We're calling on all EU-based Mozillians with iOS or iPadOS devices to help us monitor Apple’s new browser choice screens. Join the effort to hold Big Tech to account!

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Hierdie gesprek is in die argief. Vra asseblief 'n nuwe vraag as jy hulp nodig het.

HTML input Time state (type=time) not localised to 24-hour input format

more options

The following HTML feature is the subject of this question.

<input type="time"> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input/time

Firefox is supposed to use a 12- or 24-hour format for input depending on region settings or locale.

I think I should see a 24-hour input format. Firefox only ever presents me with 12-hour input format -- with AM/PM selectors. Chrome, by comparison, presents 24-hour input format, out of the box, as expected. Is this a localisation bug in Firefox, or am I holding it wrong?

I shall try to upload some screenshots, but in case that does not work, here is a text representation of my state.

I am on a Mac. The Mac is configured for en_AU. (I believe 24-hour clocks are used in the en_AU locale.) Just to be sure, the "Time format: 24-Hour Time" checkbox has been enabled in the Mac's Language & Region system preferences. The following command, entered at a shell, produces the desired output format.

% date +%c Sat 26 Aug 22:48:14 2023

All other applications on my computer honour this preference to the best of my knowledge.

I have the en-GB release of Firefox Nightly. Build ID is 20230825041349. Here are the relevant sections from about:support...

Application Settings Requested Locales ["en-GB"] Available Locales ["en-GB","en-US"] App Locales ["en-GB","en-US"] Regional Preferences ["en-AU"] Default Locale "en-GB" Operating System System Locales ["en-AU"] Regional Preferences ["en-AU"]

intl.regional_prefs.use_os_locales has been set to true in about:config.

Why do I still see 12-hour input formats in Firefox?

Thank you.

The following HTML feature is the subject of this question. <input type="time"> https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input/time Firefox is supposed to use a 12- or 24-hour format for input depending on region settings or locale. I think I should see a 24-hour input format. Firefox only ever presents me with 12-hour input format -- with AM/PM selectors. Chrome, by comparison, presents 24-hour input format, out of the box, as expected. Is this a localisation bug in Firefox, or am I holding it wrong? I shall try to upload some screenshots, but in case that does not work, here is a text representation of my state. I am on a Mac. The Mac is configured for en_AU. (I believe 24-hour clocks are used in the [https://lh.2xlibre.net/locale/en_AU/ en_AU locale].) Just to be sure, the "Time format: 24-Hour Time" checkbox has been enabled in the Mac's ''Language & Region'' system preferences. The following command, entered at a shell, produces the desired output format. % date +%c Sat 26 Aug 22:48:14 2023 All other applications on my computer honour this preference to the best of my knowledge. I have the en-GB release of Firefox Nightly. Build ID is 20230825041349. Here are the relevant sections from about:support... Application Settings Requested Locales ["en-GB"] Available Locales ["en-GB","en-US"] App Locales ["en-GB","en-US"] Regional Preferences ["en-AU"] Default Locale "en-GB" Operating System System Locales ["en-AU"] Regional Preferences ["en-AU"] intl.regional_prefs.use_os_locales has been set to true in about:config. Why do I still see 12-hour input formats in Firefox? Thank you.
Aangehegde skermkiekies

Gewysig op deur saj-at-discourse

All Replies (6)

more options

Looks somewhat similar to https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1235351 However <input type="date"> is correctly localised for me. date is fine. time is not.

I'm happy to take this to Buganizer if you think it is a bug. Thought I should ask here first.

more options

Most locales support 12 hour time which will be preferred, only a few are exclusively 24 hour time like en_IE and en_DK.

On Linux you can change the time locale with the environment variable:

LC_TIME=en_IE.UTF-8

more options

Thank you for your reply.

zeroknight said

Most locales support 12 hour time which will be preferred, only a few are exclusively 24 hour time like en_IE and en_DK.

Yes, I think you are right.

As noted in the OP, on Mac platforms, the system provides a specific 24-Hour Time override, which the user may enable independent from other settings. We can see how this interacts with Apple's localisation libraries. Here is a little Swift program...

import Foundation print(DateFormatter.localizedString(

 from: Date(),
 dateStyle: DateFormatter.Style.none,
 timeStyle: DateFormatter.Style.short))

With the 24-Hour Time override enabled in System Preferences, output is as follows.

19:09

With the 24-Hour Time override disabled in System Preferences, output is as follows.

7:09 pm

So perhaps 12-hour clocks are preferred on en-AU as you say.

I suppose the problem is that, on a Mac, Firefox does not use Apple's localisation libraries, and does not honour the 24-Hour Time override in its own implementation for this platform. (Then again, I noticed Safari suffers from the same problem on <input type="time"> elements!)

On Linux you can change the time locale with the environment variable: LC_TIME=en_IE.UTF-8

The equivalent on this platform would be

open -na 'Firefox Nightly' --env LC_TIME=en_IE.UTF-8

or more simply

LC_TIME=en_IE.UTF-8 open -na 'Firefox Nightly'

I gave this a try but it did not seem to impart any effect on <input type="time"> elements.

Gewysig op deur saj-at-discourse

more options

I reconfigured the Mac for English (Ireland) and restarted Firefox. I see 24-hour input widgets now.

Application Settings Requested Locales ["en-GB"] Available Locales ["en-GB","en-US"] App Locales ["en-GB","en-US"] Regional Preferences ["en-IE","en-AU"] Default Locale "en-GB" Operating System System Locales ["en-IE","en-AU"] Regional Preferences ["en-IE","en-AU"]

This feels like a quirky workaround, but I suppose it will do for now.

more options
more options

I have the same, or at least a related, problem.

Running Firefox under Windows, I have, on Windows, set Regional Format to English(United Kingdom), with Regional Format Data set to give date in yyyy-mm-dd (ISO 8601) format (not the default), and time as HH:mm (which I think is the default).

Looking at - on Firefox - a web page with an <input type="datetime-local"> field, as on https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input/datetime-local , I see the date format as dd/mm/yyyy , not yyyy-mm-dd as I would expect (as set in Windows, and appearing on other browsers) - it is using the default option for UK dates, not the ISO option I have changed it to.

Fundamental issue is that Firefox is using the default regional data setting, not the alternate option selected (in the Windows OS locale)

I think this is essentially the same as the OP has, in overiding his normal locale with a non-default option: if not then I have a different problem (beyond Windows/Mac difference)