diff --git a/src/compiler/core.ts b/src/compiler/core.ts
index c5bdaf50c5e..249aededcdd 100644
--- a/src/compiler/core.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/core.ts
@@ -2250,18 +2250,26 @@ namespace ts {
         }
     }
 
-    export function padLeft(s: string, length: number) {
-        while (s.length < length) {
-            s = " " + s;
-        }
-        return s;
+
+    /**
+     * Returns string left-padded with spaces or zeros until it reaches the given length.
+     *
+     * @param s String to pad.
+     * @param length Final padded length. If less than or equal to 's.length', returns 's' unchanged.
+     * @param padString Character to use as padding (default " ").
+     */
+    export function padLeft(s: string, length: number, padString: " " | "0" = " ") {
+        return length <= s.length ? s : padString.repeat(length - s.length) + s;
     }
 
-    export function padRight(s: string, length: number) {
-        while (s.length < length) {
-            s = s + " ";
-        }
-
-        return s;
+    /**
+     * Returns string right-padded with spaces until it reaches the given length.
+     *
+     * @param s String to pad.
+     * @param length Final padded length. If less than or equal to 's.length', returns 's' unchanged.
+     * @param padString Character to use as padding (default " ").
+     */
+    export function padRight(s: string, length: number, padString: " " = " ") {
+        return length <= s.length ? s : s + padString.repeat(length - s.length);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/jsTyping/shared.ts b/src/jsTyping/shared.ts
index ce6004f251d..b41d3d0c455 100644
--- a/src/jsTyping/shared.ts
+++ b/src/jsTyping/shared.ts
@@ -57,6 +57,6 @@ namespace ts.server {
     export function nowString() {
         // E.g. "12:34:56.789"
         const d = new Date();
-        return `${d.getHours()}:${d.getMinutes()}:${d.getSeconds()}.${d.getMilliseconds()}`;
+        return `${padLeft(d.getHours().toString(), 2, "0")}:${padLeft(d.getMinutes().toString(), 2, "0")}:${padLeft(d.getSeconds().toString(), 2, "0")}.${padLeft(d.getMilliseconds().toString(), 3, "0")}`;
     }
 }