Change clock to and from military time in Windows

Posted on August 13, 2008 at 5:29 am

Most people probably don’t care, but the default time display in Windows is 12 hour format, not military time. However, for all of the people who routinely tell time using the military time format, being able to change it on their computers can prove to be very useful.

You would think it would be super easy to change the clock in Windows to military time, but it’s not! It’s never easy! That’s why IT people like me still have jobs. Here are the steps you need to take in order to change your Windows time to military format.

First open the Control Panel and then open Regional and Language Options. If you don’t see the icons, click the Switch to Classic View link at the top left.

control panel regional lanaguage

Next click on the Customize button on the Regional Options tab.

regional options customize

Click on the Time tab and choose any of the options with the upper case H. Lower case h means 12 hour and upper case H means 24 hour format.

windows time format

Now click OK until you are back to the Control Panel. Whew! Not easy at all! Not sure why they don’t just put the option in the Date and Time Properties dialog when you double click on the time in your system tray, that would make much more sense.

date and time properties

Also, check out a previous post I wrote on how you can customize the way Windows display time by adding your name. Enjoy!

» Filed Under Cool Websites

Related Posts

Comments

25 Responses to “Change clock to and from military time in Windows”

  1. Internet Marketing Company said on : August 13th, 2008 at 6:08 am

    Hey, that’s a great tip.. thanks.


  2. David "CrazyKinux" Perry said on : August 13th, 2008 at 7:31 am

    Thanks for the tip. Never knew you could do that, and being French-Canadian, this 24-hours display is a blessing!

    CK


  3. john said on : August 14th, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    thnx dude


  4. MK said on : August 14th, 2008 at 9:40 pm

    Good to know ….thanks !


  5. B8L0A1M said on : September 3rd, 2008 at 10:55 pm

    I really do appreciate the info on changing the time!


  6. lisa said on : December 9th, 2008 at 7:30 pm

    Thank you so much! I was finally able to get my computer’s clock off of the military time format!


  7. Ann said on : December 28th, 2008 at 8:26 pm

    Thank you very much! I was unable to put back to standard after puter guy changed it. Could not figure the time out and neither could grandkids.


  8. Charlie said on : January 9th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    Thanks, after running ComboFix it set my clock to military time. A quick google search later and I came across your excellent article. Much appricated!!!


  9. Wade said on : January 23rd, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    Thank you so much!! like Charlie, something I ran changed my clock to military time. I’m so used to number crunching that when I first noticed it, I didn’t even really think about it. It’s not like its hard, it’s just ANNOYING when all my clocks tell me different things. Thank you for this tidbit, I know my way around windows, and this I’ve never seen :P And I agree about the Time and Date on the start bar. I was double checking that thing over and over to see if I missed it. TY again!


  10. john said on : January 27th, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    thanx that did the job!


  11. Matthew said on : March 6th, 2009 at 8:09 pm

    thanks dude finally found out how to switch!!!!!!!!!!!!=)


  12. Brian said on : March 15th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    Good call man, thanks for the info.


  13. wildboy211 said on : June 30th, 2009 at 9:47 pm

    Thanks…couldnt figure out how to change from military time back to standard…thanks…


  14. marauder said on : August 22nd, 2009 at 5:40 pm

    Dandy for you XP folks – but I’m running 2K. No “Regional/Language” applet in Control Panel.


  15. working4goals said on : September 12th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    Thank you….I knew there had to be a way to set the clock to military time.


  16. Allison said on : September 17th, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    Thank you for this. Very helpful and well explained.


  17. Sharon said on : December 12th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

    Many thanks! Somehow I got changed to military time on my computer and I had no luck figuring out how to change it back.


  18. Kath said on : December 14th, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    THANKS…Me Too ~ don’t know WHEN nor HOW it got changed to military time, but you helped me get it fixed.


  19. Musica said on : January 2nd, 2010 at 2:46 am

    Good article, it was interesting to read. I prefer military time. Thanks.


  20. Monica said on : January 3rd, 2010 at 6:46 pm

    This is exactly what I was looking for…a quick straight forward way to get the clock back to my origanal setting.
    THANK YOU!


  21. LeeAnn said on : January 15th, 2010 at 2:05 pm

    Thanks that worked like a charm.


  22. Duncan said on : March 11th, 2010 at 3:50 pm

    Wow thanks I have been trying to figure this out for months…Thanks


  23. Katie Kat said on : March 15th, 2010 at 1:15 pm

    Thanks! That was easy!

    For some reason after I downloaded a freebie program called Smitfraudfix to use on another computer, my time had changed to military all on its own.

    I was able to get my clock back to its original setting. Yet nice to know I can do military time as well.

    Katie Kat


  24. Owen said on : March 20th, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    Un mil de gracias from Mesa, AZ. Microsoft Windows did NOT mention the option of 24 hour time. Thought I would search to see if anything was available and voila – there was your instructions. Thanks again, you have my undying gratitude.


  25. Tim said on : May 12th, 2010 at 6:36 pm

    Thank you so much for your tips on changing the clock back to standard time. The military time was driving my wife crazy. Your the best


Please post your comments/suggestions!