diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3b976f2b986..533587386af 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
   directly as positional arguments, such as
   `jj bisect --range=..main -- cargo check --all-targets`.
 
+* The default alias for formatting time ranges, used by `jj op log`,
+  now shows the absolute local end time and duration. 
+
 ### Fixed bugs
 
 * `jj metaedit --author-timestamp` twice with the same value no longer
diff --git a/cli/src/config/templates.toml b/cli/src/config/templates.toml
index 8da1128e0fd..834d85ceb4f 100644
--- a/cli/src/config/templates.toml
+++ b/cli/src/config/templates.toml
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ commit_summary_separator = 'label("separator", " | ")'
 # the moment when the repo was actually modified due to this operation. TODO:
 # This macro might need a better name, e.g. `format_operation_time_range`.
 'format_time_range(time_range)' = '''
-  time_range.end().ago() ++ label("time", ", lasted ") ++ time_range.duration()'''
+  format_timestamp(time_range.end()) ++ label("time", ", lasted ") ++ time_range.duration()'''
 'format_timestamp(timestamp)' = 'timestamp.local().format("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")'
 
 'format_commit_summary_with_refs(commit, refs)' = '''
diff --git a/cli/tests/test_operations.rs b/cli/tests/test_operations.rs
index bdd6e3d1f08..f0891ec23d5 100644
--- a/cli/tests/test_operations.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/test_operations.rs
@@ -407,9 +407,9 @@ fn test_op_log_template() {
     [EOF]
     "#);
 
-    // Test the default template, i.e. with relative start time and duration. We
-    // don't generally use that template because it depends on the current time,
-    // so we need to reset the time range format here.
+    // Test a template with relative start time and duration, a previous default.
+    // We don't generally use this style of template because it depends on the
+    // current time, so we need to reset the time range format here.
     test_env.add_config(
         r#"
 [template-aliases]
diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index 7db932464c7..5f4b58c8c66 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -648,12 +648,12 @@ Can be customized by the `format_timestamp()` template alias.
 'format_timestamp(timestamp)' = 'timestamp.ago()'
 ```
 
-`jj op log` defaults to relative timestamps. To use absolute timestamps, you
-will need to modify the `format_time_range()` template alias.
+`jj op log` displays elapsed time with absolute local timestamps. To use relative
+timestamps, you will need to modify the `format_time_range()` template alias.
 
 ```toml
 [template-aliases]
-'format_time_range(time_range)' = 'time_range.start() ++ " - " ++ time_range.end()'
+'format_time_range(time_range)' = 'time_range.end().ago() ++ label("time", ", lasted ") ++ time_range.duration()'
 ```
 
 ### Author format
diff --git a/docs/config.toml b/docs/config.toml
index 2f1d6f97ca6..8cb8d03426e 100644
--- a/docs/config.toml
+++ b/docs/config.toml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ ui.merge-editor = "meld" # default
 # ui.merge-editor = "kdiff3"
 
 # Relative timestamp rendered as "x days/hours/seconds ago"
-template-aliases.'format_timestamp(timestamp)' = 'timestamp.ago()'
+# template-aliases.'format_timestamp(timestamp)' = 'timestamp.ago()'
 
 # The four merge tools listed above are pre-configured. For detailed information
 # about how to change the default configuration or how to configure another tool,
diff --git a/docs/tutorial.md b/docs/tutorial.md
index 89e06992b22..039bbe11f4e 100644
--- a/docs/tutorial.md
+++ b/docs/tutorial.md
@@ -393,16 +393,16 @@ commands to interact with it. To list the operations, use `jj op log`:
 
 ```shell
 $ jj op log
-@  d3b77addea49 martinvonz@vonz.svl.corp.google.com 3 minutes ago, lasted 3 milliseconds
+@  d3b77addea49 martinvonz@vonz.svl.corp.google.com 2025-05-12 00:27:27, lasted 3 milliseconds
 │  squash commits into f7fb5943a6b9460eb106dba2fac5cac1625c6f7a
 │  args: jj squash
-○  6fc1873c1180 martinvonz@vonz.svl.corp.google.com 3 minutes ago, lasted 1 milliseconds
+○  6fc1873c1180 martinvonz@vonz.svl.corp.google.com 2025-05-12 00:27:27, lasted 1 milliseconds
 │  snapshot working copy
 │  args: jj st
-○  ed91f7bcc1fb martinvonz@vonz.svl.corp.google.com 6 minutes ago, lasted 1 milliseconds
+○  ed91f7bcc1fb martinvonz@vonz.svl.corp.google.com 2025-05-12 00:24:21, lasted 1 milliseconds
 │  new empty commit
 │  args: jj new puqltutt
-○  367400773f87 martinvonz@vonz.svl.corp.google.com 12 minutes ago, lasted 3 milliseconds
+○  367400773f87 martinvonz@vonz.svl.corp.google.com 2025-05-12 00:18:08, lasted 3 milliseconds
 │  rebase commit daa6ffd5a09a8a7d09a65796194e69b7ed0a566d and descendants
 │  args: jj rebase -s puqltutt -d nuvyytnq
 [many more lines]