The first Insider preview build of Windows 11 is here, giving early adopters the taste of Microsoft’s new operating system. While Windows 11 is a significant improvement in terms of visual appeal and features, such as support for Android apps and widgets, Microsoft has significantly reduced the customization options on the OS taskbar. Here’s all the taskbar customizations possible in Windows 11, even if you customize the taskbar by placing the taskbar at the top or moving the taskbar icon to the left:
Customize the taskbar in Windows 11 (2021)
Added steps to resize the taskbar and move the taskbar to the top using the Registry Editor. If you’re not impressed with the newly redesigned Start menu in Windows 11, you can also revert to the traditional Windows 10 Start menu. Now let’s start customizing the taskbar.
Use Taskbar XI to style the Windows 11 taskbar
TaskbarX has long been a favorite utility among Windows power users for customizing the taskbar and getting the centralized taskbar icon in Windows 11 style in Windows 10. We have released a new taskbar mod app called Taskbar XI.
The app currently supports the taskbar styling feature, but Andriessen hopes to add other required features in the future. At the time of this writing, Taskbar XI is in its infancy and developers have only recently released their first build on GitHub. Here’s how to download and use Taskbar XI to change the taskbar theme in Windows 11.
1. Download the Taskbar XI app from GitHub and extract it using the Windows native zip extractor, or use an app such as WinZip or WinRAR.
2. After unzipping the zip file, open the “Release” folder and double-click it. Run “TaskbarXIConfigurator.exe”.. Within seconds, you’ll see a companion app that uses Taskbar XI to fine-tune your taskbar.
3. Can be set from the TaskbarXI Configurator app Various taskbar styles, Transparent, transparent gradient, opaque, blur, acrylic etc. Here is a screenshot highlighting taskbar style customization in Windows 11.
Resize taskbar in Windows 11
Microsoft does not allow you to officially resize the taskbar in Windows 11, but you can manually resize it using the Registry Editor. You can use this workaround to make the taskbar icon smaller or larger in Windows 11. Method is as follows.
1. Press the Windows keyboard shortcut Open Run with Ctrl + R and type regedit to open the Registry Editor For Windows 11. You can also search for “Regedit” from Windows Search and click “Open”. Click Yes when Windows asks for permission to make changes.
2. After opening the Registry Editor, go to the following path from the left pane.
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
3. Then right-click anywhere in the Registry Editor and select. New-> DWORD (32-bit) value..
3.3. Set the name of the DWORD value as “TaskbarSi” Press Enter to save your changes.
4. Well, Double-click “Taskbar Si” to set the value.. Details on the size of the taskbar icon and its corresponding number are as follows:
- Small taskbar – TaskbarSi value 0
- Default taskbar – TaskbarSi value 1
- Large taskbar – TaskbarSi value 2
5. If you don’t like the new default size of the Windows 11 taskbar, set the value to 0 or 2 as you like. In particular, third-party app icons appear slightly pixelated when using larger sizes. Taskbar. Check the image below to see the difference in taskbar icon size in Windows 11.
5. After setting the desired values, restart the system or use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + Shift + Esc” to open Task Manager and restart Windows Explorer.
Move the taskbar up or sideways in Windows 11
1. Use the steps above to open Registry Editor and proceed to the next path.
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerStuckRects3
2. Next, in the right pane[設定]Double-click on Find the 5th value in line 00000008.. By default, its value is set to 03. Then double-click to highlight and replace this value.
3.3. Set the value to 01 to move the taskbar to the top.. Similarly, you can set the value to 00 or 02 to move the taskbar to the left or right side of your Windows 11 PC, respectively. However, at the time of the first Windows 11 preview build, Windows Explorer crashes as soon as you set the value to 01 or 02. At this time, this workaround does not allow the taskbar to be set to the left, but it is not yet visible. If it changes in a future Insider build.
For a quick reference, check the values below and their corresponding taskbar locations.
- 00 – Taskbar on the left
- 01 – Top taskbar
- 02 – Right taskbar
- 03 – Bottom taskbar
4. After setting the value,[OK]Click to restart your computer. You can also use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + Shift + Esc” to open the task manager. Restart Windows Explorer If you do not want to reboot the system. This will move the taskbar to the new location on your Windows 11 PC.
Move taskbar icon to the left
Fortunately, in Windows 11, you can use the native options in the Settings app to move the taskbar icon to the far left. The setting method is as follows.
1. Open the Settings app and from the left sidebar[パーソナライズ]Switch to tabs Click “Taskbar”..
2. Expand the Taskbar Behavior dropdown and expand Set “Taskbar Arrangement” to the left Instead of the center. All taskbar icons will move to the far left immediately without the need to restart your Windows 11 PC.
If you like the Windows 10 Start menu, there is a way to undo it using the Registry Editor.All you have to do after opening Registry Editor Create a new DWORD value titled “Start_ShowClassicMode” In the next pass, set that value to 1.
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
For detailed steps, see the article How to revert to the old Windows 10 Start menu in Windows 11.
Adjust taskbar to your liking in Windows 11
In short, these are all customization features available on the Windows 11 taskbar. A significant portion of Windows users are unsatisfied because Microsoft is forcing users to stick to the taskbar at the bottom. You’ll have to wait for the Redmond Giant to go back and see if you want to add an option to customize the taskbar placement for Windows 10 to do, but until then, these registry editor workarounds Hope it helps to personalize the Windows 11 taskbar to your liking. If you’re waiting for a Windows 11 update, check out the best features of Windows 11 or see how to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 now.
