Microsoft is finally bringing a moving taskbar to Windows 11 – here’s what you can try now

Highlights taken by ZDNET

• Microsoft will finally let you move the Windows 11 taskbar.
• The changes to the taskbar carry over to Windows 11 insiders.
• Microsoft also promises a few tweaks to the start menu.

Windows 11 users who have long wanted to move the taskbar to any edge of the screen are now granted their wish. With the latest update from Windows Insiders, you will be able to position the taskbar at the top, bottom, left, or right.

Yes, as in Windows 10.

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To do this, you will need to be using the latest test build of Windows 11. However, you may have to wait a while for the power to appear. I updated one of my Windows 11 VMs with the latest internal layout, but I still don’t see the option to move the taskbar. Once the change has arrived, here’s how it works.

Windows 11 users can finally move the taskbar

With the latest build installed, right-click on the taskbar and select taskbar settings. Click Taskbar behavior settings. You will see a new Taskbar position option with four possible positions: Bottom, Top, Left, and Right. Select the location you like, and your taskbar will jump to that location.

“For people who value vertical screen real estate, such as developers who want to see a lot of their code at once, moving the taskbar to the side can help reclaim precious room on the screen,” said Microsoft Design Director Diego Baca in a new blog post.

Also: Windows 11 Home vs. Windows 11 Pro: I found a really significant difference

“If accessibility or ergonomics make it easier to reach the top of the screen, you can put the taskbar there. If you depend on the taskbar to keep track of your work, a vertical layout with ungrouped icons can help you stay organized. The choice is yours.”

More changes

With the new location option comes a few other tweaks.

You can choose how the start button is aligned depending on the location of the taskbar. If the taskbar is at the top or bottom of the screen, you can switch between left and center alignment. If the taskbar is on the left or right side of the screen, you can choose top or center alignment.

Taskbar icons such as Start and search will pop out based on the position of the taskbar. If the taskbar is at the top, the start menu will open from the top.

You will still be able to see the name of each open window as it appears on the taskbar. For that, make sure the “Merge taskbar buttons and hide labels” option is set to Never or When the taskbar is full. This setting makes it very easy to switch between windows by looking and clicking on the taskbar icon.

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In addition, Microsoft has developed an option to reduce the size of the taskbar. To check this, go back to Taskbar behavior under Taskbar settings. Click the drop-down menu to “Show small taskbar buttons” and set it to Always. Both the icons and the length of the taskbar become smaller with no restart or logout required.

There are a few limitations, however

Auto-hide and tablet-optimized taskbar settings are not yet supported for other top, left, or right positions.

Touching these other areas is also a work in progress. Search boxes are not supported in these other locations and will appear as icons for now. In addition, Microsoft is looking at other features such as different taskbar positions for each monitor and dragging and dropping icons on the taskbar to another location.

Changes to the start menu

But wait, there are more changes in store, namely four tweaks to the Windows 11 Start menu that will reach Windows 11 insiders in the next few weeks.

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First, you’ll be able to separately show or hide the Pinned section, the Featured section, or both in one shot.

Second, turning off the “Show recommended files on Start, recent files in File Explorer, and items in Jump Lists” option currently affects all three. With an upcoming change, you’ll be able to disable file recommendations in the Start menu without affecting recent files elsewhere.

Third, the start menu currently changes its size based on your display. Instead, you will be able to choose your own size, either Small or Large. Your choice is always consistent.

Fourth, you will be able to hide your name and profile picture from the start menu if you want to remain private when sharing your screen or showing a presentation. And there are a few more changes.

The Recommended section in the start menu is renamed to Recent to more accurately reflect its purpose. Recently installed apps will always be visible. The latest files you see also promise to be more relevant based on your activity.

How can you try

To try out the new taskbar and Start menu changes, you need to be enrolled in the Windows Insider Program and use the latest Experimental Windows 11 build. (If you haven’t seen the option yet, Microsoft may not have rolled it out to your PC.) Start menu changes are also expected to roll out to Windows 11 Insiders in the next few weeks.

When will these latest updates reach all Windows 11 users? It’s hard to say that. Since the changes are in the new Test channel of the internal build, they need to switch to the Beta channel if they are stable. From there, they can move on to the general public. Generally, that whole process can take anywhere from a few months to a year. But since Microsoft is serious about cleaning up Windows 11, I think the company will try to speed up these and similar updates.

Easy to use on Windows 11

Windows 11 users have been complaining that Microsoft has focused too much on AI and not enough on fixing many bugs and issues in the OS. In response, the company has vowed to address some of the long-standing issues in an effort to make Windows 11 more reliable and user-friendly.

Also: If Microsoft really wants to fix Windows 11, it should do these four things ASAP

The start menu and taskbar are areas that need a lot of improvement. That’s especially true since those two features were less efficient and less customizable in Windows 11 than in its predecessor. Now that Windows 10 is no longer supported, Microsoft needs to focus on these and many other problems that still affect Windows 11.