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Windows 10 tip: Use the system calendar to look up days and dates

Clicking the date and time on the Windows 10 taskbar pops up a handy scrolling calendar. Learn these secret navigation shortcuts to jump to any date without having to scroll.
Written by Ed Bott, Senior Contributing Editor
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Clicking the month and year labels above the calendar unlocks these hidden navigation controls.

Click to enlarge

Since the earliest days of Windows 95, people have been using the Windows Date/Time control to flip through dates, even though it wasn't originally written to be used as a calendar.

In Windows 10, Microsoft has finally included a full-featured calendar app. But they've also acknowledged how we all work and redesigned the taskbar so that clicking the clock at the right side (which shows the date and time) pops up a usable calendar.

By default, this pop-up calendar shows the current month, with today's date highlighted. You can use the up and down arrows just above the calendar headings to scroll back and forward one month at a time to find a specific date, but there's a faster way to navigate.

Click the date heading, which shows the current month and year, to replace the current month's calendar with a list of months in the current year. You can then use the up and down arrows to move through the calendar a year at a time, or click the year heading to switch to a display of decades where you can choose the exact year you want.

If you connect your personal or work email account to the Windows 10 Calendar app, you can see appointments, meetings, and events for the selected day in an agenda view below the pop-up calendar. (You'll find step-by-step instructions in "See all your calendars at a glance in agenda view.")

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