How to Customize the Taskbar in Windows 11

The first Insider preview build of Windows 11 is here, and it gave early adopters a taste of Microsoft’s new operating system. While Windows 11 is a big improvement when it comes to features like visual appeal and support for Android apps and Widgets, Microsoft has noticeably reduced the taskbar customization options in the operating system. Whether you prefer to customize it by placing the taskbar at the top or moving the taskbar icons to the left, all possible taskbar customizations in Windows 11 are here.

Customize the Taskbar in Windows 11 (2021)

We’ve included instructions for using the Registry Editor to resize the taskbar, move the taskbar to the top, and more. If the new redesigned Start Menu in Windows 11 didn’t impress you, you can even bring back the classic Windows 10 Start Menu. That said, let’s get started with the taskbar customizations.

Use TaskbarXI to Style the Windows 11 Taskbar

TaskbarX has long been a favorite utility among Windows power users to customize the taskbar in Windows 10 and get Windows 11 style centered taskbar icons. Now that Microsoft has given Windows a fresh start with Windows 11, TaskbarX developer Chris Andriessen has released a new taskbar modding app called TaskbarXI.

While the app currently supports taskbar style features, Andriessen hopes to add other requested features in the future. At the time of writing this article TaskbarXI is in its early stages and the developer has just released the first build on GitHub. Here is how you can download and use TaskbarXI to change taskbar themes in Windows 11.

1. Download the TaskbarXI app from GitHub and extract it using the native zip extractor in Windows or use applications like WinZip and WinRAR.

2. After extracting the zip file, open the “Release” folder and Run “TaskbarXI Configurator.exe”. In a few seconds, you will see the utility app to fine-tune the taskbar using TaskbarXI.

3. From the TaskbarXI Configurator you can set: various taskbar stylesincluding clear, transparent gradient, opaque, blur and acrylic. Here are a few screenshots highlighting the taskbar style customizations in Windows 11:

Resize Taskbar in Windows 11

Although Microsoft does not officially allow you to resize the taskbar in Windows 11, you can use the Registry Editor to do this manually. You can make taskbar icons smaller or larger in Windows 11 using this workaround. Here’s how:

1. Press the Windows keyboard shortcut Type “Ctrl+R” to open Run and “regedit” to open Registry Editor In Windows 11, you can also search for “Regedit” from Windows Search and click “Open”. Click “Yes” when Windows asks for your permission to make changes.

2. After opening the Registry Editor, navigate to the path given below from the left pane:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

3. Next, right-click anywhere in the Registry editor and New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

3. Set the name of the DWORD Value to “TaskbarSi” and press Enter to save the changes.

4. Now, Double click “TaskbarSi” to set its value. Details on the size of the taskbar icons and their corresponding numbers are as follows:

• Small taskbar – TaskbarSi value is 0
• Default taskbar – TaskbarSi value is 1
• large taskbar – TaskbarSi value is 2

5. Depending on your preference, set the value to 0 or 2, assuming you don’t like the new default size of the taskbar in Windows 11. taskbar. Check out the images below to see the difference in taskbar icon size in Windows 11:

5. After setting the preferred value, reboot the system or open the Task Manager using the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+Shift+Esc” and restart Windows Explorer.

Move the Taskbar Up or Sideways in Windows 11

1. Open Registry Editor using the steps described above and navigate to the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3

2. Next, double-click Settings in the right pane and Find the fifth value in line 00000008. By default its value will be set to 03. Now, double click to highlight this value to change it.

3. Set the value to 01 to move the taskbar to the top.. Similarly, on your Windows 11 PC, you can set the value to 00 or 02 to move the taskbar left or right respectively. However, as of the first Windows 11 preview build, Windows Explorer crashes when you set the value to 01 or 02. For now this workaround doesn’t allow you to set the taskbar to the left, but it hasn’t been seen yet. If this changes in future Insider builds.

See the following values ​​and their corresponding taskbar location for quick reference:

• 00 – Left Taskbar
• 01 – Top Taskbar
• 02 – Right Taskbar
• 03 – Bottom Taskbar

4. After setting the value, click OK and restart your computer. You can also open the Task Manager using the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+Shift+Esc” and Restart Windows Explorer if you don’t want to reboot the system. The taskbar will now move to its new location on your Windows 11 PC.

Move Taskbar Icons Left

Fortunately, Windows 11 lets you move taskbar icons to the left edge via a native option in the Settings app. Here’s how to set this up:

1. Open the Settings app, switch to the “Personalization” tab from the left sidebar and Click on “Taskbar”.

2. Expand the “Taskbar behaviors” drop-down menu and Set “Taskbar alignment” to left instead of the centre. All taskbar icons are immediately moved to the left edge and you do not need to restart your Windows 11 PC.

Bring Back the Classic Windows 10 Start Menu in Windows 11

If you are someone who prefers the Windows 10 Start Menu, there is a way to bring it back using the Registry editor. After opening the Registry editor, all you have to do is Create a new DWORD value titled “Start_ShowClassicMode” in the following path and set its value to 1.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

For detailed instructions, check out our article on how you can revert to the old Windows 10 start menu in Windows 11.

Adjust the Taskbar to Your Preference in Windows 11

So these are all the customization features available for the taskbar in Windows 11. While Microsoft is forcing users to stick to the bottom taskbar, a significant portion of Windows users are not happy. We’ll have to wait to see if the Redmond giant backs out from its decision and adds the option to customize the taskbar placement like we can in Windows 10. Until then, we hope these Registry Editor workarounds can help you customize the taskbar in Windows 11. to your liking. If you’re waiting to get the Windows 11 update, check out the best Windows 11 features or check how you can upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 right now.