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Windows 11 Taskbar Styler is an advanced Windhawk mod to override style attributes of the taskbar control elements. It started as a basic tool to override styles, such as color and size, of elements by their type and name. This simplistic approach was very limited, as many elements don’t have a unique type or name. In the new version of the mod, several new capabilities were added which make it much more powerful:

• Element targeting: Index, properties and a visual state can now be specified for a target. This enables to target elements which were difficult or impossible to target without affecting other, unrelated elements.
• Visual states: Styles can now be specified per visual state. This means that different styles can be specified for states such as a hovered or an active element, which is a common requirement.
• Style definition: Styles can now be specified in XAML form. This is a powerful capability that allows to use advanced styles, such as a gradient or an external image instead of a simple color for styling an element.

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Introducing version 1.4 of Windhawk, the tool that aims to make it easier to customize Windows programs.

The first version of Windhawk was released almost two years ago, and v1.0 was released about a year ago. During the recent updates, great care was taken to improve Windhawk’s stability and minimize damage if anything goes wrong. That includes Windhawk not injecting code into critical system processes by default (added in v1.1), adding safe mode (added in v1.3), and various other fixes and improvements. Having thousands of users running Windhawk on a daily basis with no major issues, it seems like a good time to officially drop the beta label.

Other changes in version 1.4 include a smaller installer, new translations, more advanced options, and various other fixes and improvements. For the complete list of changes in the new Windhawk version, check out the changelog. You can get the new version here.

UWPSpy was just updated to support WinUI 3 applications. The experience is the same, so check out the project’s page if you’re not familiar with it yet.

Introducing another Windhawk mod that brings a 7+ Taskbar Tweaker option to Windows 11: Cycle taskbar buttons with mouse wheel. As the name implies, the mod allows to cycle between taskbar buttons by scrolling the mouse wheel over the taskbar. Additionally, the mod allows to cycle between taskbar buttons with keyboard shortcuts.

Get the mod here:
Cycle taskbar buttons with mouse wheel

I’m happy to announce another mod which was high on the request list in Windhawk mods for the Windows 11 taskbar – Taskbar minimize/restore on scroll. The mod allows to minimize/restore by scrolling the mouse wheel over taskbar buttons and thumbnail previews, as it was possible in Windows 7 to 10 with 7+ Taskbar Tweaker by enabling the relevant option.

Here’s the Windhawk mod that implements the option for Windows 11:
Taskbar minimize/restore on scroll

The simple option to open pinned items with double click to avoid accidental clicking was added to 7+ Taskbar Tweaker back in 2011. 7+ Taskbar Tweaker doesn’t support the new Windows 11 taskbar, but some of the functionality is ported as Windhawk mods. Shortly after Windhawk was released, I published the Windhawk mods for the Windows 11 taskbar post, where you can vote for features you’d like to see ported to Windows 11. Opening pinned items with double click was high on the list, and I’m happy to inform that it’s now available as a Windhawk mod.

Here’s the Windhawk mod that implements the option for Windows 11:
Open pinned items with double click

Introducing version 1.3 of Windhawk, the tool that aims to make it easier to customize Windows programs. The main new feature of the new Windhawk version is safe mode, which allows to temporarily disable Windhawk’s activity in case of a problem. Some users (example) were having a hard time disabling Windhawk while an incompatible mod prevented explorer from running. Some users succeeded in uninstalling Windhawk, but had problems upon trying to install Windhawk again, since by default, installed mods aren’t removed on uninstallation.

Windhawk v1.3 provides the following new ways to deal with instability problems:
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About six months ago, I announced the Taskbar Labels for Windows 11 mod. It was a good proof of concept and a nice showcase for a Windhawk mod, but it had some outstanding issues, including disappearing labels, misplaced badges and mishandling of a large amount of items. This lead to a suboptimal experience with the mod – I know that very well since I’ve been using it on a daily basis. Lately, I was finally able to allocate some time for fixing these issues and improving the mod to be less buggy and also more customizable.

I’ve just published version 1.1 of Taskbar Labels for Windows 11, and I invite you to try it out. I’m quite happy with the improvements, and I hope that it will make your daily usage of Windows 11 more enjoyable and productive.

Among the newly added customization settings, it’s now possible to choose one of the running indicator styles:

(click to enlarge)

Which one do you like more? Would you like to see any other customizations in the taskbar? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Back in 2016, I wrote about the the problem of virtual desktops and the order of taskbar items, and I implemented a fix which can be enabled via the virtual_desktop_order_fix advanced option of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker. Seven years later, Windows 11 still has the same problem.

7+ Taskbar Tweaker doesn’t support the new Windows 11 taskbar, but some of the functionality is ported as Windhawk mods. Today, I ported the virtual_desktop_order_fix advanced option as well.

Here’s the Windhawk mod that implements the fix for Windows 11:
Virtual Desktop Preserve Taskbar Order

I’m pleased to announce a new version of Windhawk, the tool that aims to make it easier to customize Windows programs. This version focuses on the ability to translate Windhawk to other languages, and on important stability improvements and bug fixes.

Get the new Windhawk version here.
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