How to customize the taskbar in Windows 11 -Techdars

When you install Windows 11 on your system, the first thing you notice will be the different taskbar. The taskbar and start menu have shifted from the bottom left to the center of the screen. Additionally, the taskbar icons have been replaced with new apps by default.

Since you have been using Windows 10 or previous versions for a couple of years, you may not like the changes.

The taskbar is used to set various types of apps’ shortcuts to reach them fast and keeps track of all the currently running. You may want to personalize it and set it to your liking. In the following paragraphs, I will write about how to customize the taskbar in Windows 11 and set it according to your wish. So tune with me till the end.

How to pin and unpin an app from Windows 11 taskbar

You can pin an app that you use most often to the taskbar. To do that:

Search the app’s name on the Start Menu or Search box, and click on the Pin to the taskbar. Alternatively, open an app, and you will see its icon on the taskbar, right-click on that icon, and select Pin to taskbar.

Customize the taskbar in Windows 11 — Pin to taskbar

If you do not use the app any longer, then right-click on the app and click Unpin from the taskbar.

How to hide the taskbar automatically on Windows 11

You can make the taskbar automatically hide when it is not used. And it only appears when you hover the mouse on the bottom of the screen. There are two ways to hide the taskbar: either from the Settings or Command Prompt. Use the following three steps to hide the taskbar using your computer settings.

Write-click on the taskbar and Taskbar Settings.
Scroll down and click on the Taskbar behavior.

Hide the taskbar automatically in Windows 11 — Select the Taskbar behavior

Select the Automatically hide the taskbar option.

Customize the taskbar in Windows 11 by hiding it automatically when it is not use — Hide the taskbar automatically when it is not used.

Another way to hide the taskbar automatically is through the command prompt.

Run the command prompt from the start menu or search box.
Copy and paste the below code in the Command Prompt window.

PowerShell -command “&{$p=’HKCU:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3′;$v=(Get-ItemProperty -Path $p).Settings;$v[8]=3;&Set-ItemProperty -Path $p -Name Settings -Value $v;&Stop-Process -f -ProcessName explorer}”

Hide the taskbar in Windows 11 using Command Prompt — Hide the taskbar using CMD

How to move the Windows 11 taskbar and start menu to the left

If you miss the old left-side taskbar and start menu in Windows 11, you can change the alignment and push the start menu, and taskbar to the bottom left. To do that:

Right-click on the taskbar > Taskbar Settings. Alternatively, open Settings, and click on the Personalization > Taskbar.
Scroll down and click on the Taskbar behavior.
From the drop-down menu next to the Taskbar Alignment, select Left, and it will look like Windows 10 Taskbar.

Customize the taskbar in Windows 11 by changing the Taskbar alignement — Change the Taskbar Alignment

How to move the taskbar on the top of the screen

If you like the taskbar to be on the top or right side of the screen, you can do using the Registry. Since working with Registry is a bit risky if you are not an IT professional, pay close attention.

Open the Registry Editor from the Search box or any other alternative way.
Navigate to this path: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3

Navigate the path in Registry — Navigate that path

In the StuckRects3, there is a Binary Value file named Settings. Open it, and on the fifth column and second row, set the Value 03 to 01 if you want to move the taskbar on the top of the screen. And if you want to move the taskbar and start menu to the right side of the screen, set it to 02. Click OK to close the window.

Move the Taskbar in Windows 11 to the top of screen using Registry — Edit the Binary Value to move the taskbar to the top of the screen.

Restart your computer. After the restart, you notice the taskbar has moved to the top or right side of the screen.

Note: I applied the above technique on Windows 11 21H2. If you use it on Windows 11 22H2, this technique might not work.

How to change the size of the apps on Windows 11 taskbar

If the taskbar icons are small and you can’t see them correctly, or if you want to make them a little smaller to fit more content on the screen, in such cases, you can resize and customize the icons using Registry in Windows 11.

Open the Registry by pressing Windows + R button and typing Regedit and OK.
Navigate to the following directories: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Use the Registry to resize the the Taskbar apps — Navigate to the path in Registry

Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value and rename it as TaskbarSI.

Create a new DWORD file in the Registry — Create a new DWORD in the Registry

Double-click on the newly created DWORD and set the value to 2 if you want to make the icon size bigger. And set the value to 0 if you want to make it smaller. (The 1 is the default size)

Resize the taskbar app from the Regsitry — Change the size to 2

Click OK and restart your computer. After the restart, you see the size of the icons has changed.

Conclusions

To conclude, if you do not like the new Windows 11 taskbar, you can follow the above procedures to customize and make an ideal taskbar. I hope you enjoyed the article and wish you all the best.