Reviving movable taskbars in Windows 11 isn't a priority for Microsoft

[Daniel Sims]

A hot potato: One controversial change Windows 11 brought has been users' inability to move the taskbar to the sides or top of the screen the way they could in previous Windows versions. Recently, Microsoft said letting users move the taskbar again is a matter of if, not when.

Last week, Microsoft released an AMA on YouTube (above) in which members of the Windows development team answered questions about the operating system. When asked about moving the taskbar, Microsoft Head of Product Tali Roth explained that resurrecting the feature isn't currently a priority because of the relatively small number of users requesting it.

Roth said that the amount of work required to make Windows 11 apps recognize a taskbar on the right, left, or top of the screen is disproportionate to the demand for the ability to move it. He didn't say Microsoft would never implement a movable taskbar, but there are currently no plans for one.

It isn't clear what data tells Roth that those requesting the feature are a vocal minority, or by what scale he considers them such. As of now, however, a movable taskbar is in the top 15 most upvoted items on Microsoft's Feedback Hub, with over 6,000 upvotes and over 300 comments.

For those not willing to wait, there are a few unofficial ways to move the Windows 11 taskbar. One is through the free, portable tool Taskbar11 from Dustin Hendriks, which lets a user position it at the top of the screen and customize its size. Another tool, StartAllBack ($5), allows users to shift the taskbar to the top or sides and includes other customization features. Editing the Windows registry either manually or automatically using a file can also enable moving the taskbar.

It seems that more Windows 11 users would need to make their voices heard for Microsoft to bring this feature back any time soon.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/94150-reviving-movable-taskbars-windows-11-isnt-priority-microsoft.html

 

[Ludak021]

People just want the new skin for windows, that's all. What M$ wants is mostly irrelevant to users.Older users don't care either way.

 

[m4a4]

Yeah, luckily Windows is open enough to modify it (or have it modified by a 3rd party).

Imagine if a popular OS didn't have something like copy-paste at the start (and it was something that couldn't be modified in)

 

[Dimitriid]

Of course because Microsoft is now Apple: They both think you're an ignorant peasant and should just shut up and just use whatever they decide is the ideal user experience.

 

[mountains]

Just because we remove as much telemetry as we can, doesn't mean we don't move our task bars around (well, I do at least). And no doubt all kinds of other stuff MS thinks advanced users don't do...

 

[Kirby1]

Hella lame

 

[psycros]

"For those not willing to wait, there are a few unofficial ways to move the Windows 11 taskbar. One is through the free, portable tool Taskbar11 from Dustin Hendriks, which lets a user position it at the top of the screen and customize its size. "

And this shows that everything Microsoft says about the difficulty of adding this feature is just another lie.

 

[passwordistaco]

Not to assume anybody's gender, but Tali Roth doesn't look like a "he" in the top picture.

Odd how Win10 had no problem with moving the taskbar, but suddenly it's an app compatibility issue on 11. Nevermind the 3rd party utilities that make it work just fine.

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THAT MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!

 

[envirovore]

The ability to move taskbar to top of screen without having to resort to third party tools or tricks is one of the major things that's keeping me on win10.

I've figured out how to center icons on it in win10 without having to use third party tools anyway (well, okay, centering only works on the primary display task bar, secondary displays have it aligned to left as normal).

If this was added as a directly supported option, I would actually consider giving 11 a go.

 

[axiomatic13]

I just want to be able to make it bigger. The extra clicks needed are annoying.

 

[p51d007]

I usually have my taskbar hidden anyway. Plus, I use rocket dock for all of my apps at the top of the screen (also hidden until a mouse over).

 

[netman]

Mine is already on the Top with a hack...!

 

[SiJiL]

"As of now, however, a movable taskbar is in the top 15 most upvoted items on Microsoft's Feedback Hub, with over 6,000 upvotes and over 300 comments."

It's currently number 1 on upvotes with 17,704 upvotes and 1298 comments!
Hopefully they see this and reconsider - it's the one reason I rolled back to 10 after trying 11.

 

[Kirby1]

I keep mine on the left side. I feel it makes the most sense over there near the desktop icons.

 

[Aaron Fox]

"As of now, however, a movable taskbar is in the top 15 most upvoted items on Microsoft's Feedback Hub, with over 6,000 upvotes and over 300 comments."

It's currently number 1 on upvotes with 17,704 upvotes and 1298 comments!
Hopefully they see this and reconsider - it's the one reason I rolled back to 10 after trying 11.

This is strong evidence, according to Microsoft, for its use of the 'no one cares' fallacy.

Basic logic demonstrates that the fact that a feature was thought of and included means someone cares. So, what Microsoft is actually saying is that it doesn't care enough about the people who care about the feature — including the developers from its own company that implemented said feature in the past. It's a great slogan: 'At Microsoft we care about you less and less.'

(And, lest that read as the 'appeal to authority' fallacy, there are plenty of possible features that merit inclusion in Windows and have yet to be included.)

 

[fadingfool]

The ability to move taskbar to top of screen without having to resort to third party tools or tricks is one of the major things that's keeping me on win10.

I've figured out how to center icons on it in win10 without having to use third party tools anyway (well, okay, centering only works on the primary display task bar, secondary displays have it aligned to left as normal).

If this was added as a directly supported option, I would actually consider giving 11 a go.

My thoughts exactly. I remote in to many other windows machines - I keep my local taskbar at the top to easily differentiate.

 

[AIC1Drew]

People want options. A customizable user experience. That's not so hard to understand right?

 

[envirovore]

My thoughts exactly. I remote in to many other windows machines - I keep my local taskbar at the top to easily differentiate.

I made the shift to taskbar on top mostly because I noticed my that most mouse movement tended to happen towards the top of screen anyway, unless I was opening something from start or taskbar.

As I use a 42" TV for a monitor currently, so I thought it just made sense to pin the taskbar closer to where most mouse usage occured instead, even if it only maybe saves a second of time or so.

 

[Big Royce]

Jesus you guys complain an awful lot for something you aren’t going to upgrade to anyway.

Just stick with windows 10 or better yet Linux so we don’t have keep hearing it in every windows 11 article.

 

[SiJiL]

Jesus you guys complain an awful lot for something you aren’t going to upgrade to anyway.

Just stick with windows 10 or better yet Linux so we don’t have keep hearing it in every windows 11 article.

When 10 goes out of support in a few years, people will have to upgrade. And people have said they would upgrade without this annoyance (I'm one of them that would).
I also tried Linux for 3 months as an alternative to upgrading to 11, but ended up coming back to 10 - whatever people say, Linux is not ready to be a Windows replacement, mostly due to lack of support from hardware vendors.