Windows 11 Will Finally Let Users Move and Resize the Taskbar

After some harsh feedback about the quality of Windows 11, Microsoft is on a sort of apology tour. The company is promising to improve the operating system, addressing critical issues and features that annoy longtime Windows users. It started off with a way to delay Windows updates for longer than a week. Now, Microsoft is testing new settings that let users customize the placement and size of the taskbar alongside the start menu.

The fact that you couldn’t move the taskbar to the top or side of the screen has bothered Windows 11 users ever since launch. As with many frustrating aspects of Windows, there are multiple workarounds to customize the taskbar and its placement using third-party apps and registry hacks. But now, Windows users will finally have a native, reliable option for customizing the taskbar. These changes are currently rolling out over the next couple of weeks to Windows Insider members in the Experimental channel. Hopefully, they make it to a public build in the near future.

Move the taskbar anywhere you want

The biggest news, of course, is that the taskbar is finally detached from the bottom of the screen—at least, if you want it to be. You can now move it to the top, or to the left or right edge of the screen. When you do, the taskbar content will adapt automatically. You can also choose where you’d like to align the icons. You can place them on top or in the center when the taskbar is on the sides, or on the left or center when it is on the top or the bottom.

If you dock the taskbar to the side, there’s a new option to “Never combine” taskbar buttons and to show full labels for all windows separately. This will basically show you a vertical list of all open windows, even if they’re from the same app. Windows Insiders who already have this feature can go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors to customize the taskbar position and icon alignment.

If you’re using a Windows tablet, or a laptop with a small screen, there’s now an option to make the Windows taskbar smaller (icons will also scale down automatically). Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors > Show smaller taskbar buttons and set it to Always.