go to the “Time” tab.
8. Type “s” in the “Short time” field.
9. Press the “Apply” button.
10. Go to the “Date” tab.
11. Type “d” or “ddd” in the “Short date” field.
12. Click on the “Apply” button.
13. Click on the “Ok” button.
14. Close the Settings app.
15. With that, you’ve hidden the clock on Windows 11 taskbar.

Steps with more details:

First, right-click on the clock on the taskbar and choose the “Adjust date and time” option from the context menu. As you’d expect, this action will open the date and time settings page.

Now, click on the “Language & Region” option under the “Related Settings” section. This action will open the “Language & Region” page. You can also access this page via “Settings -> Time & Language -> Language & Region.”

Once you are here, find and click on the “Administrative language settings” option at the bottom.

The above action will open the old-school Region settings window. Here, go to the “Formats” tab and click on the “Additional Settings” button.

Now, go to the “Time” tab. Here, type “s” in the “Short time” field and click the “Apply” button. This format removes the time from the Windows 11 taskbar clock.

Next, go to the “Date” tab. Here, type “d” to show today’s date (only date and no month and year) or “ddd” to show the weekday in short form, like Sun, Mon, etc. I recommend using “ddd” since it looks good on the taskbar.

Finally, press the “Apply” and “Ok” buttons to save the date and time format settings.

With that, you will no longer see the Windows 11 clock on the taskbar.

If you want to restore the original date and time formats, type “HH:mm” in the “Short time” field and “dd-MM-yyyy” or “MM/dd/yyyy” in the “Short date” field.

Use Win11ClockToggler to hide the clock in Windows 11

If you want to remove the Windows 11 clock on the taskbar without a trace of it, then you must use the Win11ClockToggler application. It is a free, open-source, and portable application to hide or show the taskbar clock in Windows 11. It also lets you toggle the clock in Windows 11 with a keyboard shortcut.

1. Get Win11ClockToggler from the GitHub page.
2. Extract the zip file to a folder.
3. Open the Extracted folder.
4. Double-click on the exe file to open Win11ClockToggler.
5. Click the “Toggle Visibility” option.
6. This option will hide the clock and system icon.
7. To show the system icons, turn off the “Notification Area” option.
8. Minimize the application.
9. From now, you can use the “Windows key + Caps + F6” to toggle Windows 11 clock.
10. To show the Win11ClockToggler application, press “Windows key + Shift + F7.”

Download Win11ClockToggler: https://github.com/jmalarcon/Win11ClockToggler/releases

Steps with more details:

First, follow the above link to go to the Win11ClockToggler GitHub page. Here, click on the “Win11ClockTogglerGUI_x64.zip” link. This action will download the GUI (Graphical User Interface) version of the Win11ClockToggler application.

After downloading, the zip file, right-click on it and select the “Extract all” option. Next, click the “Extract” button to extract the zipped contents to a folder in the same directory.

Once the zipped file is extracted to a folder, open the extracted folder and open the Win11ClockToggler application by double-clicking on the exe file.

After the application opens, ensure the following options are enabled.

• Notification Area
• Show On Hover

Now, click on the “Toggle Visibility” option at the bottom.

As soon as you do that, the clock is hidden in Windows 11. To see the clock, hover your mouse cursor where the clock should be.

If you want to see the taskbar icons, disable the “Notification Area” option.

Finally, minimize the application. As long as the application is running in the background, the Windows 11 clock is hidden.

When you minimize the application, it is completely hidden, and you will not see an icon in the taskbar tray. To see the Win11ClockToggler window, press the “Windows key + Shift + F7.”

That is all. It is that simple to hide the Windows 11 clock using the Win11ClockToggler application.

What’s changed from Windows 10?

In Windows 10, the taskbar clock is considered a system icon. As such, you can hide the clock in Windows 10 via the Taskbar Settings. All you have to do is disable the “Clock” option in the taskbar settings page, and the date and time are hidden in Windows 10. As you can guess, this is a clean and easy way to do it.

However, like many other taskbar options, Microsoft removed this option from Windows 11 for whatever reason. In fact, the clock is now tightly integrated with the taskbar, and it is not possible to remove it cleanly, like in Windows 10.

That’s the reason why even when you use a third-party application to hide the clock in Windows 11, you will see an empty space where the clock should be.

Hopefully, Microsoft will add this feature to Windows 11 with updates and allow users to remove the clock from the taskbar. Fingers crossed.

Easily hide the date and time in Windows 11 — Conclusion

In conclusion, there are a few ways to hide the clock in Windows 11. The first method is through the taskbar settings, while the second method is by using the Win11ClockToggler application.

Both methods are effective in removing the clock from the Windows 11 taskbar, but the Win11ClockToggler application provides an additional feature of being able to toggle the clock with a keyboard shortcut. Plus, it also makes the taskbar look aesthetically pleasing.

Whether you prefer a more minimalistic look, saving taskbar space, or avoiding distractions, removing the clock from the Windows 11 taskbar is a simple and easy solution.

I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.