Skip to Content

TUAW Tip: Add date to the menu bar clock

by Cory Bohon Aug 18th 2008 at 4:00PM


Have you ever wanted to quickly verify today's date, but didn't want to open iCal? Well, you could click on the clock in the menu to get the month/day/year. However, you can also change the layout of the clock to include the extra information such as month/day/year.

To do this, open System Preferences and go to the "International" system preference pane. Once there, click on the "Formats" tab and then click the customize button in the dates section. Select "Medium" from the drop-down menu. You should see the data change in the text box below the drop-down menu. Click inside the box, select all the text (Command + A), and then copy the text (Command + C). Once you've copied the text, click cancel.

Click on the customize button in the times section. Select "Medium" from the drop-down menu. Then place the cursor just before the time and paste (Command + V) the date that you just copied. You might want to add several spaces (or some sort of separator) between the date and time. Once you are finished, click OK. The changes will now show up in the menu bar.

Update: To remove the custom formatting from the menu bar, go to System Preferences > International > Formats. Click the "Customize" button in the times section and select "Medium" from the drop-down menu. Delete the additional text that you add and click "OK." Now click the customize button under the "Times" section again and select "Short" from the drop-down menu. Click "OK," and your system should return to normal.


More tips and tricks like these can be found at the TUAW Tips and Mac 101 sections of TUAW.

View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

OS TUAW Tips

Have you ever wanted to quickly verify today's date, but didn't want to open iCal? Well, you could click on the clock in the menu to get...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

44 Comments

Filter by:
Haszari

http://haszaristwocents.blogspot.com/2008/08/file-edit-view-how-to-make-your-mac-os.html

Well cheers A LOT for the tip, because not only do I have my date up there now.... I also have... wait for it... drum roll please....

...

A SMALLER SYSTEM FONT!

That's right, I believe the slashes in my date format resulted in Mac OS X bumping down the font size a little, as it is now smaller in the menu bar and in all context menus. It's amazingly beautifuller like this I can tell you right now.

And it solves the traditional complaint "Apple's cool but the font's too big"....

August 24 2008 at 5:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Robert

Help! I tried the tip. Now my hour has stayed on 7 all day. I undid according to instructions. But it is still the 7 o'clock hour. How do I fix this? I want my clock to be right more than twice a day.

August 20 2008 at 6:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alex

Ok so now my clock says:

Tue Aug 19m 20088:05 PM

GREAT! Now give me a way to fix this because removing what i pasted in doesn't do anything.

August 19 2008 at 2:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
j.hopmann

For Tiger 'iConical'

August 19 2008 at 1:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dion

Man that was a sucky tip! I have the same problem where my hours don't show up anymore. I tired reseting like it said in the update but it didn't work. Shittiest tip EVER!

August 19 2008 at 12:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chadi

Menu Calendar Clock is what I use. Perfect.

August 19 2008 at 9:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
J

I just click the time in the menu bar to see the date. Call me crazy.

August 19 2008 at 9:24 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to J's comment
robjennings

No kidding. I can't believe you're the only person who suggested that. Seems easier to me.

August 20 2008 at 1:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dame in Philly...

This was actually a pretty sweet tip, as I was looking for just this functionality. Thanks, guys...
-d

August 18 2008 at 9:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
erik

i tried to do this and nothing changed except now "PDT" is at the end of my time in the menu bar... help?

i also tried to reset it back to normal and it would not...

:(

August 18 2008 at 9:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to erik's comment
reese

Having the same problem!

August 19 2008 at 2:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Joe

This screwed my system over royally. Thanks so much Cory. How about a fix for those of us that tried your "tip"

August 18 2008 at 8:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.