Change how the Clock is Displayed in KDE

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1

Hello,

Just started using Manjaro last week and I need help with the clock. I moved the main toolbar to the side, however the clock looks very tiny. I seeking advice in how can I make it readable for me. I already tried changing the font size, but didn’t have any effect because the width of the toolbar is too small.

If possible, I would like to have separate toolbars, one for applications (to the side) and a horizontal one for date, time and other stuff. However, I’m open to other options.

Thanks in advance!

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2

Unfortunately a vertical toolbar isn’t really a very good place to display a clock, as you’ve found. Possibly removing the display of seconds might help a little, as may removing the date display.
Though the configuration panel does say “size may be reduced if the panel is not thick enough”, so it’s pretty clear it’s not going to be good.

Other alternatives might be to change to an analogue clock, or perhaps set your toolbar to have some space at the bottom (or top if that’s where you want the clock) and drop the widget there on the desktop.

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3

You could try installing the “Split clock for vertical panels” Plasma widget and use that in the vertical toolbar:

To add it , just right-click on the vertical panel and select “Add or Manage Widgets”.

Then hit the “Get New” → “Download New Plasma Widgets” button and search for “split clock” (or just “clock” to see all available clocks). When you see the Split Clock in the list, hit the “Install” button.

After that is done, exit the desktop’s “Edit Mode”, right-click on the vertical panel again, select “Add or Manage Widgets”, and the Split Clock should now be in your list of available widgets. Click on it to add it to the panel.

Then exit from “Edit Mode” again to bring you back to your normal desktop.

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4

I use side panels, So I have set up a panel at the top of the screen that is hidden until I need it. As are all my panels.

clock at top
clock at top1366×768 196 KB

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5

Or… one could put the clock — which is only a widget after all — on the desktop itself (as opposed to on the panel), and then resize it to one’s heart’s content.

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6

Clocks suck on vertical spaces - they always did.

Solution 1 - Score is 3/5 for this one - you create a small panel at the top for ONLY the clock…

Solution 2 - Find a plasmoid that you like - again, 3/5 because it might look great, but it will also disappear under windows.

Solution 3 - 4/5 is to create a conky…

I have one conky to show my day/date on the desktop, and another one to show my clock ON TOP of other windows (slightly transparent)…

So I can see the time when I’ve a movie playing maximised.

Screenshot_20260106_184903
Screenshot_20260106_184903921×246 147 KB

Screenshot_20260106_185238
Screenshot_20260106_1852381029×359 173 KB

Day/Date conky 
conky.config = {
-- Conky settings
	out_to_x = false,
	out_to_wayland = true,
    background = true,
	update_interval = 21,
	double_buffer = true,
	no_buffers = true,

	-- Window specifications
	gap_x = 800,
	gap_y = 8,
	alignment = 'top_right',
	own_window = true,
	own_window_transparent = true,
	own_window_argb_visual = true,
	own_window_argb_value = 22,
	own_window_hints = 'undecorated,below,skip_taskbar',
	own_window_class = 'conky',

-- Text
	use_xft = true,
	xftalpha = 0.5,
	default_color = '#EA55D9',
    color1 = '#736fce', -- Red
    color2 = '#d37bd3' -- pp
};


conky.text = [[${font Sakana :size=45}$alignc$color1${time  %A}${font Sakana :size=20}
$color2$alignc${time  %d %B %Y}
]];
Time 
conky.config = {
-- Conky settings
	background = true,
	update_interval = 5,
	double_buffer = true,
	no_buffers = true,

-- Window specifications
	gap_x = 270,
	gap_y = 5,
	alignment = 'top_right',
	own_window = true,
	own_window_type = 'dock',
	own_window_transparent = true,
	own_window_argb_visual = true,
	own_window_argb_value = 100,
	own_window_hints = 'undecorated,above,skip_taskbar,skip_pager',
	own_window_class = 'conkyclock',

-- Text
	use_xft = true,
	xftalpha = 0.15,
	font = 'Arial Rounded MT bold :size=24',
	font = 'Sakana :size=24',

	default_color = '#db92ff',
};

conky.text = [[${time %H:%M}]];

The clock colour varies according to the background somewhat, but I’m quite happy with it - you might need to go digging for fonts first :wink:

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7

In that case, I could only see the clock when I’m in the desktop?

8

Well no, because - as the screenshot shows - the clock appears always on top.

You can only make it disappear by, instead of maximising, running windows Fullscreen.

Look back at my post, you can see the clock whilst a movie is playing maximised… and there’s me thinkingi a picture would be worth a thousand words.

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9

Just a few words were enough for me;
but, the pictures were a nice touch.

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