7+ Taskbar Tweaker

7+ Taskbar Tweaker
7+ Taskbar Tweaker allows you to configure various aspects of the Windows taskbar.
Most of the configuration options it provides can’t be tweaked using the taskbar properties or the registry.
The tweaker is designed for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

Download

exe 7tt_setup.exe (1.78 MB, changelog)
Latest version: v5.15.1
Note: The installer can be used to extract a portable version. Refer to the FAQ below for details.

Beta version
exe 7tt_setup_beta.exe (1.79 MB, changelog)
Latest beta version: v5.15.1.2
More info about beta versions.

Windows 11 Support Status

  • 7+ Taskbar Tweaker doesn’t support the Windows 11 taskbar, and probably never will. See this blog post for more details.
  • Some of the tweaks are available in Windows 11 as Windhawk mods. See here for the list of mods, and vote for missing mods that you’d like to see implemented. Read more about Windhawk here.
  • 7+ Taskbar Tweaker works on Windows 11 with the old taskbar which can be restored with third party tools. See this blog post for more details.

Demo video

Here is a video that demonstrates some of the tweaks:

Source code

https://github.com/m417z/7-Taskbar-Tweaker

FAQ

Q: Which registry keys does 7+ Taskbar Tweaker modify? I don’t need extra processes in my system.
A: The only registry keys the tweaker modifies are its own settings. There are no registry keys for the options it provides. The tweaker does that by injecting a DLL to explorer, hooking/subclassing/some other methods of the dark side.
As for extra processes, the tweaker is a native program, and is very lightweight. It shouldn’t slow down your system, and uses an extremely small amount of memory. Also, you can hide the tray icon if you want.

In case you want to remove the tweaker’s settings from the registry, look for them here:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\7 Taskbar Tweaker
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (“7 Taskbar Tweaker” value)

P.S. if you’re a programmer, you might want to take a look at the 7+ Taskbar Tweaking Library.

Q: My antivirus complains about 7+ Taskbar Tweaker.
A: It’s a false positive. I guarantee that the tweaker binaries (and any other files on this site, unless specifically noted) are 100% clean.
Also remember that the tweaker injects into explorer and modifies its memory, which is indeed suspicious.

Q: Can I Group/Combine/Label only some of the items on the taskbar?
A: Yes, use Taskbar Inspector.

Q: May I use 7+ Taskbar Tweaker in a commercial environment?
A: Yes, feel free to use it wherever you want.

Q: Where is the portable version?
A: When installing the tweaker, choose the Portable type of install, as shown on the image below.
The portable version will be extracted to the selected folder.

Selecting the portable installation type

Note: If the tweaker is already installed on your computer, the option won’t be visible. You can launch the setup with the /portable command line switch to force a portable installation.

Q: I want to report a bug/suggest a feature! What is the best way to do it?
A: Post it on the UserEcho page.

Q: I want to translate 7+ Taskbar Tweaker to my language.
A: The archive below contains the files needed to be translated.
Please read readme.txt before proceeding.

zip 7tt_translate.zip (758.63 kB)

If you are brave enough to translate the help file, contact me for the required software and files.

Posted in Releases, Software by Michael (Ramen Software) on September 30th, 2009.
Tags:

6,605 Responses to “7+ Taskbar Tweaker”

  1. Waltari says:

    Hello, please add update for tweaker, now its not supported on win10. Thanks

  2. Waltari says:

    https://prnt.sc/v8xrd8
    This is on normal relase.
    Beta version is without this error, but if i set something is not work.

    • If you can look at the changelog, you can see that some of the most recent updates are supported only by the beta version. I’ll release a new non-beta version in the near future.

      if i set something is not work

      What do you mean by that?

  3. Waltari says:

    on beta relase is program running but i if I set something is not working,or what you need? sorry my english is bad…

  4. Waltari says:

    i use that tweaker only for split icons without text, but old is not running for bad system and beta cant set it.

  5. Waltari says:

    Yep like what you said, main tweaker got error message and on beta options not working.

    • I don’t know why that happens, it works for me, and so far, nobody reported such a problem. My only guess is that perhaps an antivirus blocks the beta version of the tweaker. You can try adding it to the exclusions list of your antivirus software.

  6. Waltari says:

    Nope Idont use any AV and defender is disabled from services and registry too.

  7. Waltari says:

    OK but say me how 🙂

  8. Waltari says:

    That why have only 2 icons and now with text? how i can remove that text? i need only icons….

  9. Waltari says:

    i dont know where is a problem, few day ago after some stupid win update dont work it and i dont know why.. sorry im noob.. i can combine it without labels and if i pick never, but without labels is missed ….

  10. ofzza says:

    I’m having a weird new issue on Windows 10 20H2 and the latest v5.10 where all of the Edge browser’s tabs are shown in the taskbar separately, along with the browser window: https://imgur.com/a/cXL76Hr

    This only happens when running 7+ Taskbar Tweaker (so not a native Windows/Edge issue) and also goes away temporarily when switching grouping options, but comes back in a little while no matter which options I select.

    I’ve also tested if this has anything to do with the new option in Windows for optionally showing browser tabs in Alt+Tab menu and from what I can tell it does not.

    • I couldn’t reproduce it. Here’s my attempt: https://imgur.com/a/Au2fyxp
      Any idea about a way to reproduce the problem?

      • ofzza says:

        I wasn’t able to find a 100% reliable reproduction, but I can get it to happen semi-consistently when switching between virtual desktops: https://imgur.com/a/gvU1eVm

        Once I have the extra taskbar item showing, I can make it go away by messing with grouping options.

        Hope this helps …

        • I tried to reproduce it some more while looking at your recording, but wasn’t able to reproduce the problem.

          If I understand it correctly, it happens also when “Group by Application ID (default)” is selected (“no matter which options I select”), but it doesn’t happen if the tweaker is not running?

          If you won’t be able to come up with reproduction steps, we can try the following: I can create several debug versions of the tweaker, each with more reduced functionality. Then you can check them and see which ones trigger the bug. Then I can reduce it further until we pinpoint to the location in the code responsible for the problem.

          • ofzza says:

            The problem would go away when I closed TT, and because it is intermittent I wasn’t previously able to reproduce it with TT closed, so I assumed it was due to TT – turns out it is not!

            After some trial and error I managed to reproduce the issue with TT closed and have since found this issue is related to just Windows 20H2/Edge: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/discussions/on-version-20h2-the-file-explorer-on-the-taskbar-often-shows-an/m-p/1590769

            I really appreciate you jumping on this so quickly and do apologise about the erroneous bug report!

            Also, thank you for this great tool – [virtual_desktop_order_fix] in particular has been a life saver for me for years now!

            All that said …

            Since what ever type of TT/taskbar (re)initialization that happens on TT grouping config update (and on TT start and on TT close) removes these extra taskbar items, and since these extra tabs only seem to appear after switching Virtual desktops, maybe it would be possible to add an additional option into TT to re-run this (re)initialization step after each Virtual desktop switch and this way fix the issue, assuming it is not fixed soon by Edge?

            Should you want to dig into this and maybe integrate a fix into TT – similar to how you did [virtual_desktop_order_fix] – I’d be more than happy to run what ever you need me to, provide any debug or other logs that might be helpful, or try and come up with a more reliable reproduction.

            • Good to know that it’s not the tweaker’s fault. According to the Microsoft Tech Community link, looks like the new Alt+Tab feature was a bit rushed and has several problems.

              what ever type of TT/taskbar (re)initialization that happens on TT grouping config update

              What happens is that all the items on the taskbar are removed and re-added while re-drawing is disabled.

              maybe it would be possible to add an additional option into TT to re-run this (re)initialization step after each Virtual desktop switch and this way fix the issue, assuming it is not fixed soon by Edge?

              It would be possible, but I prefer to have it fixed on Microsoft’s end. According to the Microsoft Tech Community link, it’s fixed in one of the dev builds, so hopefully the fix will be included in the next update.

  11. Tim says:

    Getting a “Severe” threat warning from Windows regarding ver 5.10 exe as soon as it’s downloaded. The file is being sent straight to quarantine. I have never seen anything like this before with 7+TT downloads. Here what’s being reported:

    “This program is dangerous and executes commands from an attacker.”

    “Trojan:Win32/Wacatac.C!ml”

    I wanted you to know in case there’s something going on that you might not be aware of yet.

  12. Tim says:

    Very good. I had gotten lower grade warnings on a few previous upgrade installations but never one marked as “severe”, so thought it best let you know to be sure. Thank you for the reply and for your indispensable 7+TT program.

  13. Craig says:

    RaMMicHaeL-

    Thanks for getting a new version released for v20H2.

    Unfortunately my work computer can’t install it since it says “xpack” is blocked as a potential virus, and I can’t override it since it’s a work computer.
    This exact thing happened for the prior version and then a few weeks later you changed something and it was able to install.

    Is there a different way I can install this new version of taskbar tweaker?
    Thank you!

    -Craig

    • Hi Craig,
      Unfortunately these kinds of false positive detections are out of my control. Please contact your antivirus company and ask them to remove the false positive detection. Alternatively, you can just add the tweaker to the exclusions list.

  14. John Trainor says:

    Thank you very much, you solved my problem – wanted to turn off the show desktop button to the right of the clock as it activates sometimes when I’m not careful scrolling near the bottom of a webpage. I have a Windows 7 “Show Desktop” icon by the Start button.

  15. Seren says:

    Hello,

    I have been a taskbar tweaker user for several years now. Thank you for that. I love it.

    I use it to sort the application buttons in any way that want to in the taskbar. Helps me to prioritize task. I hate how windows forces me to group taskbar buttons together by application.
    The company I work for has installed Sentinal One Antivirus software that is now blocking it out. Getting red tape and run around to get any approval which may ultimately fail.

    Is there anyway for app to be coded to avoid the false positives? Or it there other programs that can preform similar tasks that avoids false positives? I would pay for those kind of changes to the code if that helps.

    Regards,
    Seren

    • Hi Seren,

      Thank you for that. I love it.

      You’re welcome, I’m glad you like it 🙂

      Is there anyway for app to be coded to avoid the false positives?

      I don’t know. If I could install it and try it out (and I assume that I can’t since it’s an enterprise solution), I might be able to find a way to bypass it. But they might flag it again in the future. I don’t know why they flag the tweaker, and whether it’s accidentally or deliberately (as in: it’s not a popular program of a big corporation, and so it’s potentially dangerous). Perhaps contacting them can shed some light on it.

      Having said that, there’s a comment on the blog claiming that it’s possible to bypass the SentinelOne protection by using WinDbg. You might want to try it out.

      Or it there other programs that can preform similar tasks that avoids false positives?

      I’m afraid that the answer is no.

  16. Patrick says:

    Hi RaMMicHaeL.

    It seems the newest insider once again broke 7+ Taskbar Tweaker.
    I get the following error:
    Library initialization failed, perhaps your Windows version is not supported.

    Windows 10 Insider Preview 20251.1

    Thank you very much for all the time and work you invest into this very useful tool.

    • Hi Patrick,

      If I’m not mistaken, Windows 10 Insider Preview 20251.1 should be supported by the most recent beta version of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker, v5.9.1.7. Is that the version you tried?

      • Patrick says:

        Hi RaMMicHaeL.

        Thank you very much for your reply although it is weekend.

        I have tried 5.9.1.7 and 5.10, unfortunately both do fail for me to properly initialize.

        I could swear it worked but than stopped working for some, to me, unknown reason.

        • What is the exact text of the error message that you see with version 5.9.1.7?

          • Patrick says:

            Please disregard, for some reason it works again today. (i don’t know why)

            Yesterday i got the error which we usually get when Microsoft changes something and therefor your tool can’t initiate anymore.
            But since it just works again I can’t give you the full error message for now.

  17. Leonardo says:

    Just passing by to thank you for this little and most useful app.

  18. Logan says:

    I’ve been trying to update Taskbar Tweaker, but everytime I try to open the program or click finish on updating it, or even uninstall it to attempt a reinstall, it gives me an error popup stating that “windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may or may not have the appropriate permissions to access them.”

  19. Carl says:

    Can you add the following options:

    when I right click on the volume control icon in the system tray and select open sound settings, can it go straight to the sound control panel? Right now it sends me to the sound settings in the settings app, and then I need to click on sound control panel.
    enable the system control panel again when I go into control panel. In the windows 10 october 2020 release, it sends you to an about screen in the settings app.
    when I right click on the network icon in the system tray and select open network & internet settings, can it go straight to the network and sharing center control panel instead? Right now it goes to network & internet in the settings app.

    • I don’t plan to add this kind of functionality, but you can do something similar yourself by using the tweaker’s advanced options.

      See my answer here for a way to launch a custom command on an event. An event can be a mouse/keyboard shortcut such as Shift+Right clicking on the taskbar or on the volume icon.

      Here’s a thread which mentions commands for launching the sound settings, mentioning commands such as:

      • explorer shell:::{F2DDFC82-8F12-4CDD-B7DC-D4FE1425AA4D}

      • control.exe /name Microsoft.Sound

      • control mmsys.cpl,,0

  20. Amir says:

    Hey! Great App, working just fine on my Windows 10. I wanted to ask if you plan to implement centering the taskbar? I’d really like to have them in the center rather than from left to right (or from top to bottom, in vertical case.). Would be awesome! all the best

  21. Choinski says:

    7+ Taskbar Tweaker big icon on menu not supported windows version after win 10 update version 20h2

  22. Marco says:

    Hello for the new Windows 20h2 version, your beta version doesn’t install properly. BUT it does work fine if you uninstall first then reinstall and choose a different install path than appdata/roaming etc.

    So it seems with the new windows version, it doesn’t allow to install there? Not sure as I’m not an expert but perhaps a tweak needs to be made in the installation code.

    Hoping this helps other users

    • Hi Marco,

      I’m not familiar with any path-related issues, and no users but you have reported such issues so far. Perhaps it has something to do with an antivirus. Unfortunately it’s common for antivirus programs to falsely detect the tweaker as malicious, and it might cause troubles if e.g. the file is locked. These kinds of incorrect detections are eventually removed.

      In any case, I’m glad that you found a solution, and I’ll keep an eye on it in case other users report a similar issue.

  23. perlen says:

    Please update, it hasn’t been working on several Windows Insider preview versions now.

  24. Dr. Daniel Cygan says:

    Hello, since a few days my Task Bar Tweaker does not work any more. At Windows 10 start the error message “Could not load program library (107)” appears. please help, thanks daniel.

  25. Susan from Switzerland says:

    Dear RaMMicHael.
    Unbelievable. As an ordinary user I have for a very long time been searching and searching for a solution to get rid of the Taskbar Thumbnail Previews. They are so awful and annoying, in fact what are they good for?
    Finally found a solution: Tweaker. Downloaded, installed, ran and then configured in 3 minutes. And – lo and behold – the hated thumbnails are the past. GONE, GONe, Gone, gone.
    Thank you so much. I have already made a donation for this ingenious program.
    Cherioo from Switzerland, Susan

  26. Everton Dantas says:

    Just here to thank really, updated to 20H2 which broke the app. But now its back and i can go back to productivity again without all the windows struggles, thank you so much for keeping this up. It’s perfect.

  27. ahoyahoy says:

    Hello there,
    thank you for this useful tool.
    Please consider adding support for saving different taskbar position according to screen orientation.
    Suitable for tablets.
    When I have a landscape screen orientation, the left side is an ideal place for the taskbar.
    But for portrait orientation, I would like to have the taskbar on the top side.

    Thank you 🙂

  28. Fbod says:

    7+ Taskbar Tweaker: Could not load library (107)

    Library initialization failed, perhaps your Windows version is not supported.

  29. John Smith says:

    Can you add support to pin portable apps to the taskbar (without it creating an extra taskbar icon when you click to launch the app)?

    I use Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition (https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable). When I run the app, it does not have an option to pin the program to the taskbar. One way around this is to just pin a different program to the taskbar, go to Properties, and then change the paths to Firefox Portable. But then there is a new problem. It will be pinned to the taskbar. In my case, I moved the pinned Firefox Portable to the far left side of the taskbar. But when I click it to open up the program, it creates a new program icon to the far right end of the taskbar instead of using the pre-existing pinned icon. I think that with a program like yours, if altered slightly, it might actually be possible to make it work properly.

    I’ve read some things on the internet. One theory is that the pinned program’s appid and the actual program’s appid is different, like the later has an extra space in the appid or something. I dunno. But maybe you can figure it out?

    • the pinned program’s appid and the actual program’s appid is different

      That’s likely the case. You can check this by looking at the items in the tweaker’s Taskbar Inspector. For example: https://i.imgur.com/q8BNc2I.png

      One way around this is to just pin a different program to the taskbar, go to Properties, and then change the paths to Firefox Portable.

      Perhaps you can make it so that the pinned item AppId is the same as Firefox’s. e.g. change a different program’s AppId to Firefox’s AppId with Taskbar Inspector, then pin it. I’m not sure that it’s going to work, but might be worth a try.

      Another thing you can try is using the win7appid tool:
      http://code.google.com/p/win7appid/
      It allows you to assign AppIds to shortcuts, so you might be able to make Firefox open with a different AppId so that it groups with the pinned item.

      • John Smith says:

        Thank you so much!!! It worked!!! I created a [HOW TO GUIDE] on the PortableApps website, and I referenced you and gave due credit to you. Thanks again! Have a great Christmas!!!
        https://portableapps.com/node/63140

        • Great, I’m glad that it worked.

          Regarding the Taskbar Inspector step:

          07.) Screenshot the popup ‘Taskbar Inspector’ window. You will need to screenshot it because the window disappears once you click outside of the window.

          You can use Ctrl+C to copy the AppId to the clipboard. Also, you can hold the Ctrl, Shift keys while opening Taskbar Inspector to keep it open after you click outside of the window.

  30. Langeryang says:

    A very nice tool.
    It would be much favorable if 7+ Taskbar Tweaker supports tabbed container for Windows Explorer, IE, Notepad, MSOffice and other applications, just like what WindowTabs can do.
    Thanks!

  31. Po Ming says:

    Thank you for making this tool, the tweaks are very useful!

  32. rblinzler says:

    Long time user (many many years) of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker

    1) Many thanks for the program and your work

    2) Just noticed this morning (Dec. 1, 2020) for the first time that it was not working. Trying to restart I got the message that an unsupported version of Windows 10 was detected and after checking found my current version is 1909 (OS Build 18363.1198)

    3) I’m curious why it just stopped working

    4) I’m a programmer myself, I’m curious as to what changes in Windows 10, build from build) makes particularly tweaks to the task bar inoperable

    Thank you

    • Hi rblinzler,

      1) Many thanks for the program and your work

      You’re welcome 🙂

      2) […] I got the message that an unsupported version of Windows 10 was detected […]

      I assume that you weren’t using the latest version of the tweaker, 5.10. Currently, the beta version can only help with insider/preview builds, the latest non-beta version supports all non-insider/preview Windows 10 versions.

      3) I’m curious why it just stopped working
      4) […] what changes in Windows 10 […] makes particularly tweaks to the task bar inoperable

      It was discussed before, see e.g. here and here.

  33. rblinzler says:

    btw – just installed the beta version and it worked

    Thank you again 🙂

  34. seabirdr says:

    Thank you for creating the 7 + taskbar tweaker and keeping it up to date to support windows 10. It greatly improves the user experience of Windows 10! Thank you very much for your great efforts!

  35. Debajit Das says:

    Hi Rammichael,
    Middle click minimizing option is not working with grouped item.

  36. nyanpasu64 says:

    If I kill and restart explorer.exe, I get a message:

    Error
    7+ Taskbar Tweaker: Could not load library (208)
    Library initialization failed, perhaps your Windows version is not supported.

    And I have to restart 7+TT as well, to make it work again.

    • I can’t reproduce it:
      https://i.imgur.com/Z6dxxpx.gif

      According to the code, either the RegisterClass function or the CreateWindow function fails, which is a bit surprising since the calls are quite simple. Perhaps another program on your computer conflicts with the tweaker?

      I can provide you with a build with extra logging so that we can see which function fails and why, if you’re interested.

      • nyanpasu64 says:

        Sorry for not replying earlier, can you send me the build with logging?

        • Here you go:
          https://www.dropbox.com/s/qli5nxrtu5x8igc/7tt_setup_v5.10.0.1_debug.exe?dl=1

          Please update to this version, and run the tweaker. A log file with the name _library_208_log.txt will be created in the folder of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker. Please post the content of the file after you see the library loading error.

          • nyanpasu64 says:

            [1:33:10 PM 12/24/2020] RefreshTaskbar_Init
            [1:33:10 PM 12/24/2020] RefreshTaskbar_Init succeeded
            [1:33:28 PM 12/24/2020] RefreshTaskbar_Init
            [1:33:28 PM 12/24/2020] CreateWindow failed: 183

            that was… less than helpful.

            • Well, it’s a bit more helpful than not at all. We know now that the CreateWindow function fails, but the error code doesn’t make much sense, perhaps it’s unrelated.

              There are two calls on your log, with a 18 seconds difference between the two. Did you launch the tweaker twice? Can you describe what actually happened and what did you see?

              Also, perhaps there’s something to do with a third party program that is incompatible with the tweaker. Perhaps a security software or another customization tool. Do you have anything running on your computer that can cause such kind of incompatibility? Even if that’s just an antivirus other than Defender, it’s worth checking.

              • nyanpasu64 says:

                Did you launch the tweaker twice? Can you describe what actually happened and what did you see?

                I installed the debug build, which launched successfully. I then killed and restarted Explorer (18 seconds later), which popped up the dialog.

                I don’t have any antiviruses but Windows Defender. I might have Sandboxie installed, but I’m not sure if it’s related. I do have a host of other Explorer addons (Classic Shell, Quizo’s QtTabBar, “show sort headers in non-Details view” (forgot if it was from Classic Shell or another Explorer addon)…)

                I can’t check because I’m on Linux at the moment though.

    • Aquil says:

      Are you using Actual Multiple Monitors?

  37. s8wc3 says:

    G’day, spose I’ve come across a bug in 7TT on Win8.1. If you hide the start button, you can’t click in the blank space to open the menu like you can do on Win7. Appreciate a fix or any insight, cheers

    • Hi,
      You should be able to click the lower-left corner of the screen to open the start screen on Windows 8.1. If your taskbar is at the bottom of the screen, that would be near the blank space. If the taskbar is placed elsewhere, on the side or on top, you should still be able to click the lower-left corner, but not the blank space.

      • s8wc3 says:

        Hey sorry for not getting back to you. Hopefully you still see this. It turns out it’s an incompatibility with Open Shell (previously classic shell, and i’m sure you know what it does 😉 ), if I disable openshell it’ll bring up the Metro screen. Honestly I forget i’m even using a start screen replacement so I never thought to check that until now. If you could look into a workaround that’d be tops. Thanks

        • I still see this 🙂 thanks for getting back with the insights, I’ll remember that in case other users will have a similar problem.

          Regarding the workaround, I might look at it one day, and you can as well try asking the Open Shell devs about it 😉

  38. Maciej says:

    Hi, thanks for this app!

    I am used to Ubuntu workflow, especially to show/hide windows by hovering and scrolling over them on taskbar. The only thing I am still missing is possiblity to scroll over grouped windows in order to switch them (i.e. many browser windows).

    • Hi Maciej,

      possiblity to scroll over grouped windows in order to switch them

      So like “Left click on combined item” -> “Cycle through windows”, but with the mouse wheel? Indeed, that’s not possible at the moment, you can only choose to cycle through all taskbar items with the mouse wheel.

      • Maciej says:

        Yes, kind of 🙂
        https://youtu.be/zE3Yx_DVGoE?t=10

        It is quite old video, but shows the effect. It is pretty convenient especially when combined with opening/minimizing windows by scrolling in either direction which is already possible thanks to “Minimize/restore when mouse is over Taskbard buttons”.

  39. MacBond says:

    Hello, I’ve been having this odd issue where tweaker breaks if I restart the computer? I can only get it working again if I uninstall completely and reinstall it.

    OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
    Version 10.0.19042 Build 19042
    Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB
    Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz, 4008 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
    System Model MS-7A12
    System Type x64-based PC

  40. Archimede says:

    Hallo.
    I test your program (7+ taskbar tweaker) and I find it very useful.
    Please can you show the list of all command line paramenters for the portable and the install version?
    Thank you very much

    Archimede

    • Hi Archimede,
      You can use the -hidewnd command line switch to start the tweaker with a hidden window. There are other command line switches that are used internally. Those are not supported and not documented. You can look at the source code if you’re interested in the implementation details.

  41. pangloy@gmail.com says:

    I am so love “Don’t group” function. very useful.
    Thank you.

  42. crishhh says:

    Hallo!
    This application is amazing. I love it!

    May I ask one festure request?
    Can you add a shortcut for “show/hide desktop icons” in [Double/Middle click on empty space] menu ?
    I perfer a clear desktop. But sometimes I have to put something on desktop temporarily, then I have to hide my desktop icons. It’s too complicated.

    • Hi crishhh,

      You can achieve that by using a semi-documented functionality of running a custom application with the tweaker, and my winapiexec tool.

      First, you can use the following command for winapiexec to show/hide the desktop icons:

      winapiexec.exe u@PostMessageW ( u@FindWindowExW ( u@FindWindowW Progman 0 ) 0 SHELLDLL_DefView 0 ) 0x111 0x7402 0

      Second, see my answer here for running winapiexec with a custom shortcut via the tweaker.

      • I see now that the winapiexec command that I posted doesn’t always work. Sometimes the SHELLDLL_DefView window is a child of Progman, but sometimes it’s a child of WorkerW. That’s a bit tricky to implement support for both in winapiexec, but I can make a small tool in C if you’re interested.

        • crishhh says:

          Thx for the reply!
          I have used your winapiexec tool. It’s another amazing win-tool honestly.

          But, I can’t show or hide the desktop icons by using that command unfortunately. And that’s not like you said sometimes work, sometimes not. That’s not working on my win10 always.
          And I think I deployed winapiexec correctly because the examples from winapiexec/readme.txt were working correctly.

          If make a small tool will not bother you,yes, I’m very interested!!

          • And that’s not like you said sometimes work

            I meant that on some setups it always works (it did on a virtual machine that I tested), and on others it always doesn’t (like on my desktop computer). Not sure why the window hierarchy is different in the two cases.

            In any case, here you go: ToggleHideDesktopIcons.exe.
            Source code here.

            • crishhh says:

              I’m so sorry I didn’t comprehend that.

              About the window hierarchy, maybe Microsoft has his own minds on that. =(

              This little exe is very useful!!! I really appreciate it!!
              Merry Christmas! 🎄

  43. Ivan says:

    Hello!
    I want to use the program to thin my taskbar via advance options\no_width_limit set to 1. However, I’m not able to do it. I’ve tried both the 5.10 and 5.09 (beta) versions but nothing seems to work. I’m using windows 10 pro 20H2 SO compilation 19042.685. I’m linking a video to further explain my problem: https://imgur.com/a/xhDJ4Z2
    Thanks in advance and merry christmas!

    • Hi Race,
      I saw the report on UserEcho. It looks like an incompatibility with Dexpot. I had some other incompatibilities with it in the past, which I implemented workarounds for. Dexpot wasn’t updated since 2014, and working around other issues with it is not a high priority for me, sorry. I might look at it one day in the future.

  44. Carlton Banks says:

    Hi Michael,

    Great tool, thanks for it. I wanted to speed up a bit the program startup by creating a task instead of enabling it in the option, but it resulted to displaying icons in low res:
    https://i.imgur.com/W9tWX1e.png

    I have to wait like 10-20s for them to come back in the default resolution.

    Do you know how to fix it?

    Thanks again.

    • Hi Carlton,
      This issue was reported here. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to look at it yet. I’ll try to look at it in the following days.

    • Thanks. Here are more debug builds:
      https://www.dropbox.com/sh/m9s3cdfvzu2lcs6/AAA8q_Zs06yUNn5oSKKP4IVJa?dl=1

      For each of them, please update to that version and report whether the issue is fixed. The builds produce no logs.

      My assumption is that v5.10.0.3 will fix the issue, and I’m not sure about the other three.

      • Carlton Banks says:

        Your assumption was correct, the 0.3 fixes the issue. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. 🙂

        • Perhaps I should have provided more details. v5.10.0.3 uses a rather broad hook instead of hooking specific locations. While it fixes the issue, as expected, it causes other minor issues. For example the right click taskbar menu spacing becomes larger, and the keyboard icon becomes larger which causes glitches.

          I’d like to find the specific location which affects only your issue of blurry icons. Please test the other versions and report the results, thanks.

          • Carlton Banks says:

            That explains why the virtual keyboard icon was not displaying as usual, thanks for the clarification.
            I can confirm that the 0.4 doesn’t have those glitches you mentioned and fix the low res icons as well.

            • Did you try the other two? Sorry if that’s annoying to check, I just want to fix it properly once and for all. The debug builds contain fixes hardcoded for your explorer version, so I still evaluate the best way to fix this so that it will persist between updates.

              Also, before you try them, please pin a couple of store apps, such as Calculator or Settings. The icon loading mechanism is different there, and I want to make sure this solves both.

              After pinning those, please tell me how the version v5.10.0.4, v5.10.0.5, v5.10.0.6 behaved. Thanks.

              • Carlton Banks says:

                It’s the least I can do to thank you, no worries. 🙂

                v5 and 6 still show icon in low res (except the calc icon which displays correctly). v4 is the way to go so.

    • Thank you for the testing. The issue should be fixed, using an universal method now, in v5.10.0.1 beta. Please try it.

  45. Shmu says:

    Can I stop the taskbar from overlapping open application windows? I want the application windows to show over the taskbar.

  46. Shmu says:

    Perfect, thanks!

  47. Shmu says:

    Can I set a maximum width for the icons of open windows, on the task bar? The less open windows there are, the more the icons tend to expand their width. I want to set a limit on that behavior.

  48. Shmu says:

    Thanks again. I made a well-deserved donation.

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