Windhawk mods for the Windows 11 taskbar
A few weeks ago, Windhawk, the customization marketplace for Windows programs, was released. You can read the announcement blog post for more details and for the motivation behind creating it. One of the sections of the blog post was dedicated to 7+ Taskbar Tweaker.
Regarding the future of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker: It will keep existing as a separate program which supports Windows 7 to Windows 10. As mentioned in a recent blog post, most parts of the taskbar were reimplemented in Windows 11, and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker can’t be made to work with the new taskbar without a huge amount of work. My plan, at least in the short term, is to implement the most demanded customizations for Windows 11 as Windhawk mods.
Below is a table with features that are available in Windows 10 but are missing in Windows 11. Some of the features are part of Windows 10 (marked with the 
icon) and some are part of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker (marked with the 
icon). Please vote for the features that you’d like to have back in Windows 11. I’ll prioritize implementing the most requested features as Windhawk mods. For each implemented feature, the page will be updated to reflect the current status.
Voting can be done in two ways, simple voting and a donation. I added the donation option to be able to give extra priority to votes of users who wish to support the project with a donation. To vote with a donation, add the feature hashtag to the donation comment like this. Donations are a great motivating factor (thanks!), and I think that letting supporters decide where to focus first is a nice perk.
| Feature | Votes | Donations | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right click: Standard window menu |
✅ Done | ||
| Middle click: Switch to / Minimize / Close |
✔️ Partial | ||
| Dropping: Open with |
|||
| Hovering: List / Tooltip / Nothing |
✅ Done | ||
| Thumbnails: Drag to reorder |
✅ Done | ||
| Thumbnails: Left click on the active thumbnail minimizes the window |
|||
| Pinned items: Remove extra gap between items |
✔️ Partial | ||
| Pinned items: Open with double click |
✅ Done | ||
| Grouping: Don’t group |
✅ Done | ||
| Grouping: When not grouping, place new items next to the existing ones |
✅ Done | ||
| Grouping: Don’t group pinned items |
✅ Done | ||
| Grouping: Drag within/between groups using right mouse button |
|||
| Left click on combined item: Cycle through windows |
✅ Done | ||
| Mouse wheel: Cycle between taskbar buttons |
✅ Done | ||
| Minimize/restore when mouse is over: Taskbar buttons / Thumbnails |
✅ Done | ||
| Control volume when mouse is over: The taskbar / The notification area |
✅ Done | ||
| Customize double/middle click on empty space |
✅ Done | ||
| Hide the Start button |
✔️ Partial | ||
| Hide the “Show desktop” button |
✅ Done | ||
| Display seconds on the tray clock |
✅ Done | ||
| Reserve empty space on taskbar |
|||
| Change the size of taskbar icons |
✅ Done | ||
| Taskbar Inspector |
|||
| Change padding between tray icons |
✅ Done | ||
| Decombine taskbar buttons |
✅ Done | ||
| Show labels in taskbar buttons |
✅ Done | ||
| Taskbar on the top of the screen |
✅ Done | ||
| Taskbar on the side of the screen |
✅ Done | ||
| Open Taskbar Manager via right click |
⭐ | ||
| Taskbar with multiple rows |
✅ Done | ||
| Taskbar toolbars |
If a feature that you’d like to see in Windows 11 is not in the table, please let me know in the comments below.
Tags: 7+ taskbar tweaker, windhawk
Michael,
I’ve been asking a lot of questions and making a lot of requests lately, and I just wanted to take a minute and thank you for all of the work and support you have put into both 7TT+ and WH.
Especially regarding the taskbar and the start menu, out-of-the-box, Win11 seems to be something of a downgrade from (sure I could install Explorer Patcher and have the Win10 interface back, but why upgrade to keep what I had), but with WH mods I like the Win11 start menu and taskbar BETTER than the Win10 versions.
Thank you for making my computing much more pleasant!!!
You’re welcome 🙂 I’m glad that my tools are making a positive impact!
Does anyone know how to adjust the spacing (padding) of the inactive SysTray (notification area) icons, using Windows Taskbar Styler.
I found the setting for the active icons.
Using UWPSpy, it looks like the setting should be controlled by Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid#OverflowRootGrid
I tried changing that from Padding=12,12,12,12 (which seems to be what I am seeing on-screen), to Padding=2,2,2,2, but it didn’t seem to make any difference.
I also saw where it is setup a few levels higher as a 274×174 pixel rectangle, but when I changed that, it created odd results – the taskbar size was reduced and there was only one row of icons shown in the overflow area.
An Explorer restart didn’t change anything, I didn’t try a re-boot yet.
FWIW –
Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.ContentPresenter
Height=24
Width=24
Looked promising from UWPSpy, but didn’t work either …
Hi Michael,
I have a new issue that is mildly annoying and I don’t know if you can easily fix or reproduce it.
I isolated the problem to the Taskbar labels for Windows 11 mod.
I work fairly often with Microsoft Access and I have VBA code on startup that briefly hides and unhides the button/label in the taskbar. It works fine with out WH and it works okay if I only open one Access database.
If I open multiple Access databases (I have grouping on but combining buttons off), one of them will open with the wrong icon. Typically it will not have any icon (which is okay, but I’ve also seen it open with the Skype for Business icon (but not the overlay), or the Windows Explorer icon, which is annoying).
If I toggle Taskbar Labels for Windows 11 off, the correct icon is shown, and if I re-enable it, the correct icon remains.
Hopefully, you will have a solution.
Thank you again for all the work you have put into WH and your other programs!!!
Interesting, are you sure about that? The mod doesn’t do much with the icons, just adjusts some properties such as margin and padding.
If you can come up with reproduction steps, I’ll try to reproduce and fix it.
Apparently, this was related to lack of space on my C:\Drive. I freed up space and it doesn’t seem to be happening anymore.
Spoke too soon. Freeing up space did not PERMANENTLY fix the issue. However, I was able to verify the issue is NOT with WindHawk. I thought it was related to code I was running when the database opens, but that doesn’t seem to affect it either …
Thank goodness I found Windhawk. I had a Windows update overnight and when I reopened my folders, the address/navigation/search bar was missing. I spent hours this morning trying to find out how to get them back. Just found a link in Reddit for your program and within seconds I had it, installed it and had the address bar back. Thank you so much!
You’re welcome, I’m glad that it helped 🙂
If only MS would provide an option to just install security updates – and not class tools such as Explorer Patcher as threats -versus adding sppsd improvements.
Without Explorer Patcher and 7+Taskbar Tweaker, left to MS choices in Personalization > Taskbar, I cannot choose to Always combine taskbar buttons and still see labels, and which results in tiny buttons that one cannot identify, versus this: https://i.postimg.cc/Kc0mwt6p/W-11-EP-7.jpg
Of course, as MS moves to disable such customization (since it knows best what you should prefer), then EP will need to be updated,
Forgot to mention, I noticed you created 7+ Taskbar Tweaker and I’ve been using it for years and love it! I like to keep my open folders in a certain order and when they get out of order, I just use 7+ to ungroup, move the folder back in place, then click on group again. So easy!
That’s great, but while that works, there are two easier methods:
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/QPH03vS.png
Using one of these options should make it even easier.
Thanks for the tips. I just checked the drag within groups and it works like a charm!
Re-sent you a test E-mail.
Nope, it doesn’t arrive for some reason. Did you use the email address from the contact page?
Yes, I did, and I got a successful delivery receipt. Can you E-mail me a different address to try?
got your test E-mail and replied back.
Did you get the images and dump file E-mails?
My feature request: just start menu in bottom left corner while the rest of the taskbar remains centered.
You might be able to achieve that with the Windows 11 Taskbar Styler mod. There’s also a relevant discussion here:
https://github.com/ramensoftware/windhawk-mods/discussions/679
while not directly related to the taskbar I’d like to suggest a mod that:
shows only windows from the current screen in the alt+tab
and if possible also changes the order of items in the alt+tab switcher from MRU to the order of buttons on the taskbar
oh and a really minor thing but if all the flyouts appearing while clicking on taskbar elements would just touch it instead of levitating that would be awesome too
it probably can be achieved with existing mods too, but due to the positioning being pinned to the top of the screen it probably would be better to calculate it dynamically
“Grouping: Drag within/between groups using right mouse button”
I hope this feature gets implemented. It is one of the most important features of 7+ Taskbar Tweaker.
I am trying to switch from 7+ to Windhawk because recently Windows 10 installed some update & once again 7+ made explorer repeatedly crash. Only closing 7+ made the system stable.
Perhaps you already know this, but for now you can use the Taskbar Thumbnail Reorder mod.
Can you please enable dump capturing and send me a crash dump?
You should be able to get it with the following steps:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error ReportingLocalDumpsDumpTypewith value2%LocalAppData%\CrashDumpsfolder, you should see a dump file in thereYou can email it to me.
Just wanted to add one thing that might help others. I was a big fan of “Right-Click to drag between groups” with 7TT. It was one of the few features I really missed with Windhawk.
I found a fairly good workaround – if you can live with a taskbar list instead of thumbnails – https://www.elevenforum.com/t/change-number-of-taskbar-thumbnails-to-show-before-stacked-as-list-in-windows-11.6363/ – You can then select in the list and click and drag items in the list and it will change the order of the icons also.
This might work on the thumbnail previews also – not sure.
Too funny. I didn’t see the previous posts. I do have taskbar Thumbnail Reorder enabled, and I suspect that is why it works. I thought it (Taskbar Thumbnail Reorder) just allowed me to left click and move the group of icons, not the icons within the group. I used the Explore feature on WH and overlooked it also …
Hi!
Thanks for the new version of Windhawk 1.5!
But now i get some compilation errors:
c:\Program Files\Windhawk\Compiler\bin\clang-18: Invalid argument
Compilation failed, the mod might require a newer Windhawk version.
This occurs with:
Windows 11 Start Menu Styler
Taskbar height and icon size
when i try to update the mods.
Thanks
Konrad
Hi Konrad,
I’ll try to reproduce it when I’m near the computer. Do you see any other output, or is “Invalid argument” the only message that’s shown?
Hi Michael,
i turn protocol on and get the following:
DbgViewMini v1.0.1 Listening for OutputDebugString messages... 12:14:37.997 18700 windhawk.exe [WH] [AllProcessesInjector::InjectIntoNewProcess]: DllInject succeeded for new process 14992 via a remote thread 12:14:37.997 14992 conhost.exe [WH] LL 12:14:37.998 14992 conhost.exe [WH] GPA 12:14:37.998 14992 conhost.exe [WH] II 12:14:37.998 14992 conhost.exe [WH] [InjectInit]: Running InjectInit 12:14:57.845 5104 VSCodium.exe [WH] [NewProcessInjector::HandleCreatedProcess]: DllInject succeeded for new process 12816 12:14:57.845 5104 VSCodium.exe [WH] [NewProcessInjector::CreateProcessInternalW_Hook]: New process 12816 from CreateProcessInternalW("c:\Program Files\Windhawk\Compiler\bin\g++.exe", ""c:\Program Files\Windhawk\Compiler\bin\g++.exe" -std=c++23 -O2 -shared -DUNICODE -D_UNICODE -DWINVER=0x0A00 -D_WIN32_WINNT=0x0A00 -D_WIN32_IE=0x0A00 -DNTDDI_VERSION=0x0A000008 -D__USE_MINGW_ANSI_STDIO=0 -DWH_MOD "-DWH_MOD_ID=L\"taskbar-icon-size\"" "-DWH_MOD_VERSION=L\"1.2.9\"" "c:\Program Files\Windhawk\Engine\1.5_1\64\windhawk.lib" c:\ProgramData\Windhawk\EditorWorkspace\mod.wh.cpp -include windhawk_api.h -target x86_64-w64-mingw32 -o C:\ProgramData\Windhawk\Engine\Mods\64\taskbar-icon-size_1.2.9_638109.dll -DWINVER=0x0605 -lcomctl32 -lole32 -loleaut32 -lruntimeobject -lshcore -lwininet") 12:14:57.858 12816 g++.exe [WH] LL 12:14:57.859 12816 g++.exe [WH] GPA 12:14:57.859 12816 g++.exe [WH] II 12:14:57.860 12816 g++.exe [WH] [InjectInit]: Running InjectInit 12:14:57.860 12816 g++.exe [WH] II: 1 12:15:01.331 5104 VSCodium.exe [WH] [NewProcessInjector::HandleCreatedProcess]: DllInject succeeded for new process 13060 12:15:01.331 5104 VSCodium.exe [WH] [NewProcessInjector::CreateProcessInternalW_Hook]: New process 13060 from CreateProcessInternalW("c:\Program Files\Windhawk\Compiler\bin\g++.exe", ""c:\Program Files\Windhawk\Compiler\bin\g++.exe" -std=c++23 -O2 -shared -DUNICODE -D_UNICODE -DWINVER=0x0A00 -D_WIN32_WINNT=0x0A00 -D_WIN32_IE=0x0A00 -DNTDDI_VERSION=0x0A000008 -D__USE_MINGW_ANSI_STDIO=0 -DWH_MOD "-DWH_MOD_ID=L\"taskbar-icon-size\"" "-DWH_MOD_VERSION=L\"1.2.9\"" "c:\Program Files\Windhawk\Engine\1.5_1\64\windhawk.lib" c:\ProgramData\Windhawk\EditorWorkspace\mod.wh.cpp -include windhawk_api.h -target x86_64-w64-mingw32 -o C:\ProgramData\Windhawk\Engine\Mods\64\taskbar-icon-size_1.2.9_128243.dll -DWINVER=0x0605 -lcomctl32 -lole32 -loleaut32 -lruntimeobject -lshcore -lwininet") 12:15:01.343 13060 g++.exe [WH] LL 12:15:01.343 13060 g++.exe [WH] GPA 12:15:01.344 13060 g++.exe [WH] II 12:15:01.344 13060 g++.exe [WH] [InjectInit]: Running InjectInit 12:15:01.345 13060 g++.exe [WH] II: 1 12:15:26.562 18476 VSCodium.exe [WH] [NewProcessInjector::HandleCreatedProcess]: DllInject succeeded for new process 7900 12:15:26.562 18476 VSCodium.exe [WH] [NewProcessInjector::CreateProcessInternalW_Hook]: New process 7900 from CreateProcessInternalW("(NULL)", ""c:\Program Files\Windhawk\UI\VSCodium.exe" --type=gpu-process --disable-gpu-sandbox --use-gl=disabled --gpu-vendor-id=32902 --gpu-device-id=16024 --gpu-sub-system-id=2257850435 --gpu-revision=2 --gpu-driver-version=31.0.101.2128 --disable-gpu-sandbox --no-sandbox --user-data-dir="C:\ProgramData\Windhawk\UIData\user-data" --gpu-preferences=UAAAAAAAAADoAAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgAAAAAAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEgAAAAAAAAASAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAgAAABAAAAAAAAAAGAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOAAAAEAAAAAAAAAABAAAADgAAAAgAAAAAAAAACAAAAAAAAAA= --mojo-platform-channel-handle=1276 --field-trial-handle=1724,i,1578162911583001301,4214479298411165810,131072 --disable-features=CalculateNativeWinOcclusion,SpareRendererForSitePerProcess,WinRetrieveSuggestionsOnlyOnDemand /prefetch:2") 12:15:26.581 7900 VSCodium.exe [WH] LL 12:15:26.581 7900 VSCodium.exe [WH] GPA 12:15:26.581 7900 VSCodium.exe [WH] II 12:15:26.581 7900 VSCodium.exe [WH] [InjectInit]: Running InjectInit 12:15:26.581 7900 VSCodium.exe [WH] II: 1 12:15:31.455 18700 windhawk.exe [WH] [AllProcessesInjector::ShouldSkipNewProcess]: Skipping excluded process 10528I dont know if it’s useful…
Thanks
Konrad
Please post screenshots of:
Your files in C:\Program Files\Windhawk\Compiler\bin.
What you see exactly after trying to update.
Thanks.
https://alder-web.de/divers/Windhawk1.5-Screen1.png
https://alder-web.de/divers/Windhawk1.5-Screen2.png
Thanks
That’s what I suspected, clang-18.exe is missing. Are you using an antivirus? It was reported that Avast falsely detects this file:
https://github.com/ramensoftware/windhawk/issues/233
Ah, ok. I’m using Eset and clang-18.exe is also quarantined. I’ll whitelist it.
Thanks very much!
Konrad
Great. If you could report it to ESET, that will help other users, thanks.
I reported it to Eset 🙂
Thanks again for your brilliant program. Without it the Win11-Taskbar is unusable!
There is no further error output in the debug window when i turn off the protocol.
“Disable grouping on the taskbar” and “Middle click to close on the taskbar” mods haven’t worked with StartAllBack since version 3.8. Could you please adjust them to be compatible with StartAllBack 3.8.x?
Hi, my answer is the same as regarding the compatibility with 7+ Taskbar Tweaker:
does any one know when Taskbar with multiple rows
will be implemented?
Please see my reply here:
https://ramensoftware.com/windhawk-mod-vertical-taskbar-for-windows-11/comment-page-1#comment-15272
I would like to see the possiblity of forcing a new explorer instance to be a new tab rather than a new window
Hello Mr. Ramen, Thanks for 7TT Taskbar again. I think I will stick with Win10, security issues or not. Is it possible to scroll the Win11 Taskbar with windhawk? I cannot use a desktop or laptop OS where I cant do this without great discomfort. Why do I have to click for overflow programs in win11? It will drive me crazy.
Hi, currently overflow is the only option Microsoft provides, and there are no mods to change that.
Yea i looked through all the WH mods and didn’t see anything remotely close to that. I guess it’s a niche feature to have taskbar pages. Does 7TT work with RevertSV? Gimme some hope man!!
I’m not familiar with RevertSV. I guess the best way to find out is to try it out.
Hi Michael, i’m a new user of Windhawk on win11. On win10 with 7+TT, for example i can let taskbar only show icons and set up a specific program such as Excel to show label at same time, is there any way to achieve this on Windhawk? I tried Taskbar Labels for Windows 11 Mod but it didn’t work the way i expected.
Hi Shawn,
Currently that’s not possible. It was suggested before, you can track the relevant issue here:
https://github.com/ramensoftware/windhawk-mods/issues/203
Hi again, it’s finally possible to configure labels per application in version 1.3 of the mod.
Hi Michael,
I’m a happy user of 7+Taskbar for 10 years now.
I recently switched to W11 and tried some mods, very nice.
“Middle click to close on the taskbar” works well.
Do you have a solution to disable “minimize window” when clicking an already active window ?
It was possible with 7+Taskbar.
https://tweaker.userecho.com/communities/1/topics/469-add-option-to-disable-minimize-window-when-clicking-already-active-window
The goal is to have a behavior similar to chrome tabs.
Hi Arthur,
Currently there’s no mod for it. It should be possible, but it requires some work and it’s not a popular request. You can create an issue for it here and I’ll consider it in the future if there’s demand for it.
Thanks for your answer. I created this new-mod-idea
https://github.com/ramensoftware/windhawk-mods/issues/1004
Hope it will gather some votes !
Hi Michael,
Would it at all be possible to create, for all intents and purposes, a functionally identical (to the one on the desktop) Recycle Bin shortcut on the Windows taskbar? I’m asking you because of your extensive experience with exactly that aspect of Windows. I’m aware of the possibility of having a notification, progress bar or flashing effect on your icons. Would Windows allow an application to change its taskbar icon depending on a state, like the Recycle Bin location being ’empty’ or ‘not empty’? Or if not (which I’m suspecting), could one maybe exploit the notification overlay to create a similar effect to a ‘full’ Recycle Bin icon?
Hi Maximilian,
Sure, it should be possible. From a quick search, there are at least these existing options:
Sorry for my poor wording. I wasn’t talking about the notification area (system tray). I was talking about a Recycle Bin icon on the actual taskbar. Most likely an executable you would pin to the taskbar that would behave like the actual Recycle Bin shortcut on the desktop. With the notification overlay (like the red message marker from the Telegram app) sort of faking the icon appearance, making the Recycle Bin icon appear as if it were full.
https://i.postimg.cc/yNPQ0tRk/Screenshot-18.png
I understand, but what I linked it functionally equivalent, just visually different. There’s also this paid option which seems to be more similar to what you’re looking for. So the answer to your question is yes, it is possible, but it’s not something I’m interested to work on at this point.
And if you were asking about whether it’s possible without extra coding, I’m afraid that the answer is no.
Hi Michael, first of all let me thank you from the bottom of my heart for your hard work. In my opinion WinXP was the last Windows with good UI, ever since I had to rely on third party fixes to make newer versions of Windows actually usable and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker was one of the cornerstones in that mission.
Now with Win11 Windhawk takes over the baton. It already fixed 90% of the problems I had with Win11 taskbar (and what a dreadful hing it is in its vanilla state), so I wanted to ask if it is possible to deal with the last 10%.
What currently bothers me the most is Notification bell and Notification center. They both take away space and I seriously don’t need any of those. With the bell, multiple sources reported 23h2 update should have added an option to disable it, but for me such options did not materialize. And for the Notification center, Windhawk Windows 11 Notification Center Styler mod allowed me to hide the focus assist section with two lines of code, so maybe a similar solution can be applied to hide the Notification Center itself, only leaving the Calender pop up?
Hi Klimat,
Hiding the bell is possible with the Windows 11 Taskbar Styler mod, see this section of the guide.
For other Notification center customizations, if you don’t see what you’re looking for in the guide, you can grab UWPSpy and come up with the exact style you’re looking for.
Hm, I tried the code to hide the bell, but it did not work. Is it possible MS changed something in 23h2, so now it doesn’t work anymore? Or maybe I’m just cursed, lol.
I tried googling said code and ended up on an elevenforum page, where I was actually able to find a solution to the Notification center problem.
Target:
Grid#NotificationCenterGrid
Styles:
Visibility=Collapsed
So at least half of the issues is now solved!
The style I linked works for me, both on my 23H2 and on 24H2 on another computer. Not sure why it doesn’t work for you. You can use UWPSpy to see what’s different in your case.
Thank you!
I tried UWPSpy and was able to locate a value which after turning invisible does indeed hide the bell! Restarting Explorer of cause reverts the change.
https://imgur.com/JPLxYgq
So now I’m trying to figure out how to go from a value in UWPSpy to a line of code usable in Taskbar Styler…
After more research with UWPSpy I also came to the conclusion the provided Taskbar Styler code must be right for my Windows 11. And yet for some reason it doesn’t work. There must be some obscure registry setting or policy that overrides Windhawk in this particular case, I can’t think of any other reason…
Wait, were you trying this style with Windows 11 Notification Center Styler? The bell is part of the taskbar, so the relevant mod is Windows 11 Taskbar Styler.
Hi Michael, that’s a lot of posts from me, so if I’m getting annoying, just tell, but I want to share some more strange bugs I found with other mods.
Here are mods that I use without any problems:
Disable grouping on the taskbar
Taskbar Labels for Windows 11
Taskbar height and icon size
Disable Taskbar Thumbnails
Middle click to close on the taskbar
Taskbar Clock Customization
Taskbar notification icon spacing
Windows 11 Start Menu Styler
Here is one mod that mostly works, but is for some reason unable to remove the Notification Bell:
Windows 11 Notification Center Styler
And here are two mods that work incorrectly for me in their basic functions:
Classic Explorer navigation bar
For some reason it creates an extra empty space between panels: https://imgur.com/pYPeZ4W
Taskbar classic context menu
I was actually really looking forward to this functionality, but for some reason when the mod is turned on, it makes the right click on a taskbar item to behave the same as the left click, so it would just minimise and maximise a window instead of bringing up any menus.
The mod support debug logs, so here is what I’m getting:
16:02:56.417 3584 explorer.exe [WH] [taskbar-classic-menu] [188:TaskbarResources_OnTaskListButtonContextRequested_Hook]: >
16:02:56.417 3584 explorer.exe [WH] [taskbar-classic-menu] [124:CTaskListWnd_HandleClick_Hook]: >
16:02:57.777 3584 explorer.exe [WH] [taskbar-classic-menu] [188:TaskbarResources_OnTaskListButtonContextRequested_Hook]: >
16:02:57.777 3584 explorer.exe [WH] [taskbar-classic-menu] [124:CTaskListWnd_HandleClick_Hook]: >
16:03:01.633 3584 explorer.exe [WH] [taskbar-classic-menu] [188:TaskbarResources_OnTaskListButtonContextRequested_Hook]: >
16:03:01.633 3584 explorer.exe [WH] [taskbar-classic-menu] [124:CTaskListWnd_HandleClick_Hook]: >
16:03:02.266 3584 explorer.exe [WH] [taskbar-classic-menu] [188:TaskbarResources_OnTaskListButtonContextRequested_Hook]: >
16:03:02.266 3584 explorer.exe [WH] [taskbar-classic-menu] [124:CTaskListWnd_HandleClick_Hook]: >
Please create an issue here and follow the troubleshooting page to attach logs:
https://github.com/ramensoftware/windhawk-mods/issues
Same for this one.
Done for both issues.
By the way, I did get rid of the Bell after all, the problem was me being an idiot =). In my mind the Bell and the Notification center were connected so much I completely overlooked Taskbar Styler mod and kept showing the code into Notification Center Styler instead, since both had near identical Settings UI with Target and Styles fields. I’m feeling really stupid right now =).
I’m not sure I am understanding some of the settings.
I want to not group taskbar buttons and I want to have a very small minimum button size so that the taskbar almost never goes to overflow mode.
I thought I could do this with “Taskbar Labels for Windows 11” with the Minimum width setting – but I tried setting that to 4 and I still see the icon and 3 or 4 letters of the text label, and I want to just see the icon or even just parts of the icon.
It does say: “Values larger than the Windows minimum width are unsupported and have no effect.” Should that be “Values smaller than …”
Can I change the Windows minimum width?
I also saw under “Taskbar Height and Icon Size” there is Taskbar Button Width with a value of 44. I can reduce that and the buttons get smaller and less overflow, but the label text flows into the icon.
Basically, I just want it to shrink down the button width from the right, even if the label disappears until it hits my minimum width.
Can this be done?
Thank you as always for your work with Windhawk.
If this can’t be done in settings, I have three somewhat crude workarounds thanks to the new settings in the extension.
This is really only an issue when I am using my 14-inch laptop screen. When I have a 24-inch external monitor connected, I prefer to see the labels and rarely get into the overflow range.
Workaround 1 – Just set the extension to “Hide Labels, don’t combine taskbar buttons” and live with it. (With the Disable Taskbar Thumbnails Extension set to Show List), this isn’t a bad option, but is an extra mouse hover.
Workaround 2 – Manually change the extension to “Show Labels, don’t combine taskbar buttons” when I have the external monitor connected.
Workaround 3 – Create some kind of batch file to detect whether an external monitor is connected and change the Extension Settings at bootup. Not entirely your area to answer, but I have a few questions on this:
– I found a few links on determining if an external monitor is connected using a batch file, but i haven’t tried any yet – https://stackoverflow.com/questions/34890733/how-to-detect-multiple-monitors-in-a-batch-file – looks promising, but it might be easier using AutoHotKey, which is also an option for me.
– I’m using WindHawk portable. You said I could change the settings using an .ini file and that. The path should be similar to:
\AppData\Engine\Mods\taskbar-labels.ini I know that works manually, i.e I edit the file with WH running and save it and WH picks up the changes. I’m not sure how to do it programatically. I’m seeing two options:
Create Taskbar-Labels-External.ini and Taskbar-Labels-Laptop.ini and use the batch file to copy and replace Taskbar-Labels.ini with the one I need.
Simpler – Copy the entire WindhawkPortable directory to two directories – WindhawkPortableLaptop and WindhawkPortableExternal and call the appropriate version from the Batch/AHK file – (but then I have two versions to configure/maintain if I make any updates).
The note is correct, but the option stopped working in one of the recent Windows updates. Relevant issue:
https://github.com/ramensoftware/windhawk-mods/issues/1097
I plan to look at it, and hopefully find an alternative solution to make it work.
The “Minimum taskbar item width” option was fixed in version 1.3.2 of the mod.
Different, hopefully simpler question.
I read the comment above mine and found out about Windows 11 Notification Center Styler.
Basically, I just want to click the clock and have the calendar show up.
I use the Hide Focus Assist setting from the Styler page: https://github.com/ramensoftware/windows-11-notification-center-styling-guide/tree/main and it works fine.
I wanted to hide the Notification Pane. I used UWPSpy and found NotificationCenterGrid and set the Width = 0 which worked great in UWPSpy.
But when I added this setting in WH, I still see the Notification Center pane.
What should the correct setting be?
Thanks!
Google solved this for me:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows11/comments/1e4ihiq/remove_unnecessary_notification_box/
In case the link changes or gets removed:
add this to target: Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid#NotificationCenterGrid
add this to its styles: Visibility=Collapsed
Recommend adding this to the style examples on the styling guide, as I’m obviously not the only one wanting this.
Thank you again!
Added, thanks for the suggestion.
Hello,
I use Taskbar Inspector quite frequently on Windows 10. I notice that the status for this feature on the page is listed as “Not Implemented”. May I know if this is due to lack of interest/donations or is there a technical limitation?
Hi,
It’s a combination of the reasons you mentioned. There’s not much interest (votes/comments/donations), and it’s not trivial to port to Windows 11.
What’s your use case for it? Custom groups? I’m asking because it might be easier to implement a subset of it, or to have a similar ability implemented in a different way.
Hi Michael,
My primary use case was to change the Application ID of a Window (say a browser window) to a random App ID.
This would then allow me to re-order the windows independently which was convenient when I was trying to keep windows that were being used for different purposes next to one another. Hope that clarifies.
In this case, why not just disable grouping? In Windows 11 (and Windows 10 too), you can use the Disable grouping on the taskbar mod.
Can you please clarify a bit further? In Windows 10, I have the “Combine Taskbar buttons” set to “Never”. So if I have two Firefox windows open I will see two buttons in the taskbar. Let us assume I have the following windows in my taskbar: Firefox #1 — Firefox #2 — Notepad — Calculator.
If I wanted to achieve the following layout: Firefox #1 — Notepad — Calculator — Firefox #2, even with “Combine Taskbar buttons” set to Never, I cannot move the location of Firefox #2 natively in Windows. The only way I have been able to achieve this is with 7TT’s Taskbar Inspector and changing the Application ID.
How would I achieve the above layout with the Windhawk mod you have linked to?
Ok scratch my previous comment. I think I understood which setting in 7TT you are referring to and how it operates. Can’t believe I missed that completely!
One follow-up question – In 7TT, there’s an extra checkbox for “When not grouping, place new items next to existing ones”. Is that available in the Windhawk mod?
I see a boolean “placeUngroupedItemsTogether” in the Mod source code but could not see any descriptive text for this boolean value.
Yes, there’s a similar option:
https://i.imgur.com/EATWhp7.png
Awesome – thanks for confirming!
One potential annoyance with the upgrade to Windows 11 fixed; 99 more to go…
Is it possible to somehow switch windows using the win+ keyboard shortcut, I did not find this in mods. If the “same window” is obtained only through the keyboard shortcut win+1+1, etc., and not win+1 win+2, etc.
There’s no such mod. Meanwhile you can use Win+Ctrl+1 etc.
Just added to Cycle through taskbar windows on click in version 1.1.
Thx >3
Another complicated issue …
Is there a way to offset the taskbar list/thumbnails from the taskbar.
I’m using the Disable Taskbar Thumbnails mod, but I’m also using the TrueLaunch Bar application above my taskbar.
With TLB running, the bottom entry of the taskbar list (or the bottom of the thumbnail) is behind the TLB.
I would like to move it up a few pixels.
I thought I saw that Windows 11 Notifcation Center Styler could control these, but UWPSpy on ShellExperienceHost didn’t seem to find it, and Disable Taskbar Thumbnails uses Explorer.exe which implies it could be controlled with Win11 Taskbar Styler, but I couldn’t find the thumbnails in UWPSpy explorer.exe either.
Ideas/suggestions?
The thumbnails are native windows, so it’s not possible to customize them with the styler mods. But that might change soon.
Thank you as always. It is still workable, it just looks bad and I can’t read the application name, but I can still drag the top of it and move it up or close TrueLaunchBar to view it.
Just wanted to say thanks for updating Taskbar tray icon spacing to also fix the overflow area spacing. It works great for me!
You’re welcome 🙂
Hi Michael
Regarding the “drag to reorder” option for windhawk mod for windows 11 24h2 for grouped thumbnails,
is there a way to lock the order so windows doesnt push updated thumbnails to the far right of the group?
Like if i have 1 2 3 4 5 as my order, and im working on 3, somehow windows pushes it to the right and the order ends up as 1 2 4 5 3 and i have to pull it back to the middle. (happens quite a lot)
Hi Alex,
That sounds like the following issue that I described back in 2013:
https://ramensoftware.com/hung-windows-and-taskbar-buttons-rearrangement
Back then, I implemented a fix in 7+ Taskbar Tweaker. I just ported this fix to Windhawk, check it out: Taskbar hung windows rearrangement fix.
Let me know if that solves your problem.
Oh thanks a lot for the info.
It was working on 7+ back when i was still on windows 10 but since 7+ wasnt supported on 11 24h2 i missed the option.
Installed the mod for windhawk and will see how it goes. Thank you so much for the port
Hi! First of all, thanks for all the progress made on Windhawk mods! Got the setup to almost match my 7+TT settings, there’s just one thing I’m missing:
Left click on combined item: Open last window if inactive, otherwise open thumbnail preview.
Is that option included in any of the existing mods? I couldn’t find it on the Feature list.
Thanks!
Hi Marcin,
Currently no mods implement it. It makes sense to add it to the Cycle through taskbar windows on click mod as an option, I’ll look into adding it in the future.
Awesome, thanks!
Would it be possible to have adjustable thumbnail size? I often have YT playing in background and sometimes peek at the video by hovering over.
There’s no mod that does that, but it should be possible to control the size via registry:
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/change-size-of-taskbar-thumbnail-previews-in-windows-11.6340/
OMG! After a long time without checking your site, I’ve came back just to check if that many win7/10 tweaks were finally available and they were!!!!
Thank you so much for your job!!! I’m following your work since the win7 early tweaks! <3
Any time trying to update a mod
EPERM: operation not permitted, open ‘c:\utl\Windhawk\AppData\EditorWorkspace\.clang-format’
I didn’t encounter this issue before. Can you access the
.clang-formatfile? Can you remove it and try again?[C:\utl\Windhawk\AppData\EditorWorkspace]type .clang-format
# To override, create a .clang-format.windhawk file with the desired settings.
BasedOnStyle: Chromium
IndentWidth: 4
CommentPragmas: ^[ \t]+@[a-zA-Z]+
OK, looks fine, and can you modify it? According to the error message, Windhawk is unable to write to that file. Perhaps it’s caused by permissions due to the files being moved from another drive, another user’s folders or something similar.
Deleting the file fixed it
thanks
I use taskbar inspector to set ‘Show labels’, ‘group’ and ‘combine’ on a per app basis. So different apps have different values of those 3 attributes.
Without the taskbar inspector option in windhawk mods, is there a way to achieve the same result?
Just need to know where to direct my votes
Thanks
For groups, the Disable grouping on the taskbar mod has per-program configuration in the settings.
Similarly, for labels, Taskbar Labels for Windows 11 provides some per-program configuration.
There’s no mod that offers per-program combining.
Brilliant, thanks! I’ll give it a go. 2 out of 3 is pretty good!
I’ve tried it out and it would be really good to have ‘combine’ on a per app basis. I have ‘never combine’ set but there are a couple of programs where I would like to have ‘combine’. This is how I have it in taskbar tweaker at the moment.
Is this a mod that could get added to the list for voting on?
Thanks
The voting started more than two years ago. I’d rather not add new items at this point, especially items which aren’t that popular (you’re the first one to ask about it so far).
You can create an issue about adding this functionality in the windhawk-mods GitHub repository, which is a more appropriate place for it.