If you are waiting for Windows 11 side-taskbar support before upgrading to the latest operating system, you may be waiting for a long time, according to a recent Microsoft Ask Me Anything (AMA) session.
When Windows was first released, the most controversial changes were the new centered Start Menu and the reduced functionality of the Windows taskbar.
In the past, the Start Menu was left-aligned on the taskbar, and it was possible to move the taskbar, so it was pinned to the top, sides, and bottom of the screen.
However, with Windows 11, Microsoft took away the ability to move the taskbar, which is one of the most requested features on the Microsoft Feedback Hub, with over 17,500 upvotes.
As first reported by Neowin, in a recent Microsoft Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, a user asked whether Microsoft would be bringing back the ability to move the sidebar to the sides.
The response was not very promising, with Tali Roth, Microsoft's Head of Product, explaining that a small amount of Windows users use the feature and that it is unsure whether the feature will ever be brought back.
When it comes to something like actually being able to move the taskbar to different locations on the screen, there's a number of challenges with that. When you think about having the taskbar on the right or the left, all of a sudden the reflow and the work that all of the apps have to do to be able to understand the environment is just huge.
And when you look at the data, while we know there is a set of people that love it that way and, like, really appreciate it, we also recognize that this set of users is really small compared to the set of other folks that are asking for other features. So at the moment we are continuing to focus on things that I hear more pain around.
It is one of those things that we are still continuing to look at, and we will keep looking to feedback, but at the moment we do not have a plan or a set date for when we would, or if we would, actually build the side taskbar.
You can watch the entire discussion about this feature and how Microsoft decides what features were ported from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
Unfortunately, another Windows 10 taskbar feature is sorely missed, which is the ability to uncombine open windows for the same program.
As it is common for these people to have multiple instances of the same application open, whether that be Notepad or Office applications, combining them into a single icon on the taskbar them it too time-consuming to switch between Windows.
Due to this, numerous Windows 10 users have told BleepingComputer that they will not upgrade to Windows 11 until the feature is restored.
This feature has been requested by over 12,500 Windows 11 users on the Feedback Hub, and Microsoft states that they have received the feedback.
However, there has not been any indication of when, or even if, the uncombine feature will be added back to Windows 11.
Comments
killabandit - 2 years ago
This is inaccurate. I turned on and moved the taskbar to the left default position just fine. Built into windows 11.
Edit, my mistake. Had it confused. Yes, unable to move to side or top.
Knight_of_BAAWA - 2 years ago
No, you moved the icons, not the taskbar.
teach1st - 2 years ago
This is the issue keeping me (and it looks like many others) from upgrading from Windows 10 to Windows 11. I would wager that their telemetry is B.S.
Axsimulate - 2 years ago
Are the bringing back a useful Start Menu? The current is almost 100% useless.
henk717 - 2 years ago
Nonsense, the reason it can't be moved is because they implemented a new task bar from scratch. Apps have nothing to do with it, because apps already worked flawless on Windows 10 regardless of taskbar position. I bet if you install StartAllBack which returns the classic taskbar and start menu you would not have issues with your apps at all.
What microsoft is really saying is that they abandoned a legacy component that worked flawlessly and they are to incompetent to code the new one properly to handle these use cases. Because its not just the inability to move it, the right click menu is also vastly inferior and is a nuisance for me giving remote Windows support since the easy task manager shortcut is missing. And the start menu can no longer launch programs with arguments anymore. Visually it might be appealing, but technically this new task bar and start menu is trash.
NoneRain - 2 years ago
I do not desagree.
But for your points with remote support:
-taskbar's right click menu, was moved to right clicking the Start Menu
-instead of using the start menu, use win+r to launch apps with arguments
BH0 - 1 year ago
I also think that its more aesthetic, rather then usefull :D look at the garbage in the Windows.
Start menu/taskbar has became transgender, it doesnt know, what it wants to be.. 20 times redesigned and still the same purpose.
Start menu used to be sweetspot of Windows, but it lost its aura years ago.
lapo - 2 years ago
A change so difficult an external developer patched it single handedly. =)
https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher
kalmly - 2 years ago
My question is: Can the the taskbar be set to auto-hide? Some of us just want them out of the way, not taking up screen space and glaring at us while we work.
killabandit - 2 years ago
"My question is: Can the the taskbar be set to auto-hide? Some of us just want them out of the way, not taking up screen space and glaring at us while we work. "
Yes it can. Under taskbar behaviors, automatically hide the taskbar setting.
kalmly - 2 years ago
Thanks so much for answering my question. Really appreciate it.
Lawrence Abrams - 2 years ago
Taskbar icon grouping is a deal breaker for me.
Brunni - 2 years ago
Potential solution: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-moving-windows-11-taskbar-may-never-be-an-option-again/#cid23201
Cunninglam4 - 2 years ago
There is a registry key to move the position. I have found StuckRects3 and MMStuckRects3 to be quirky. The popup images will show on the opposite side of the screen. If hidden they sometimes don't appear when you slide to that edge.
Brunni - 2 years ago
For the people who want to quickly switch between windows of a single application instance, the option that I have always used is to use Win+Ctrl+<number>. This will activate the last window of the <number>-th application in the taskbar. If that window is active (i.e. you press again), then it will switch to the next window of the same application.
If there is an application that needs a lot of switches between its windows, you can move it to the left of the taskbar and use Ctrl+Win+1 to quickly switch between its windows, with the bonus that the last used window will come in first (instead of having it sorted by opening date like when it pops up from the taskbar). If there are multiple applications between which you work, you can pin them all at the beginning and press Ctrl+Win+1 then 2 then 3 etc. to switch between them and their windows.
mrsleep - 2 years ago
The more I read about Windows 11, the less I want to switch to it.
TabletPro - 2 years ago
This might be the best solution for the taskbar problems https://youtu.be/M6HKXll60KQ can also pin frequently used hotkeys like undo, screen capture, modifiers to it.