The system tray clock, located on the right side of the Windows taskbar, tends to look rather plain. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could pick from various skins to make it more appealing? Unfortunately, Windows does not support this by default, leaving you with a basic, uninteresting clock.
However, you can indeed personalize the Windows system tray clock with Free Desktop Clock and ElevenClock. Free Desktop Clock offers nine different skins for the system tray clock, while ElevenClock adds a more customizable clock to the Windows tray area.
How to Install Free Desktop Clock
To get Free Desktop Clock, navigate to its download page in your preferred browser. Click the blue ‘Download’ button to save the setup wizard file.
After downloading, double-click on the freeclock.exe file to open the setup wizard and install the software.
How to Select a New System Tray Clock Skin
Once installed, open the Free Desktop Clock application. Click on ‘Skins’ on the left-hand side. Enable the tray clock if it’s not already checked. Then select a skin from the tab and click ‘OK’ to apply it to your system tray clock.
You can further enhance the system tray clock with additional settings. Click ‘Show date’ and ‘Show day of the week’ to display those details next to the clock. Selecting ‘Show percent of memory in use’ will show your RAM utilization percentage.
To modify the clock’s background color, click on the ‘Defaultbackground’ drop-down menu and choose ‘Color background.’ Then, select a color from the palette box. You can also tweak the clock’s transparency by adjusting the ‘Transparent’ setting.
How to Add Different Time Zone Clocks
Free Desktop Clock lets you display clocks for different time zones, which can be useful for international calls. Click the ‘Time Zones’ tab to access these options.
To enable a time zone clock, check the box for ‘Show this clock.’ Select a time zone from the drop-down menu and optionally add a title in the ‘Enter display name’ box.
How to Create an Hourly Time Announcement
An interesting feature of Free Desktop Clock is its hourly time announcement. This setting will chime on the hour, helping you keep track of time without constantly looking at the clock.
Within the ‘Customizations’ tab, check the ‘Hourly time announcement’ option. Press the button next to the ‘Sound’ box to choose an audio file for the announcement.
Additional Features in Atomic Alarm Clock
Atomic Alarm Clock offers additional features you might notice in the Free Desktop Clock application. These are available through an upgrade at $14.95. The upgraded version allows setting specific time alarms, includes more skins for the system tray clock, and offers the option to sync with an internet time server.
How to Customize Windows 11’s System Tray Clock With ElevenClock
If you prefer to keep the existing system tray clock but want more customization, ElevenClock is an ideal app. It offers various customization settings for the clock’s appearance, tooltip, position, size, and date & time format.
To install ElevenClock, visit its Microsoft Store page. Click ‘Get in Store app’ and then ‘Open in Microsoft Store’ to install the software. Select ‘Install’ within the Microsoft Store.
Upon installation, the ‘Welcome to ElevenClock’ window will pop up. Click ‘OK’ and ‘Skip’ to dive right into the app. Press the ‘Open’ button to access ElevenClock’s main window and start customizing the system tray clock.
Click ‘Clock position and size’ to find options for resizing and relocating the clock. Adjust the sliders on ‘Change the height’ and ‘Change the width’ to resize. Move the clock to the left or top by selecting ‘Show the clock on left of the screen’ or ‘Force the clock to be at the top of the screen.’
To tweak the clock’s font, go to the ‘Clock Appearance’ category. Check ‘Use a custom font’ and press ‘Select custom font’ to choose your desired font, style (italic and bold), and size. Click ‘OK’ to apply.
Change the font color by selecting ‘Use a custom font’ and then ‘Select a custom’ to bring up a color palette. Choose a color and click ‘OK’ to apply. Similarly, you can select ‘Use a custom background color’ to change the clock’s background.
The ‘Date & Time Settings’ category provides options to modify the clock’s format. You can opt to show seconds, dates, week numbers, and weekdays. If you enable all options, you’ll likely need to increase the clock’s height and width or reduce the font size to fit all details.
Customize the tooltip by clicking on the ‘Tooltip appearance’ category. Choose custom font, size, and color settings similar to those for clock appearance. Select ‘Disable tooltip’s blurry background’ to remove the background box.
The default click action on the customizable system clock brings up the calendar/notifications. To change this, go to ‘Clock features’ in ElevenClock’s settings. Use the drop-down menu for ‘Change the action’ to assign different actions like opening Task Manager, Start menu, search menu, Run, etc.
ElevenClock includes a wizard for guiding users through customization. Open this by expanding the ‘General Settings’ category and pressing the ‘Open’ button. Click ‘Start’ on the welcome window, select settings for each step, and click the > arrow to proceed.