7+ Taskbar Tweaker on Windows 11 with Windows 10’s taskbar
Windows 11 was officially released two days ago, and here’s another post about 7+ Taskbar Tweaker’s compatibility with it. In short: Nothing changed regarding the tweaker’s compatibility with the new Windows 11 taskbar, and probably never will, but there’s a way to get back the old taskbar, with which 7+ Taskbar Tweaker is mostly compatible.
Getting back the old taskbar in Windows 11
Let’s start with the good news. Even though Microsoft reimplemented the new Windows 11 taskbar from scratch as was mentioned in the previous blog post, the old taskbar code was left beside the new one, and there are several ways to activate it. Here is a great summary of the options by Gaurav, but I’ll just mention the steps that worked for me:
- Install and configure Explorer Patcher for Windows 11, a great project by Valentin-Gabriel Radu which brings back the old taskbar on Windows 11, and fixes some of the quirks that have to be fixed as a result.
- Install the latest beta version of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker (non-beta support will follow soon, keep reading for details).
- Enjoy Windows 11 with the good old taskbar tweaked to your taste.
The latest beta version of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker, 5.11.2.1, has most of the tweaks working with the old taskbar on Windows 11. Originally designed to be compatible with a Windows 10 Dev Channel build, the beta version requires a supporter access code for it to work on Windows 11. Your support is highly appreciated, and if you have any problems with it, feel free to contact me.
The latest non-beta version of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker, 5.11.3, doesn’t support the old taskbar on Windows 11. I’ll be working on a new, fully compatible non-beta version, which should be ready in the near future.
Update (October 22): Windows 11 with Windows 10’s taskbar is fully supported starting with 7+ Taskbar Tweaker v5.12.
Regarding the new taskbar in Windows 11
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, 7+ Taskbar Tweaker will probably never be compatible with the new Windows 11 taskbar. It took a lot of time and effort to implement all of the functionality for the old taskbar, and since most of it has to be reimplemented from scratch, it’s not feasible to have a tool with a similar set of functionality in the short term. At the beginning it will only contain a small subset of the old options. Also, I might end up adding new tweaks which are only relevant for the new taskbar. With all this in mind, it makes sense to start fresh.
I played with the new taskbar a bit, and there are two scopes for possible tweaks:
- Non-UI tweaks, which are about customizing code unrelated to the UI. Of the two, I’m much more familiar with tweaking these kinds of things. An example would be a tweak to close programs on middle click instead of creating a new instance – I don’t need to fiddle with the UI, I can just replace the new instance launching functionality with closing the target program. Actually, I’ve implemented it for the new taskbar and it works nicely.
- UI tweaks, which are about customizing UI code. An example would be a tweak to get back labels on the taskbar. Being unfamiliar with the new UI framework that is used in the new taskbar, I need some time for research to even be able to estimate the difficulty of such tasks. The new UI framework might, or might not, make tweaks easier than for the old taskbar, but at this point I still don’t know how to approach it.
My plan is to start with non-UI tweaks, and at the same time explore the new UI at my spare time. I’ll try to prioritize the tweaks according to the users’ demand, ease of implementation, and my own interest.
Tags: 7+ taskbar tweaker
Hi. Sorry for asking something that has already been answered, but I am not sure I fully understand the situation. I don’t know if I should upgrade from W10 to W11 or not, but it might be a good idea to get a head start and get familiar with it. The only reason that I didn’t is because you were just looking into getting 7+TT to work with W11 at the time, and it didn’t seem probable. But I think that now you are saying with 100% confidence that 7++ will work in W11 now if I use the Explorer Patcher? Is that still the best way to get the W10 taskbar, and do you recommend going to W11? I’d hate to get stuck with a OS that I don’t like but I’m also more scared that 7+TT will stop working in it one day and then I’d truly be miserable.
Hi John,
7+ Taskbar Tweaker works with the Windows 10 taskbar on Windows 11. One way to get the old taskbar is with Explorer Patcher. There are other ways, you can see the summary post that I linked.
I don’t know, I haven’t tried other ways.
I don’t know. Personally, I’m still using Windows 10 on all of my devices. I will switch at some point but for now I don’t see a good reason to update.
I would install an “11 Taskbar Tweaker” just for Thumbnails “Drag to reorder”. (I also like the “Display seconds on the tray clock”.) The remaining is good to have. I doubt it could be easy though. Best to you!
How can I hide the text at the right of the icons at the taskbar on Windows 11?
By default, Windows 11 doesn’t show text labels on the taskbar. If you’re using a tool such as Explorer Patcher, you can probably use the tool’s configuration for that. Alternatively, if you’re using 7+ Taskbar Tweaker, you can use the tweaker’s show_labels advanced option.
I have downloaded your taskbar tweaker but can find no way to use it to eliminate the show desktop
Have you tried enabling the relevant option?
https://i.imgur.com/nkhMqnq.png
Is there any plan to support Start 11 as a standalone taskbar solution now that its recent betas no longer requires Explorer Patcher to ungroup buttons and show labels?
That was a big step forward for their solution, but I still miss the ability to rearrange within groups, scroll to change volume, and other great 7TT goodies.
No such plans at this point, sorry.
Hi! I use your program in Windows 11 using Explorer Patcher (which is why I comment here) and I just wanted to let you know of a breaking bug that started occurring after a Windows update, it says it’s build Windows 11 Home 22581.ni_release220318-1623 – essentially the program fails to hide the Windows icon and tries to reload the File Explorer a lot. I realize you might already be aware of this issue, but I’m sharing it anyway. This is why I don’t like updating…
Update: It seems to only reload when I click on an unopened window, which makes sense because I have Open with Double Click enabled.
Hi,
Looks like you’re using a dev build of Windows 11 which is not supported. I’m not aware of the issue, but I’ll look at it, thanks for the info.
Hi again,
Please try the newly released version, 5.13, which adds support for Windows 11 version 22H2 (build 22621).
Hi Michael, is it possible to run only the taskbar inspector module with the original Windows 11 taskbar? It would be great to have a tool get the taskbar appid.
I believe that it should be possible. It’s a good idea, I’ll look at it, perhaps I’ll implement it as a Windhawk module.
You can vote for Taskbar Inspector here:
https://ramensoftware.com/7-taskbar-tweaker-on-windows-11-with-windows-10s-taskbar
I’ll update the page if I end up implementing it.
Hello Michael,
I’m using this soft since 2 or 3 years now and i love it !
I’m on the Windows beta channel and got Windows 11 very soon and couldn’t use 7+TT from that moment.
I’ve recently installed Explorer Patcher and tried 7+TT again, it works but I have 1 problem.
When I hover an application icon, everything (even my mouse) freeze and the explorer crash then restart. I found that the options “Show thumbnail preview” and “list” are causing the problem, the two other options are working great.
That’s not really a problem for me but i would like to know if it this because of my windows config or just a slight bug to fix.
Thank you for your time !
Hi Michaux,
Dev (beta channel) builds of Windows 11 are a moving target and aren’t fully supported. I’ll try to look at it when I have some time, but it’s not a priority.
Hi Michael,
I totaly understand that, maybe I should stop using beta channel, this was necessary before but it’s just by curiosity now.
While in beta channel, with the thumbnail disabled, once by windows start, I have a freeze for 2-3 sec (exactly the same as with thumbnails) when I begin to move some window, after that freeze it’s all good until next restart.
Like I said, that’s not really a problem for me, I just wanted to let you know.
Keep going !👍
Hi Michael,
Until recently I used your 7+ taskbar tweaker with great pleasure and gratitude. A few weeks ago I bought a new laptop with win11. Unfortunately, 7+taskbar tweaker no longer works properly. I was very happy that there was a solution by using Explorer Patcher. However, when using virtual desktops, 7+taskbar tweaker does not work quite right. When switching back to previous desktop, the taskbar items are reset in the original order of opening and not in the order I give them. Is it possible to repair this in a future update?
Kind regards, Ton
Hi Ton,
By default, the order of the taskbar items is not preserved both in Windows 10 and Windows 11. You can use the virtual_desktop_order_fix advanced option to solve this. See here. You can enable the virtual_desktop_order_fix advanced option by right clicking the tray icon, selecting Advanced Options, and setting it to
1.I see. Thank you very, very much!
Is it possible to integrate this functionality into Windhawk? I just so love this tool that I’d be happy to use just one with the new Windows 11 taskbar and have this feature in place.
Thank you very much for improving the windows 11 experience. You are doing a great job!
I installed Winaero Tweaker, activated “Classic taskbar”, restarted, then 7TT worked perfectly (small icons of active programs, ungrouped, etc.).
Chci se zetat, zda lze ve W11 nastavit hlavní panel tak, aby se při najetí
myši na ikonu programu zobrazil náhled v něm otevřených více oken, jak je zobrazeno zde na https://vaclavkrejci.cz/node/253
Sorry, I don’t speak Czech. If you’re looking for an option to disable thumbnail previews on Windows 11, please vote for “Hovering: List / Tooltip / Nothing” here:
https://ramensoftware.com/windhawk-mods-for-the-windows-11-taskbar
Hi, I have installed StartAllBack, reverting the taskbar to win10.
7TT 5.14 doesn’t work, all options are greyed out; I’ve tried the 5.12 beta too but it asks for a win10 experimental code, without which it will behave as latest non-beta version..all greyed out.
Any way in?
Thanks!
error pop up saying it can’t load the library, with code 1004 for the beta, 5 for the stable release.
Hi, Which Windows 11 version are you using? The tweaker should support Windows 11 (build 22000) and Windows 11 version 22H2 (build 22621). Insider builds might not be supported.
Hi, I’m running W11 Insider Preview 25267 (installed today, but well, I’ve gone to 3 more different builds before this one and in no case would 7TT work), this might be the culprit then.
Long time user and multiple times donator. Just wanted to stop by and say thank you for all the hard work. That’s all. 🙂
OK. I finally upgraded to Windows 11 22H2. Call me stupid, but I can’t find out where to download either Explorer Patcher for Windows 11. When I click on the link, all I get is (what I assume) is a list of what is contained in the file. I don’t see a download option or an .exe file. I also tried to download Taskbar Tweaker version 5.12 (I’m currently running 5.14.1) but again, couldn’t find a way to download it. I’ve been using this program for years, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi Lisa,
Explorer Patcher can be downloaded here (look for the exe file at the bottom).
The latest version of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker can be downloaded here. Why are you looking for an older version?
Thanks so much! I was looking for an older version because the way I read it, version 5.12 would work with Windows 11. My Taskbar Tweaker is now working. The only problem I have now is that none of the icons that are supposed to be showing on my taskbar are doing so. Only system icons are showing even though I have my other choices “on”. I even tried restarting my PC, but that didn’t work. (I’ll take that over not having Tweaker any day though!) Will also be making another donation. Thanks so much for such a great tool!!!
Thank you for the support Lisa, I appreciate it!
Regarding the missing notification icons, you might want to ask about it on the Explorer Patcher discussions page.
Very long time user and past donator to your wonderful efforts. I’ve resisted getting a new PC because I didn’t want Win 11, but the time has come.
I’ve always added an address toolbar to my taskbar to give me a small area to paste a small string of about 50 characters or text or other info that I need to reference. By reverting to the old win 10 taskbar, will I get the functionality to add the address bar? (I understand that I can’t add any such bar to Win 11).
Alternatively, would you have any other solution to give me a small persistent unobtrusive space for me to write small notes.
You can try using the Taskbar Clock Customization mod. Then you can add a note to your clock.
If one decides to use Explorer Patcher to revert to the Win 10 taskbar, if one changes their mind, is it possible to undo what it has done? In other words is there a way to get back to the way things were before running having run Explorer Patcher?
Yes, it can be uninstalled, see:
https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/wiki#uninstalling
I did a Windows Update today (23 August 2023) at 07:00 AEST and when the machine rebooted 7+ Taskbar Tweaker 5.14.1.3 beta did not load properly. The error message said: “7+ Taskbar Tweaker: Could not load library (5). Library initialization failed, perhaps your Windows version is not supported.”
I uninstalled the beta version and installed 7+ Taskbar Tweaker 5.14.1 standard version. This loaded properly.
I use Windows 11 with a tweak that allows me to use the Windows 10 taskbar. I had been using 7+ Taskbar Tweaker beta version for about a year now. I contributed over a year ago and was provided with an experimental support code. I’ve used the code in order to use the program with various versions of Windows 11, some of which were Insider Preview editions.
Should I stick to the standard (non-beta) version unless I am using Insider Editions of Windows?
I currently have the Windows Update setting “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” turned on. The Windows Insider Program is currently not activated. The details of the latest Windows Update that occurred prior to the error are:
2023-08 Cumulative Update Preview for Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems *KB5029351) OS Build 22621.2215.
The new updates impacted both the beta and non-beta versions of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker. It just so happened that the beta version had a larger impact, and the non-beta just got several options broken.
I’ve just released a new beta version, 5.14.1.4, which should fix the incompatibility with the new updates.
As for your question, it’s better to use the non-beta tweaker version for stable Windows builds, unless you specifically need the beta version (e.g. for a specific fix). When a new stable Windows build breaks compatibility with the tweaker, I don’t always release a fix for the beta version of the tweaker, since it’s mainly targeted at preview Windows builds.
I posted to a subreddit about explorer patcher not working despite the new update, either I somehow managed to get an outdated version, the new update was broken by another Windows 11 Update (which seems odd since major feature updates aren’t frequent) or I have no idea how to fix and make explorer patcher work, as I got the traditional problem many have had, once installed, it breaks the start button and taskbar notifications, I can’t use this if it breaks core UI elements, what am I gonna do? is anyone an expert here on these things? https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/16gitjs/question_about_fixes_for_explorer_patcher/