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Whenever I play games, those will always launch on the main monitor.

Since the system tray where the clock is located is only displayed on the taskbar on the main monitor, I can't see what time it is while playing my games unless I alt-tab.

What can I do to get the system tray on my secondary screen?

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6
  • 3
    A workaround could be installing a clock gadget and putting it on the 2nd monitor.
    – Wutnaut
    May 14, 2014 at 20:53
  • @Wutnaut That would only work on Vista or 7, since those are the only versions to support Gadgets.
    – Nolonar
    May 14, 2014 at 20:57
  • let us know what version of Windows you're running next time.
    – Wutnaut
    May 14, 2014 at 21:00
  • @Wutnaut I decided not to, so that other answers may provide solutions for other versions of Windows. Of course, you're free to post your comment as answer.
    – Nolonar
    May 14, 2014 at 21:02
  • Other gadget utilities are available, e.g. Rainmeter.
    – Andrew Morton
    Aug 15, 2015 at 18:30

5 Answers 5

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I just found this method that works quite well.

  1. Right click on any taskbar, then uncheck Lock all taskbars.
  2. Move the main taskbar (the one with the system tray on it) to a screen of your choosing. You can do this by dragging the whole taskbar.
  3. (optional) Right click on any taskbar and check Lock all taskbars again.

While playing games, the clock will remain visible at all times.

Tested and works in Windows 7, 8/8.1, and 10. Does not work in Windows 11, as the Taskbar can no longer be moved.

Starting with Build 14328, the clock will remain on all taskbars in Windows 10.

Taskbar clock on all monitors: We heard a lot of requests for this from our gaming community. We’re happy to announce that for the first time since the taskbar was created, if you have multiple monitors and your taskbar set to show on all displays, the clock will now be visible on each Taskbar.

This feature has been shipped with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (version 1607)

For some reason, this feature was removed from Windows 11, then brought back in Build 22000.526.

  • We added the clock and date to the taskbars of other monitors when you connect other monitors to your device.

This update has been shipped in February.

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7
  • "This method might work on other versions of Windows": Unlocking and moving the taskbar is a pretty basic Windows feature, and it's been around for a very long time. :)
    – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
    May 14, 2014 at 20:49
  • @techie007 When I googled for it, the only answers I found was not possible without 3rd party apps, so I thought maybe the taskbar couldn't be moved to other screens.
    – Nolonar
    May 14, 2014 at 20:51
  • 4
    I just tried it on Windows 7, and it worked great! You may (or may not) want to update your answer :)
    – bitsmack
    May 14, 2014 at 21:44
  • 2
    I can move it to the other screen, but then there's no clock in my original screen! I am using Windows 8.1.
    – Alisa
    Dec 22, 2015 at 0:17
  • 1
    Is there any chance the position of the taskbar can be saved across different monitor configurations? When I undock and redock my laptop (disconnect+reconnect external monitor) the taskbar is again back to the main monitor and I have to repeat ...
    – divB
    Mar 27, 2020 at 18:50
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I'm not sure if this is true but remember that it worked in the past when I had a second monitor. Set your second monitor as the default one. Start your game in windowed mode and move it to your first monitor and resize it to fullscreen.

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1

I've wanted to find this out as well. I have my cpu and gpu temperatures that i want to monitor at all times without having to alt tab.

The easiest way to do this... for me... was to turn on taskbars on both monitors in the "personalize" - "taskbar" settings. Then make my second display the Main monitor in the "Display Settings".

So at this point, you now have all your normal icons whether its chrome or steam or spotify on both screens. But your clock and temperatures or internet icon (whatever you have in the tray) is visible on the monitor that doesn't have your game open (monitor 2).

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1
  • I should also mention... After this is done, you'll have to open up whatever games you play and make sure the video/monitor is on "Monitor 1" and select apply, so that your settings are forever saved. (since you just made Monitor 2 the main display).
    – sarvornek
    Jul 6, 2020 at 18:54
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If you want just clock and time (instead of the whole System Tray), you can install 8GadgetPack, then install it and add the gadgets for date and time, and drag them to the taskbar in the second monitor.

This way, you have the date and time in both monitors.

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  • Where do you get get the date/time gadgets? The only time related gadget I see is the analog Clock which is not ideal.
    – Eric B.
    Dec 21, 2015 at 21:10
  • It's not a single gadget. After installing 8GadgetsPack, get the "Calendar" and "Digiclock" gadgets (double click on them) and move them to the other monitor.
    – Alisa
    Dec 22, 2015 at 0:14
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Windows 7 - In display control panel click on the screen where you want the taskbar. Check the "make this my main monitor" box. The taskbar will move to that screen automatically.

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  • 3
    Welcome to Superuser! When answering, make sure you read the whole question carefully. In this case, they mentioned that the problem is having the taskbar on the main monitor, so moving the taskbar by switching which monitor is the main isn't going to fix the problem.
    – 8bittree
    Sep 16, 2015 at 13:07

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