The Honest Answer First: You Cannot Move It Officially, but You Can Change Almost Everything Else
If you have just moved from Windows 10 to Windows 11 and gone looking for the setting that moves the taskbar to the top or the side of the screen, you have probably already discovered the problem. It is not there. In Windows 10, you could right-click the taskbar, unlock it, and drag it to any edge of the screen. In Windows 11, Microsoft removed that option entirely. The taskbar sits at the bottom, and there is no setting in the Settings app, and no right-click menu, that will move it anywhere else.
That is the honest answer, and it is worth stating before anything else, because most of the guides you will find online either pretend the option still exists, or tell you to edit the registry and promise that it works. The registry trick did work on the first version of Windows 11, and it broke in the 22H2 update, and it has stayed broken since. The taskbar can be made to appear at the top through a registry edit, but the Start menu, the system tray, and the clock will not follow it properly, and the whole thing is unreliable enough that Microsoft does not support it and it can break again with the next update.
What you can change, officially and reliably, is a lot. You can move the Start button and the pinned icons from the centre to the left, which is how Windows 10 looked. You can make the taskbar hide itself when you are not using it. You can make the icons smaller, so more of them fit. You can change how the taskbar behaves on a second monitor. And if you really do need the taskbar on the side or the top of the screen, there are third-party tools that can do it, and this guide covers them too, with the warnings they deserve.
This guide walks through every official option first, then the third-party route for people who genuinely need the taskbar somewhere other than the bottom, and it finishes with the fixes for the problems people run into most often, including the taskbar that will not hide and the icons that have gone missing.
Before You Start
Take a minute to prepare, because a few of the settings below interact with each other, and knowing your setup will save you from changing the wrong thing.
Step 1: Check which version of Windows 11 you have. Open Settings, then System, then About, and look at the version number under Windows specifications. Some of the options in this guide, such as smaller taskbar buttons, only appeared in later versions of Windows 11, and they will not be there on an older install. If your version is older than 23H2, check for updates under Settings, then Windows Update, before you start.
Step 2: Decide what you actually want to change. Most people who search for this setting want one of three things: the taskbar in a different place, the Start button back on the left, or the taskbar taking up less space. The second and third are easy and official. The first is not, and knowing which one you want will tell you how far down this guide you need to read.
Step 3: Know how many monitors you have. If you use a second monitor, the taskbar settings for it are separate, and they are on the same settings page. If you only use the laptop screen, you can ignore that whole section. But check first, because a setting that looks wrong on your main screen may be a multi-monitor setting doing its job.
Step 4: Close anything important before you try a third-party tool. The official settings in this guide are safe and reversible, and they will not close your apps or lose your work. The third-party tools in the later section restart Windows Explorer, which closes File Explorer windows and can disturb open programs, so save your work before you try them.
Step 5: Remember where the settings live. Almost everything in this guide is under Settings, then Personalization, then Taskbar. If you ever get lost, open Settings, type “taskbar” in the search box at the top left, and click the Taskbar result. That takes you straight to the right page.
How to Move the Start Button and Icons to the Left
This is the change most people actually want. Windows 11 centres the Start button and the pinned apps in the middle of the taskbar, which looks different from every previous version of Windows. Moving them back to the left takes ten seconds, and it makes the taskbar feel familiar again.
Step 1: Right-click an empty area of the taskbar. Click on a part of the taskbar that has no icons on it, and a small menu will appear with one option: Taskbar settings. Click it. This opens the Settings app directly on the Taskbar page.
Step 2: Scroll down to “Taskbar behaviors”. The Taskbar settings page has several sections. The one you want is near the bottom, labelled Taskbar behaviors. Click it to expand it.
Step 3: Find “Taskbar alignment” and change it from Center to Left. There is a dropdown menu with two options: Center and Left. Choose Left. The Start button, the Search icon, and all your pinned apps will jump to the left-hand side of the taskbar immediately. Nothing else changes, and your pinned apps stay pinned.
Step 4: Check the result and adjust your pinned apps if you need to. With the icons on the left, the taskbar looks like Windows 10, and the space on the right is free. If the order of the icons is not what you want, drag them left or right along the taskbar to rearrange them. Dragging a pinned app to a new position works whether the alignment is set to Left or Center.
Step 5: If you change your mind, go back and choose Center again. The change is completely reversible, and it takes effect the moment you choose it. There is nothing to restart and nothing to confirm.
That is the only official position change Windows 11 offers. The alignment setting moves the icons along the bottom edge, not the taskbar itself. If you want the taskbar on the top or the side of the screen, skip ahead to the section on third-party tools, and read the warnings first.
How to Make the Taskbar Smaller
Windows 11 has no size slider for the taskbar, which is another thing that changed from Windows 10. But there are two official ways to make it take up less space, and they cover most of what people want.
Step 1: Open Taskbar settings. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar and choose Taskbar settings, or open Settings, then Personalization, then Taskbar.
Step 2: Scroll down to “Taskbar behaviors” and expand it. This is the same section that holds the alignment setting, and it also holds the size option.
Step 3: Find “Show smaller taskbar buttons” and choose when to use them. This setting appeared in Windows 11 version 24H2, and on some computers it arrived through an update to 23H2. It has three options: Always, When taskbar is full, and Never. Choose Always if you want small icons all the time. Choose When taskbar is full if you want normal icons until the taskbar runs out of room, and small icons after that. Choose Never to go back to the normal size. The change takes effect immediately, and you can see the icons shrink or grow as you choose.
Step 4: If you do not see the smaller buttons option, update Windows. The setting does not exist on older versions of Windows 11. Open Settings, then Windows Update, and check for updates. Install anything it offers, restart if it asks you to, and then check the Taskbar behaviors section again. If your computer is managed by an employer and updates are controlled centrally, you may not be able to install it yourself, and you will need to ask your IT department.
Step 5: Hide the taskbar when you are not using it. In the same Taskbar behaviors section, tick the box labelled “Automatically hide the taskbar”. The taskbar will slide off the bottom of the screen, and your windows will have the whole screen to themselves. Move the mouse to the bottom edge, and the taskbar slides back up. This is the best option if what you really want is more screen space, rather than smaller icons, because it gives you the whole screen back.
Step 6: Consider changing your display scaling as well. The taskbar size is tied to the size of everything else on the screen. Open Settings, then System, then Display, and look at the Scale setting. If it is set to 150 percent, dropping it to 125 percent will make everything smaller, including the taskbar. This changes the whole screen, not just the taskbar, so only do it if you are comfortable with smaller text everywhere. It is a blunt tool, but on a small laptop screen it can make a real difference.
What you cannot do, officially, is make the taskbar taller. Windows 10 let you drag the top edge of the taskbar to make it two rows high. Windows 11 does not. The taskbar is one row, and the only size choices are the normal icons and the smaller icons. If you want a taller taskbar with two rows of icons, that is another thing that needs a third-party tool.
How to Change What Appears on the Taskbar
Position and size are not the only things that decide how the taskbar feels. What is pinned to it, and which system icons appear on it, matter just as much, and they are all controlled from the same settings page.
Step 1: Open Taskbar settings. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar and choose Taskbar settings.
Step 2: Turn the system icons on or off. At the top of the page, under Taskbar items, you will see switches for Search, Task view, Widgets, and Copilot, if your computer has it. Turn off the ones you do not use, and the taskbar gets cleaner straight away. Turning off Search removes the search box from the taskbar, but you can still search by opening the Start menu and typing. Turning off Widgets removes the weather display from the left side of the taskbar.
Step 3: Pin the apps you use most. Open the Start menu, find the app, right-click it, and choose “Pin to taskbar”. The app’s icon appears on the taskbar, and you can open it with one click from now on. You can also drag an app’s icon from the Start menu directly onto the taskbar. To remove a pinned app, right-click its taskbar icon and choose “Unpin from taskbar”.
Step 4: Choose which icons appear in the system tray. Scroll down to “Other system tray icons” and expand it. This section lists the apps that put a small icon near the clock, such as OneDrive, your antivirus, and your audio software. Turn off the ones you do not need to see, and they will move into the hidden icons menu, which you open by clicking the small upwards arrow near the clock. The apps keep running, they just stop cluttering the taskbar.
Step 5: Change the taskbar colour. Open Settings, then Personalization, then Colours, and choose a colour under Accent colour. Then, on the Taskbar settings page, or under Personalization and Colours, make sure the option to show the accent colour on the taskbar is on. This does not change the size or position, but it does change how the taskbar looks, and for some people that is what they wanted all along.
Step 6: Set the taskbar behaviour for a second monitor. If you use more than one monitor, expand the Taskbar behaviors section and look for the multi-monitor options. You can choose whether the taskbar appears on all monitors, or only on the main one, and whether it shows all open apps or only the ones on that monitor. The usual choice is to show the taskbar on all monitors, with each monitor showing only its own apps, because that keeps the taskbar on the second monitor useful instead of a copy of the first.
How to Move the Taskbar to the Top or Side with a Third-Party Tool
This is the section for people who genuinely need the taskbar somewhere other than the bottom. Maybe you have an ultrawide monitor and a side taskbar makes more sense. Maybe you have used a top taskbar for years and your muscle memory will not adapt. Whatever the reason, the only way to do it on current Windows 11 is a third-party tool, and you should go into it with your eyes open.
Step 1: Understand the trade-off before you install anything. Third-party taskbar tools work by changing how Windows draws the taskbar, or by replacing it with their own version. That means they can break when Microsoft updates Windows, and they sometimes break in small ways, such as the clock showing the wrong time zone, or the system tray icons behaving oddly. They are not malware, and they are widely used, but they are a modification to Windows, and you should expect to update or reinstall them after a major Windows update.
Step 2: Choose a tool. The three best-known options are Start11, StartAllBack, and ExplorerPatcher. Start11 and StartAllBack are paid programs, usually around five dollars, and they are the most polished and the best supported. ExplorerPatcher is free and open source, and it is powerful, but its interface is rougher and it can be more fragile after Windows updates. If you want the taskbar on the side and you want it to keep working, Start11 or StartAllBack is the safer choice. If you want it free and you are comfortable troubleshooting, ExplorerPatcher is the option.
Step 3: Download the tool from its official website only. Do not download these tools from a file-sharing site or a link in a video description, because modified copies exist. Go to the developer’s own site, download the installer, and run it. Your antivirus may warn you, because these tools change system behaviour, but a download from the official site is safe.
Step 4: Install the tool and let it restart Windows Explorer. The installer will ask to restart Windows Explorer, which is the part of Windows that draws the taskbar and the desktop. Your screen may flicker, File Explorer windows may close, and the taskbar may disappear for a few seconds. That is normal. Save your work before you start, and do not panic when the screen goes blank for a moment.
Step 5: Open the tool’s settings and choose the taskbar position. In Start11 or StartAllBack, open the settings, go to the taskbar section, and choose the position: top, left, right, or bottom. You can also set the taskbar size, choose whether the icons are centred or left-aligned, and change how the Start menu behaves. In ExplorerPatcher, right-click the taskbar, choose Properties, and find the taskbar position setting there. Apply the change, and the taskbar will move.
Step 6: Check that everything still works. Open the Start menu, check the clock, check the system tray icons, and open an app. If something looks wrong, open the tool’s settings and adjust it, or use the tool’s option to restore the default Windows taskbar. If you ever want to remove the tool completely, uninstall it from Settings, then Apps, and restart the computer. Windows will go back to its normal taskbar.
Step 7: Do not use the old registry trick. You may see guides that tell you to change a registry value called StuckRects3 to move the taskbar. That trick worked on the original release of Windows 11, and it stopped working properly in the 22H2 update. If you try it now, the taskbar may move, but the Start menu will open in the wrong place, the clock and system tray may stay at the bottom, and the whole thing can break after the next update. It is not worth it when a proper tool exists.
Troubleshooting: When the Taskbar Will Not Cooperate
The taskbar is usually well behaved, but it has a few known problems.
The Taskbar Will Not Hide
If you turned on “Automatically hide the taskbar” and it stays visible, an app is usually demanding attention. Look for a flashing icon on the taskbar, or a notification in the system tray. An app that is flashing is asking for attention, and Windows will not hide the taskbar while it is doing so. Click the flashing app, deal with whatever it wants, and the taskbar should hide again. If no app is flashing, restart Windows Explorer: press Ctrl, Shift, and Escape together to open Task Manager, find Windows Explorer in the list, right-click it, and choose Restart. The screen will flicker, and the taskbar will come back, usually hiding properly again.
The Smaller Taskbar Buttons Option Is Missing
If the “Show smaller taskbar buttons” setting is not there, your version of Windows 11 is too old. The setting arrived with version 24H2, and on some computers it came through an update to 23H2. Open Settings, then Windows Update, and install any updates it offers. If your computer says it is up to date and the setting is still missing, your computer’s manufacturer or your employer may be holding back the update, and you will need to wait for it to be offered to you.
The Taskbar Is Stuck at the Top After a Registry Edit
If you tried the old registry trick and the taskbar is now stuck at the top, or the Start menu opens in the wrong place, undo the registry change. Open the Registry Editor by pressing the Windows key and R together, typing regedit, and pressing Enter. Go to the StuckRects3 key, set the value back to what it was, or delete the value you changed, and restart the computer. If you are not comfortable editing the registry, the safer fix is to install Start11 or StartAllBack, set the taskbar position to the bottom in its settings, and then uninstall the tool. That will reset the taskbar cleanly.
Icons Are Missing from the Taskbar
If a pinned app has disappeared from the taskbar, it was probably unpinned by accident, or the app was updated and its shortcut changed. Open the Start menu, find the app, right-click it, and choose “Pin to taskbar” again. If a system icon such as the volume or network icon is missing, open Taskbar settings, scroll to the system tray section, and check that it is turned on. If the whole taskbar is missing, press the Windows key to open the Start menu, and restart the computer, which fixes most cases.
The Taskbar Looks Different After a Windows Update
Windows updates sometimes reset taskbar settings, or move them to a new location. If the taskbar looks different after an update, open Taskbar settings and check the alignment, the smaller buttons option, and the auto-hide setting. They may have been reset to their defaults. Set them back to what you had, and they will stay that way until the next update that touches them. If you use a third-party tool, check whether it needs an update too, because an old version of the tool can clash with a new version of Windows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I move the taskbar to the top of the screen in Windows 11? Not through any official setting. Windows 11 only supports the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. The registry trick that worked on the original release stopped working properly in the 22H2 update. To put the taskbar at the top or on the side, you need a third-party tool such as Start11, StartAllBack, or ExplorerPatcher.
Can I make the taskbar smaller in Windows 11? Yes. Open Settings, then Personalization, then Taskbar, then Taskbar behaviors, and set “Show smaller taskbar buttons” to Always. That setting needs Windows 11 version 24H2 or a recent update to 23H2. You can also turn on “Automatically hide the taskbar” in the same section, which hides the taskbar completely until you move the mouse to the bottom of the screen.
How do I move the Start button to the left? Right-click an empty area of the taskbar, choose Taskbar settings, expand Taskbar behaviors, and change Taskbar alignment from Center to Left. The Start button and all the pinned apps move to the left immediately, and the change is reversible at any time.
Why did Microsoft remove the option to move the taskbar? Microsoft rebuilt the taskbar for Windows 11, and the new version was designed around the bottom of the screen. The company has not given a detailed public reason, but the new taskbar was built from scratch, and the ability to dock it to other edges was not included in the new design. It has not been added back in any update so far.
Will a third-party taskbar tool slow down my computer? Not noticeably. Start11, StartAllBack, and ExplorerPatcher are small programs, and they use very little memory or processor time. The risk is not performance, it is compatibility: a Windows update can break them, and you may need to update the tool or reinstall it after a major update. If you keep the tool updated, it should run without problems.
Final Thoughts
The Windows 11 taskbar is less flexible than the Windows 10 one, and there is no way around that fact. Microsoft took away the ability to move it, and it has not brought it back. What it did keep, and what most people actually need, is still there: you can put the Start button back on the left, you can make the icons smaller, you can hide the whole thing when you are not using it, and you can clean up the icons until the taskbar looks the way you want. Do those things first, and live with the result for a few days, because the centred taskbar feels strange for about a week and then it feels normal. If, after that, you still want the taskbar on the side or at the top, then a third-party tool is the honest answer, and Start11 or StartAllBack will do it properly. Just remember to keep the tool updated, and to save your work before you install it. The taskbar is a small part of the screen, but you look at it all day, so it is worth the ten minutes to get it the way you like it.
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