After Windows 11 was launched, several users complained about the integration of multiple buttons in one taskbar. The users have also complained about the rigidity of the taskbar. The Windows taskbar is locked by default. It may be configured in a limited fashion.
Currently, the vertical taskbar feature is not available on Windows 11 because of recent changes by Microsoft on the operating system. Users may find it difficult to customize the taskbar as per their preferences.
How to set up a Vertical Taskbar in Windows 11
Follow the next steps to set up the vertical taskbar for Windows 11 PC.
- Download and install the StartAllBack app
- Configuring StartAllBack app
- Tweaking the behavior of the taskbar
Please note that these steps may become ineffective by subsequent updates.
1] Download and install the StartAllBack app
Open the browser and visit the official download page of StartAllBack.
Click the download button. Wait for the download to complete once you are on the download page.
Once the download is complete, double-click on the StartAllBack executable file that is just downloaded. Click on Install for everyone or Install for me.
At the user account control, click on Yes and wait until the installation is complete.
2] Configuring StartAllBack app:
Once the utility is installed, you need to configure it. You can do it from the StartAllBack configuration wizard. You need to choose from three different themes – Proper 11, Kinda 10, and Remastered 7.
From the wizard window, click on the Taskbar from the vertical menu available on the left.
3] Tweaking the behavior of the taskbar:
Once the Taskbar menu is selected, you should go to the right-hand pane, go to Tweak behavior and superpowers and change the Combine taskbar buttons and On secondary taskbars to Never.
You can then right-click on the taskbar and click on lock all taskbars to unlock it.
Once you have completed all instructions, you can successfully unlock the Windows 11 taskbar.
How to move the taskbar to the top in Windows 11?
Windows 11 users need to use the Registry Editor to move Taskbar to the top. To move the Taskbar to the Top on Windows 11 you need to tweak the Registry as follows:
- Press Win+R to open the Run dialog.
- Type regedit and press the Enter button.
- Click on the Yes option.
- Go to MMStuckRects3 in HKKCU.
- Double-click on the Settings REG_BINARY value.
- Set the Value data of 00000008 in the FE column to 01.
- Click the OK button.
- Restart Explorer.
Why does the taskbar move by itself?
The taskbar normally resides on the bottom of the screen, but it sometimes moves to a position that may be off-center like the left side. It can be because you dragged the taskbar to move it and it ended up doing something else instead. A movement of a bug that has landed on your monitor can also affect the movement of the taskbar. You must lock the taskbar once it is moved to the original position so it won’t accidentally move in the future.
Why does the taskbar freeze?
If your Windows 11 taskbar fails, it can cause the following behaviors like no effect when the taskbar is clicked, icons not showing on the taskbar, or keyboard shortcuts not working. The taskbar may freeze because of the following reasons like including an incomplete operating system update, a bug in the update, corrupted files on your device or your accounts, or an issue with Windows Explorer.
How to hide the Windows taskbar in full screen?
To hide the taskbar, you should enable Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode in Settings. If it is still visible in the full-screen mode, there may be some apps running in the background preventing the taskbar from going in the full-screen mode.
Why is the taskbar not working?
You can restart to clear some hiccups like when the taskbar is unresponsive or frozen. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab, and locate Windows Explorer. Right-click on it and choose Restart.
HOT TIP: Windows 11 Repair and Recovery Tool is available FREE for now; go get it while you can as you never know when you may need it!
