There are many Windows 11 Taskbar settings allowing you to customize the way it looks and acts. Let’s go through them.
In this post we will also show you how to make the Windows 11 Taskbar look similar to how it looked like in Windows 10, in case that’s what you prefer.
How to access the settings
To access the settings you can right click on the taskbar and choose the taskbar settings option.
This will open the personalization options in the settings, which can also be accessed by navigating to the settings home screen.
What options are available?
Once in the Taskbar settings, you will see the following four sections – Taskbar Items, System Tray Items, Other System Tray Icons and Taskbar Behaviors. We will look at each in turn.
– Taskbar items
The first section called “taskbar items” allows you to customize the tools offered on the left side of the Taskbar, near the start menu.
These options allow you to:
- Change the look of the search bar, or remove it entirely.
- Toggle task view on or off.
- Turn the widgets section on or off.
Task view gives you the ability to zoom out in a sense, and see which apps are currently open on your computer. Then you can select to open them, or close them. It also allows you to open a second desktop. A second desktop allows you to open a different set of apps, documents and pages. When multiple desktops are open you have the option to switch between them within the task view interface. This is useful when you are working on different discrete projects that you want to keep separated.
The widgets area offers you a view into a particular app, such as weather information, on your taskbar. There are other types of widgets beyond than weather.
You can also open a large news feed when hovering over it. This can be turned off in the settings option of the feed. These options are accessed through the cog on the top right of the window.
– System Tray Icons
System Tray Icons display on the right side of the Taskbar. This section allows for controls for different hardware for input to be displayed, such as for a touchscreen pen/pencil and for an onscreen touch keyboard if your laptop has a touch screen.
– Other System Tray Icons
The third section is called “Other System Tray icons”, and it allows you to customize a hidden menu toward the right side of the Taskbar. This hidden menu will be shows and hidden using the ^ symbol on the right of the Taskbar.
Any additional programs you want to display on the bottom right of the taskbar are in the option labeled “other system tray icons.”
– Taskbar Behaviors
In this area of the settings we can change how the taskbar looks and reacts to different actions.
The first option in this area is taskbar alignment. This setting can move the taskbar icons back to the left side of the screen to look similar to how windows 10 looked.
The next option is to auto hide the taskbar. This will make the taskbar disappear until the mouse is moved near it.
You can also control any flashing apps or badges that may appear. You can also edit some sharing options and a multiple desktop navigation option.
Lastly you can change the way icons and apps are displayed.
– Other Related Settings & Support
Windows should also show you an “other related settings” and “other related support” sections.
Here you can change the date and time settings, and edit system notification options.
They also offer resources on how to pin items to your taskbar, and a link on how to change windows colors and themes.
If you have questions about Windows 11 taskbar settings, or our other services, please call or email. We’re happy to assist you! Feel free to use our contact form to send us a message. Thank you!