With a registry trick, it is feasible to move the Windows taskbar 11 to the left or right side of the screen, but the buttons don't appear. Could this mean that Microsoft plans to bring back a mobile taskbar in a future update?? We explore the possibilities.
Windows Loan 10
As of October 2021, Windows 11 does not allow you to move the taskbar (or even change its size). But through a Windows Registry hack, it is feasible to make the taskbar appear at the top of the screen and continue working.
In the procedure of experimenting with the taskbar at the top of the screen, we also discovered that it is feasible to place the Windows taskbar 11 on the left or right side of the screen, but the taskbar becomes unusable.
curiously, Windows 11 uses the same internal registry key values as Windows 10 to set which side of the screen to place the taskbar. This means that placing the taskbar in Windows 11 it might just be a vestigial Windows feature 10. But the fact that it still works leaves room for Microsoft to fix the Windows taskbar 11 to admit these other positions (left and right) in the future.
RELATED: Windows 11 will not allow you to move the taskbar (but i should)
Try it yourself (if you like risk)
If you want to try moving the taskbar to the left or right side of the screen, we will show you how, even when it's broken and none of the icons will display correctly.
Warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool. Misuse can make your system unstable or even inoperable. Even so, this is a simple trick, and if you follow the instructions absolutely, shouldn't have any problem. If you haven't used Registry Editor before, consider reading about how to use it before you start. We also suggest making a backup copy of the Registry (and from your computer) before making any changes.
First, open Registry Editor. You can do it by pressing Windows + R, writing “regedit” and pressing Enter, or searching “registration” on the Start menu and by clicking “Registry Editor”.
In the Registry Editor, navigate to this key using the sidebar or paste it in the address line near the top of the window:
ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerStuckRects3
(Please note that these instructions only apply to single monitor setups. To change the position of the taskbar on multiple monitors, you will need to edit the same values in all keys listed in HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerMMStuckRects3.)
Double-click the “Setting” within “StuckRects3”.
When the window opens “Edit binary value”, place the fifth value from the left in the second row from the top. In general, this value is set to “03”. By changing this number, you can determine on which side of the screen your taskbar appears. This is what each number does:
- 00: Taskbar on the left side of the screen.
- 01: Taskbar at the top of the screen.
- 02: Taskbar on the right side of the screen.
- 03: Taskbar at the bottom of the screen.
To change it, place the cursor just to the right of the “03”, press Backspace once, then write the respective number to the position of the taskbar in the previous list (What “02” to move the taskbar to the left side, as an example). When it's over, click on “To accept”.
Close Registry Editor, later restart your PC. (Or you can restart Windows Explorer in Task Manager). When I log in again, you will see something like this. The taskbar will be almost completely blank, but you will see some of the systray status icons and Quick Settings button mixed up in the corner. If you click the speaker and Wi-Fi icons, the Quick Settings menu will open as usual, but nothing else works.
In the same way, if you want to try moving the taskbar to the left, change the previously mentioned registry value to “00” and then restart your PC or restart explorer.exe. You will see a similar situation, with a blank taskbar and no icons.
When it's over, press windows + R to open the run menu, later write “regedit.exe”. From there, you can edit the value of the key “Setting” back to “03” (for the taskbar at the bottom of the screen), then restart and return to normal. Or you can download our registry hack files and run “win11_taskbar_bottom.reg” (later restart) to restore your taskbar to its correct location.
As you can see, for the moment, moving the taskbar to the left or right serves no useful purpose, but we are hopeful that Microsoft is working to make these options official soon.
RELATED: The Windows taskbar 11 will not be finished before launch
