How to customize the Windows 11 taskbar

The Windows 11 taskbar is the bar located at the bottom of your screen, providing quick access to your favorite apps, settings, and notifications. Customizing it can improve how you work on your PC. While some users miss the flexibility of older versions, Windows 11 taskbar customization still offers a variety of useful options to tweak and tune it to your heart’s desires. In this guide, you’ll learn how to personalize your taskbar, including how to hide the taskbar in Windows 11, how to move the Windows 11 taskbar to the left, and more ways to make it fit your workflow: How to open the Taskbar settings in Windows 11 To start customizing your taskbar, open its settings. The quickest way is to right-click (or press and hold) a free area on your taskbar, and then click or tap Taskbar settings. How to open Taskbar settings in Windows 11 This action opens the Settings app directly to the Taskbar section in Personalization. Alternatively, you can get there by opening the Settings app (Windows + I) and accessing Personalization > Taskbar. The taskbar options are available in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar How to personalize Windows 11’s taskbar contents Now that you’re in the Taskbar settings, you can adjust what elements appear on your taskbar. Let’s go through a few common customizations. How to show or hide the search box from the Windows 11 taskbar By default, Windows 11 shows a large search box on the taskbar. The Search box in the Windows 11 taskbar If you think the search box takes up too much space, you can replace it with a search icon or hide it completely. Go to the Taskbar settings page, and in the Taskbar items section, click or tap the dropdown menu next to Search. Then, choose your preferred option: Hide - removes the Search option from your taskbar. Search icon only - the taskbar only shows a magnifying glass icon. Search icon and label - you get a magnifying glass next to the Search label. Search box - the default setting; displays the full search box on the taskbar. How to personalize the search on Windows 11\'s taskbar If you want to know more about Search and what you get with each setting, check out our guide on how to use Windows 11’s Search. How to hide the Task View button from the taskbar Task View helps you manage your app windows and virtual desktops, and its icon is present by default on the Windows 11 taskbar. The Task View button on Windows 11\'s taskbar If you don’t use Task View, it’s easy to remove the button from your taskbar. On the Taskbar settings page, turn Off the Task view switch in the Taskbar items section. How to remove the Task view icon from the Windows 11 taskbar How to show or hide Widgets on Windows 11’s taskbar The Widgets feature in Windows 11 is one of those things that you either love or hate. And considering how buggy and inconsistent widgets are, they’re difficult to love. 🙂 They provide quick access to personalized information like weather, news, or traffic incidents and have their own button in the left corner of the taskbar. The Widgets button on the taskbar in Windows 11 By default, the Widgets feature is enabled, but you can turn it Off. To disable Widgets and remove the news from the taskbar in Windows 11, access the Taskbar settings, and click or tap the Widgets switch under Taskbar items. How to turn off Widgets in Windows 11 The Widgets button disappears immediately from your taskbar. TIP: Microsoft recently added Widgets to the Lock screen. If you don’t like them, here’s how to remove the Lock screen widgets from Windows 11. How to select which system tray icons are displayed on the Windows 11 taskbar The system tray is located on the right side of the taskbar. It displays icons for various system options and applications. The system tray icons in Windows 11 The options in the Personalization > Taskbar section of the Settings app also let you customize these icons. In the System tray icons section, you can choose whether the Pen Menu, Touch keyboard, and Virtual Touchpad are shown in the system tray. You also get switches for Other system tray icons. Except for the Touch keyboard, which allows you to choose when its icon is displayed, you can simply toggle the switches of all the other icons to control whether they’re shown on the taskbar. Choose the icons shown in the system tray If you need detailed instructions on working with the system tray icons in Windows 11, as well as pinning or unpinning apps to and from the taskbar, read this guide: How to add or remove icons or apps from the Windows 11 taskbar. How to hide the Windows 11 taskbar clock You can also hide the time and date shown in the taskbar’s system tray, but Microsoft included this option on another settings page. Open the Settings app (Windows + I), access Time & language in the left sidebar, and click or tap Date & time. Go to Settings > Time & language > Date & time If you no longer want to see the Windows 11 taskbar clock, turn off the switch next to “Show time and date in the System tray.” Hide the Windows 11 taskbar clock You also have the option to customize the Windows 11 taskbar clock. Check out our guide on adding or removing seconds from the Windows 11 clock for more details. How to personalize Windows 11’s taskbar appearance and behavior The taskbar is one of the most frequently used features of Windows 11. It allows you to access your favorite apps, switch between open windows, and view important notifications. However, besides choosing the items shown on it, you can also change the taskbar’s appearance and behavior. Here’s how to do that: How to align the Windows 11 taskbar to the left The Windows 11 taskbar is centered, similar to the macOS interface. This design places the taskbar icons and the Start Menu in the middle of the screen. The taskbar is centered by default in Windows 11 Do you prefer the traditional layout? If you’re wondering how to move the taskbar in Windows 11 and realign its elements to the left side of the screen, that’s easy to do. In the Taskbar settings (Settings > Personalization> Taskbar), find (and expand) the Taskbar behaviors section. Then, click or tap the Taskbar alignment dropdown menu and select Left instead of Center. How to move the taskbar to the left in Windows 11 This action also changes where the Start Menu is displayed in Windows 11. For more details, read our guide on moving the Windows 11 Start Menu to the left. How to hide the taskbar in Windows 11 For a cleaner desktop, you can also instruct Windows 11 to automatically hide the taskbar when it’s not in use. This feature keeps the taskbar out of sight, revealing it only when the cursor is moved to its location. Access the Taskbar settings (Settings > Personalization> Taskbar) and check the “Automatically hide the taskbar” option in the Taskbar behaviors section. How to hide the taskbar in Windows 11 For a step-by-step guide and more details on what happens when you enable or disable this setting, read this guide: How to hide or show the taskbar in Windows 11. How to customize the behavior of taskbar apps Windows 11 also lets you tweak a few options regarding how app buttons and notifications behave. In the Taskbar behaviors section of the Taskbar settings, you also find these options: Show badges on taskbar apps - Windows 11 displays notifications on app icons. Show flashing on taskbar apps - the operating system highlights apps that need attention with a flashing icon. Share any window from my taskbar - lets you share content from open apps during meetings (via Microsoft Teams) using the right-click menu. How to show badges, flashing, and sharing options for taskbar apps How to toggle the Show desktop taskbar button The Windows 11 taskbar also features a Show desktop button to quickly access your desktop. If this button is enabled, you can click or tap it in the far right corner of the taskbar. The Show desktop button is on the right of the Windows 11 taskbar In the Taskbar settings, you can control if this button is available by checking or unchecking the “Select the far corner of the taskbar to show the desktop” option in the Taskbar behaviors section. Select the far corner of the taskbar to show the desktop Even if you disable this button, you can still use the Win + D keyboard shortcut to access your desktop. How to group and hide/show labels for taskbar buttons Windows 11 also lets you choose whether the buttons on the taskbar combine. On the Taskbar settings page, clicking or tapping the “Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels” dropdown menu under Taskbar behaviors reveals three options: Always - the taskbar icons are always combined, and their labels are always hidden. When taskbar is full - Windows 11 groups the taskbar icons only when there’s no more room for them. Never - the operating system never combines taskbar icons, and open apps always have separate icons and labels for each window. Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels For more details on what you’ll get when changing this taskbar behavior in Windows 11, read the dedicated chapters in this guide: How to ungroup taskbar icons in Windows. How to personalize the Windows 11 taskbar when using multiple displays You can also personalize how the taskbar behaves when you have multiple monitors connected to your Windows 11 computer. There are several options available in the Taskbar behaviors section of the Taskbar settings. The first one is “Show my taskbar on all displays.” This setting is enabled by default, and there’s not much to explain here. Uncheck the box if you only want the taskbar on your main screen. Show my taskbar on all displays Showing your taskbar on all displays comes with an additional setting, “When using multiple displays, show my taskbar apps on.” Click or tap the dropdown menu next to it to reveal three options: All taskbars - all taskbars display icons for pinned and active apps across all screens. Main taskbar and taskbar where window is open - pinned app icons are only shown on the main taskbar, while icons for open applications are displayed on both the main taskbar and the taskbar of the screen where the window is active. Taskbar where window is open - icons for open apps appear solely on the taskbar of the screen where the window is currently active, while the main taskbar shows only pinned applications. When using multiple displays, show my taskbar apps on The last setting in this list is “Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels on other taskbars.” Click or tap the dropdown menu next to it and choose between: Always - the taskbar icons on other taskbars are always combined, and their labels are always hidden. When taskbar is full - Windows 11 groups the taskbar icons on other taskbars only when there is no more space for them. Never - the operating system never combines taskbar icons on other taskbars, and open apps always have separate icons and labels on the taskbar for each window. Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels on other taskbars If your Windows 11 PC doesn’t have multiple screens connected to it, these three settings are grayed out and can’t be edited. You can only change them by connecting a secondary monitor to Windows 11. How did you customize the taskbar on your Windows 11 PC? The Windows 11 taskbar isn’t as flexible as the one in Windows 10, but there are still plenty of ways to add your personal touch. Maybe you’ve adjusted its alignment, changed what icons appear, or tweaked how it behaves across multiple monitors. Even small changes can make a big difference over time. Before you close this guide, I’m curious: What does your taskbar look like? Did you go for something minimal or pack it with quick-access tools? What else did you change? Let me know your answer in the comments section below.