Key Takeaways
- The Windows 11 taskbar is similar to the macOS taskbar, which some people may find less useful.
- Open source developers have created apps to customize the taskbar, such as ExplorerPatcher.
- You can move apps around, manage your system tray, and further customize your taskbar.
If you’ve upgraded your Windows machine to Windows 11, you may have noticed that your taskbar has changed a bit. Some may find it less configurable and useful than the taskbar in previous Windows operating systems. The new taskbar is very similar to Apple’s macOS taskbar system. There are no more live tiles, it no longer shows the full name of apps, and the taskbar is fixed to the bottom of the screen. This may be a blow for users who enjoyed placing their taskbar on the side or top of the screen, but all hope is not lost when it comes to customizing your Windows 11 taskbar.
Open source developers quickly got to work creating apps that could modify the Windows 11 taskbar the day after the OS was released, and Microsoft has been patching the Windows 11 taskbar and adding customization features for nearly three years. If you want to know how to take control of the Windows 11 taskbar and make it your own, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to find out all the different ways you can take advantage of the Windows 11 taskbar customization options and make it your own.
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Pin your most used apps to the taskbar
I pin my most used work apps to the taskbar for easy access, where I have icons for Slack, Microsoft OneNote, OneDrive, Chrome, and even Steam for after-work relaxation. There are a few ways to pin an app to the taskbar, but it largely depends on whether the app you want to pin is running or not.
- When an app is running, an underline appears under the icon on the taskbar to indicate that the app is active. If you want the icon to appear on the taskbar even when the app is not running, right-click the icon and select Pin it to the taskbar.
- Right-click on the desktop app Show more options at the bottom of the list. This will pop up a longer menu, Pin to taskbar option.
- You can also pin apps easily from the Start menu. Press the Windows key on your keyboard or the Start menu icon to open the menu, then right-click on any app and select Pin it to the taskbar.
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Remove unnecessary apps from the taskbar
It’s easy to remove apps that are already on your taskbar. If you bought a pre-built PC or laptop, chances are it came with a ton of unnecessary software installed on your taskbar. Luckily, to remove these app icons from your taskbar in Windows 11, you can right-click on the icon and select Unpin it from the taskbar. This is one of the first things I do whenever I buy a new laptop: I go through all the pre-installed bloatware, determine which ones are useful (which is rarely the case), and remove the apps from the taskbar to get rid of the applications.
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Move an app’s position on the taskbar
I’ve been using Windows since the old days of Windows 98. For as long as I can remember, the Start menu has always been in the bottom left corner of the screen. If you don’t also use a Mac (macOS centers applications), you may find yourself navigating to the bottom left corner of the screen when you want to open an app. Instead of retraining your brain, Microsoft is letting you reposition your taskbar apps to the bottom left. Here’s how:
- Right-click on the taskbar and click Taskbar Settings.
- click Taskbar behavior.
- The first option you see is Taskbar placement. Click on the drop down menu center Select left Instead.
This moves all items on the taskbar to the left corner of the screen, just like in previous Windows operating systems.
System Tray
The taskbar behavior menu we just opened holds the key to how Microsoft has customized the Windows 11 taskbar. From here, you can change the visual effects of apps on the taskbar by hiding the taskbar, turning badges on or off, or making the app icons on the taskbar blink. This is also where you can turn system tray icons on or off.
The system tray is great for programs that receive notifications. I keep Skype, Discord, Microsoft Teams, and apps I use for system updates and benchmarks in the system tray. Most of the icons you see here are permanent, but you can hide them in the taskbar actions menu. Other system tray icons.
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Further customization with ExplorerPatcher
There are a few open source apps I’ve used over the years to further customize the taskbar in Windows 11. My favorite of them all is ExplorerPatcher, a completely free open source app that not only allows you to get a taskbar in Windows 11 that looks similar to the Windows 10 taskbar, but also gives you tons of options for further customization.
ExplorerPatcher allows you to move the taskbar to the left or right side of the screen, bringing back the vertical taskbar experience in Windows 11. I love that the taskbar shows the full name of running applications, just like in Windows 10, and ExplorerPatcher makes this possible by default in Windows 11.
ExplorerPatcher not only improves the taskbar, but also provides a set of features that make your Windows 11 OS feel more like Windows 10 (or 7). You can download the program from the developer’s GitHub and it’s ready to go – just run the .EXE file to install it.
Once you install ExplorerPatcher, it will automatically convert your taskbar to the Windows 10 taskbar. Right-click on the taskbar and Properties, This will take you to the ExplorerPatcher customization window, where you can make all the changes ExplorerPatcher can make, including changing how File Explorer looks and works, restoring the old Windows 10 weather widget, and even changing how the clock and calendar work if you want to further enhance your Windows 10 experience in Windows 11.
ExplorerPatcher leaves most of the default features active, and I personally like to bring Alt+Tab back to Windows 10 style and File Explorer. ExplorerPatcher also lets me disable Windows 11 context menus, gives me quick access to shell extensions, and allows me to use text instead of the new icons for actions like copy and paste. I also use it to replace File Explorer’s Windows 11 tablet-focused ribbon design with the Windows 7 command bar, which still performs great in 2024.