The Windows 11 taskbar, as polished as it is, could be even better. Whether it’s through existing settings, the registry, or third-party applications.
The Windows 11 taskbar is one of the best features of the operating system: sleek, minimalistic, and visually different. That being said, if you’re a design aficionado, there’s room for improvement elsewhere. For example, by default, this taskbar cannot be moved anywhere or even resized. Luckily, there are a number of settings available.
Remove viruses from the taskbar
The default Windows 11 taskbar has a whole bunch of buttons and features that you will never use. To remove what you don’t need, right-click on an empty area of the panel and select Taskbar Settings.
Next, in the Taskbar Items section, Search, Tasks, Widgets, and Chat are enabled by default. Disable what you don’t need.
Pin app to taskbar
Windows 11 does not support drag and drop to the Windows 10 taskbar, which allows you to quickly pin an app. To do this, go to the Start menu, right-click on the desired application and select “Pin to taskbar”. You can also pin any open app by right-clicking on the app’s icon and “Pin to taskbar”.
Align taskbar icons to the left
Missing the Windows 10 taskbar layout? Microsoft allows you to change the alignment of icons. Right-click on the taskbar, then in “Taskbar Settings”and in Taskbar Modes, select the Left option in the “Taskbar Alignment”row.
Setting taskbar behavior (auto-hide, icons, etc.)
Windows 11 has a dedicated section for customizing the panel’s behavior. Right-click the panel, then select Taskbar Options and Taskbar Behavior.
If you have a touch screen or small screen device, you can hide the bar to save screen space. To do this, enable “Auto-hide the taskbar”. This will only show up when hovering over the bottom of the screen or swiping up from the bar area.
Similarly, you can turn off icon icons with the “Show icons in applications on the taskbar”option. If you don’t like flashing icons, turn off the “Show flashing in applications on the taskbar”setting.
If you have multiple screens, use the “Show my taskbar on all screens”option to show it everywhere or not.
Change the color of the main taskbar
You can change the main color of the taskbar (and only this one). It’s part of the Windows 11 theme. In Settings > Personalization > Colors, choose a primary color. Then scroll down and enable “Show primary color in start menu and taskbar”.
Put the taskbar at the top of the screen
Microsoft has placed the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and does not allow you to place it anywhere. It is not possible to place it to the left or right of the screen, for example, but it can be placed at the top with a little hack in the registry.
Through the Start menu, then Registry Editor, enter the following location in the panel: “HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerStuckRects3“In the StuckRects3 folder, double-click the settings file. This will open the Edit Binary Value window where you will see a whole bunch of lines. Go to the second line and find the fifth value from the left. The default is “03”. Place the cursor at the end of this value, press the return key once and change the value to “01”. Click OK and exit Registry Editor.
Open the Task Manager app, restart Windows Explorer and voila.
Increase or decrease the size of the taskbar
In Windows 11, you can increase or decrease the size of the taskbar, but again, this must be done through the registry. Through the “Start”menu, then “Registry Editor”enter the following location in the line: “HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced“
Right-click an empty space and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. The new entry will be added at the bottom of the “More”folder. Rename it to “TaskbarSi”. Double click on it. In the Data Value field, enter “0”if you want the taskbar to be smaller, or “2”if you want it to be larger. “1”is the default value. Click OK.
Restart your computer or Windows Explorer from Task Manager and you’re done.
Use a third party app to turn your taskbar into a dock
You can completely change the look of the Windows 11 taskbar using a third-party app. TaskbarXI can make it a dock or make it completely transparent. The app is free and open source. It is still in development and offers a lot of customization features.