TIME (command)

For the Unix command, see time (Unix).

In computing, TIME is a command in DEC RT-11,^[1] DOS, IBM OS/2,^[2] Microsoft Windows^[3] and a number of other operating systems that is used to display and set the current system time.^[4] It is included in command-line interpreters (shells) such as COMMAND.COM, cmd.exe, 4DOS, 4OS2 and 4NT.

time

The ReactOS time command
Operating system	RT-11, VERSAdos, iRMX 86, MS-DOS, PC DOS, MSX-DOS, DR-DOS, PC-MOS, SpartaDOS X, OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, Windows, ROM-DOS, SISNE plus, PTS-DOS, FreeDOS, ReactOS, SymbOS, DexOS
Platform	Cross-platform
Type	Command
License	PC-MOS: GPL-3.0-only ReactOS: GPL-2.0-only

Implementations

 

Description of the TIME command of RT-11SJ displayed on a VT100.

The command is also available in the Motorola VERSAdos,^[5] Intel iRMX 86,^[6] PC-MOS,^[7] SpartaDOS X,^[8] ReactOS,^[9] SymbOS, and DexOS operating systems as well as in the EFI shell.^[10] On MS-DOS, the command is available in versions 1 and later.^[11]

In Unix, the date command displays and sets both the time and date, in a similar manner.

Syntax

The syntax differs depending on the specific platform and implementation:

DOS

 

TIME.COM (among other commands) in IBM PC DOS 1.0.

TIME [time] 

OS/2 (CMD.EXE)

TIME [hh-mm-ss] [/N] 

Note: /N means no prompt for TIME.

Windows (CMD.EXE)

 TIME [/T | time] 

When this command is called from the command line or a batch script, it will display the time and wait for the user to type a new time and press RETURN. Pressing RETURN without entering a new time will keep the current system time. The parameter '/T' will bypass asking the user to reset the time. The '/T' parameter is supported in Windows Vista and later and only if Command Extensions are enabled.^[4]

4DOS, 4OS2 and 4NT

TIME [/T] [hh[:mm[:ss]]] [AM | PM] /T: (display only) hh: The hour (0–23). mm: The minute (0–59). ss: The second (0–59), set to 0 if omitted. 

Examples

OS/2 (CMD.EXE)

• Display the current system time:

[C:\]TIME Current time is: 3:25 PM Enter the new time: 

Windows (CMD.EXE)

• To set the computer clock to 3:42 P.M., either of the following commands can be used:

C:\>TIME 15:42 C:\>TIME 3:42P 

4DOS, 4OS2 and 4NT

• Display the current system time:

C:\SYS\SHELL\4DOS>TIME /T 19:30:42 

See also

• DATE (command)
• date (Unix)
• List of DOS commands
• Date and time notation

References

1. . paleoferrosaurus.com. Archived from the original on 2018-07-17.
2. . www.jatomes.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-14.
3. Microsoft TechNet Time article
4. MS-DOS and Windows command line time command
5. M68000 Family VERSAdos System Facilities Reference Manual
6. iRMX™86 INTRODUCTION AND OPERATOR'S REFERENCE MANUAL For Release 6
7. PC-MOS User Guide
8. SpartaDOS X 4.48 User Guide
9. "Reactos/Time.c at master · reactos/Reactos". GitHub. 19 February 2022.
10. "EFI Shells and Scripting". Intel. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
11. Wolverton, Van (2003). Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7.

Further reading

• Wolverton, Van (1990). MS-DOS Commands: Microsoft Quick Reference, 4th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 978-1556152894.
• Kathy Ivens; Brian Proffit (1993). OS/2 Inside & Out. Osborne McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0078818714.
• Frisch, Æleen (2001). Windows 2000 Commands Pocket Reference. O'Reilly. ISBN 978-0-596-00148-3.

External links

 

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Guide to Windows Commands

• time | Microsoft Docs