Win11ClockToggler

With each new update, a program is supposed to get better, faster, more efficient and provide new features for its users. However, at the same time, many of them are removed for various reasons, such as incompatibility with new functions, redundancy and more.

That being said, when it comes to operating systems such as Windows, customization remains an important priority for many users, which is why the community often takes responsibility in their own hands to fix some issues. Win11ClockToggler is a straightforward app meant to restore the functionality of hiding the time, date and system tray in Windows 11.

The program’s sole purpose consists in hiding or showing the taskbar’s system tray in the bottom right corner of the screen, with the option of toggling the clock, date and notification icon independently. This choice that was present in Windows 10 has been removed from the newer iteration of the operating system, and the developer wants to restore it for the user.

Some of the reasoning for the features implies situations in which you might not need the clock or the rest of the system tray icons to be shown at all times. If the mere sight of that particular portion of the screen distracts you and slows down your workflow, you dislike its design or its functions do not seem useful to you, this command-line-based executable will solve the problem instantly.

Without the need for a graphical user interface, double-clicking the program icon is sufficient for removing the entire system tray. Starting it again restores it completely. For more functions, the program can be run through Command Prompt, and adding multiple keywords or letters at the end of the command lets you show the instructions, toggle the notification area, time and secondary screen’s time and date if necessary.

A small limitation of the program lies within the fact that the system tray reappears whenever a notification is received. To counteract this, the Focus Assist feature can be set to Alarms only, which only reinforces the idea of a distraction-free environment provided by the app.

Unfortunately, the program can be buggy at times when activating the aforementioned extra functions, sometimes showing an extra blank button requiring the user to restart the Windows Explorer from the Task Manager in order to reset it to its original state. Hiding only the clock disables the interaction with the system tray program icons until the program is rerun, and hiding just the notification tray does not always work.

These issues do not occur when simply running the executable of the program, meaning the initial main function still works as intended, and that only the extra features are unreliable.

If you want to regain another ability of customizing your desktop in Windows 11, Win11ClockToggler lets you hide or show the system tray and clock whenever you need to focus on your tasks or film a tutorial and the time of recording gets in the way.