Question from Beverly: I just bought a new HP Laptop that runs Windows 10 and the time in the lower right corner is in military time.
How do I reset it to normal time (i.e. instead of 17:00, have it say 5:00 PM)?
I’ve tried everything but don’t know how to do it.
Rick’s answer: Congrats on your purchase of a new laptop, Beverly. I hope it serves you well for a very long time!
I happen to really like Windows 10, but it does have plenty of quirks. One of those quirks is the non-intuitive method you must use to make the switch from 24 hour time to 12 hour time.
Microsoft could have made it a lot simpler to change the time format, but for whatever reason they chose to make us jump through a couple of hoops.
Luckily, it’s pretty easy to change the time format in Windows 10 if you know what to look for. Just follow the steps below to get your PC off of military time:
1 – Right-click on the time display that’s located in the lower-right corner of the screen, then select Adjust date/time from the menu.
2 – Click on the Change date and time formats link at the bottom of the window.
Note: You should now see the various date and time settings on the screen. The last two settings determine how Windows will display the time.
In the steps that follow the case of the letter “H” will determine whether the time will be displayed in 24 hour (military) time or 12 hour time (am and pm).
A capital “H” will cause the time to be displayed in 24 hour format. A lower case “h” will cause it to be displayed in 12 hour format.
3 – Click the arrow in the “Short time” box and select one of the settings that begin with a lower case h.
4 – Click the arrow in the “Long time” box and select one of the settings that begin with a lower case h.
5 – Click the X in the top-right corner of the window to exit the Settings app.
That’s all there is to it. Your computer should now be displaying the time in 12 hour format (am and pm).
I hope this helps, Beverly. Good luck!
Bonus tip #1: Since you’re new to Windows 10 I recommend that you pick up a copy of a fantastic book called Windows 10 for Dummies, an excellent resource for learning the ins-and-outs of Windows 10.
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