Here is a list of common registry settings you can make in order to set various options of the taskbar, as you could in Windows 10 from the GUI. Restart Explorer after changing any of them for the effect to take place. To apply, copy the text to a text file, save it as something.reg and then open it.
About News and Interests
The "News and Interests" taskbar button cannot be restored. It has been entirely removed from the code. Or rather, maybe it was never added to the Explorer version in the branch from which Windows 11 was created. Anyway, when comparing explorer.exe from 10 to 11, "News and interests" is missing entirely, it's not merely neutered like the Win+X menu.
Enable missing system tray icons
This is actually not a registry tweak. Instead, open Run Win+R and type this:
%windir%\explorer.exe shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}\SystemIcons
In the window that appears, pick the system icons that you want to show in the tray and confirm with OK.
Disable taskbar buttons grouping
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoTaskGrouping"=dword:00000001
or
- For the taskbar on the main monitor:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"TaskbarGlomLevel"=dword:00000002
- For the taskbars on other monitors:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"MMTaskbarGlomLevel"=dword:00000002
0 = Always combine, 1 = Combine when taskbar is full, 2 = Never combine
Enable taskbar on other monitors
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"MMTaskbarEnabled"=dword:00000001
Behavior of taskbar button on multiple monitors
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"MMTaskbarMode"=dword:00000002
0 = Show taskbar buttons on all taskbars
1 = Show taskbar buttons on main taskbar and taskbar where window is open
2 = Show taskbar buttons on taskbar where window is open
Small taskbar icons
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"TaskbarSmallIcons"=dword:00000001
Hide Cortana button
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowCortanaButton"=dword:00000000
Hide Task View button
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowTaskViewButton"=dword:00000000
Hide Search box or Search icon
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
"SearchboxTaskbarMode"=dword:00000000
0 = disabled, 1 = show search icon, 2 = show search box
Change default action of power button in Start
This is useful in Windows 7-like menus like StartIsBack, OpenShell, also determines the default in the "Shut Down Windows" window (Alt+F4 on the desktop).
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
"Start_PowerButtonAction"=dword:00000002
dword:00000100 = Switch user
dword:00000001 = Sign out
dword:00000010 = Sleep
dword:00000040 = Hibernate
dword:00000002 = Shut down
dword:00000004 = Restart
Show Start menu on monitor where the mouse is located when pressing the Windows key
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage]
"MonitorOverride"=dword:00000000
0 = Enabled (Start menu shows on the monitor where the mouse is located)
1 or not created = Disabled (Start menu always shows on the first monitor)
Show Command Prompt instead of PowerShell in Win+X menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"DontUsePowerShellOnWinX"=dword:00000001
Open Start at logon
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage]
"OpenAtLogon"=dword:00000001
Here is a list of common registry settings you can make in order to set various options of the taskbar, as you could in Windows 10 from the GUI. Restart Explorer after changing any of them for the effect to take place. To apply, copy the text to a text file, save it as something.reg and then open it.
Enable missing system tray icons
This is actually not a registry tweak. Instead, open Run Win+R and type this:
%windir%\explorer.exe shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}\SystemIcons
In the window that appears, pick the system icons that you want to show in the tray and confirm with OK.
Disable taskbar buttons grouping
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoTaskGrouping"=dword:00000001
or
- For the taskbar on the main monitor:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"TaskbarGlomLevel"=dword:00000002
- For the taskbars on other monitors:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"MMTaskbarGlomLevel"=dword:00000002
0 = Always combine, 1 = Combine when taskbar is full, 2 = Never combine
Enable taskbar on other monitors
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"MMTaskbarEnabled"=dword:00000001
Behavior of taskbar button on multiple monitors
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"MMTaskbarMode"=dword:00000002
0 = Show taskbar buttons on all taskbars
1 = Show taskbar buttons on main taskbar and taskbar where window is open
2 = Show taskbar buttons on taskbar where window is open
Small taskbar icons
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"TaskbarSmallIcons"=dword:00000001
Hide Cortana button
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowCortanaButton"=dword:00000000
Hide Task View button
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowTaskViewButton"=dword:00000000
Hide Search box or Search icon
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
"SearchboxTaskbarMode"=dword:00000000
0 = disabled, 1 = show search icon, 2 = show search box
Change default action of power button in Start
This is useful in Windows 7-like menus like StartIsBack, OpenShell, also determines the default in the "Shut Down Windows" window (Alt+F4 on the desktop).
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
"Start_PowerButtonAction"=dword:00000002
dword:00000100 = Switch user
dword:00000001 = Sign out
dword:00000010 = Sleep
dword:00000040 = Hibernate
dword:00000002 = Shut down
dword:00000004 = Restart
Show Start menu on monitor where the mouse is located when pressing the Windows key
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage]
"MonitorOverride"=dword:00000000
0 = Enabled (Start menu shows on the monitor where the mouse is located)
1 or not created = Disabled (Start menu always shows on the first monitor)
Show Command Prompt instead of PowerShell in Win+X menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"DontUsePowerShellOnWinX"=dword:00000001
Open Start directly to All apps
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartPage]
"MakeAllAppsDefault"=dword:00000001
Maximum number of apps to show in the Most used list in Start
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"Start_MaximumFrequentApps"=dword:00000006
Enable/disable Windows version watermark on the desktop
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"PaintDesktopVersion"=dword:00000001
Disable new command bar in Explorer (and alternate way to disable the immersive context menu in Explorer)
Credit: Reddit thread
Disable new context menu:
reg.exe add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
Restore new context menu:
reg.exe delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}" /f
Disable Explorer command bar:
reg.exe add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{d93ed569-3b3e-4bff-8355-3c44f6a52bb5}\InprocServer32" /f /ve
Restore Explorer command bar:
reg.exe delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{d93ed569-3b3e-4bff-8355-3c44f6a52bb5}" /f
Basically, it overrides the values in HKLM which specify where the code for the COM components responsible for the new immersive context menu and the new command bar are located, providing empty values (for path and the threading model) so that Explorer fails to load the aforementioned components and the code falls back to the old code path where the ribbon or command bar is used. A very smart approach, I might add.
Disable / enable modern search box in File Explorer
Disable:
reg.exe add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{1d64637d-31e9-4b06-9124-e83fb178ac6e}\TreatAs" /f /ve /t REG_SZ /d "{64bc32b5-4eec-4de7-972d-bd8bd0324537}"
Enable:
reg.exe delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{1d64637d-31e9-4b06-9124-e83fb178ac6e}" /f
Here is a list of common registry settings you can make in order to set various options of the taskbar, as you could in Windows 10 from the GUI. Restart Explorer after changing any of them for the effect to take place. To apply, copy the text to a text file, save it as
something.regand then open it.About News and Interests
The "News and Interests" taskbar button cannot be restored. It has been entirely removed from the code. Or rather, maybe it was never added to the Explorer version in the branch from which Windows 11 was created. Anyway, when comparing
explorer.exefrom 10 to 11, "News and interests" is missing entirely, it's not merely neutered like theWin+Xmenu.Enable missing system tray icons
This is actually not a registry tweak. Instead, open Run
Win+Rand type this:In the window that appears, pick the system icons that you want to show in the tray and confirm with OK.
Disable taskbar buttons grouping
or
0 = Always combine, 1 = Combine when taskbar is full, 2 = Never combine
Enable taskbar on other monitors
Behavior of taskbar button on multiple monitors
0 = Show taskbar buttons on all taskbars
1 = Show taskbar buttons on main taskbar and taskbar where window is open
2 = Show taskbar buttons on taskbar where window is open
Small taskbar icons
Hide Cortana button
Hide Task View button
Hide Search box or Search icon
0 = disabled, 1 = show search icon, 2 = show search box
Change default action of power button in Start
This is useful in Windows 7-like menus like StartIsBack, OpenShell, also determines the default in the "Shut Down Windows" window (Alt+F4 on the desktop).
dword:00000100= Switch userdword:00000001= Sign outdword:00000010= Sleepdword:00000040= Hibernatedword:00000002= Shut downdword:00000004= RestartShow Start menu on monitor where the mouse is located when pressing the Windows key
0 = Enabled (Start menu shows on the monitor where the mouse is located)
1 or not created = Disabled (Start menu always shows on the first monitor)
Show Command Prompt instead of PowerShell in Win+X menu
Open Start at logon
Here is a list of common registry settings you can make in order to set various options of the taskbar, as you could in Windows 10 from the GUI. Restart Explorer after changing any of them for the effect to take place. To apply, copy the text to a text file, save it as
something.regand then open it.Enable missing system tray icons
This is actually not a registry tweak. Instead, open Run
Win+Rand type this:In the window that appears, pick the system icons that you want to show in the tray and confirm with OK.
Disable taskbar buttons grouping
or
0 = Always combine, 1 = Combine when taskbar is full, 2 = Never combine
Enable taskbar on other monitors
Behavior of taskbar button on multiple monitors
0 = Show taskbar buttons on all taskbars
1 = Show taskbar buttons on main taskbar and taskbar where window is open
2 = Show taskbar buttons on taskbar where window is open
Small taskbar icons
Hide Cortana button
Hide Task View button
Hide Search box or Search icon
0 = disabled, 1 = show search icon, 2 = show search box
Change default action of power button in Start
This is useful in Windows 7-like menus like StartIsBack, OpenShell, also determines the default in the "Shut Down Windows" window (Alt+F4 on the desktop).
dword:00000100= Switch userdword:00000001= Sign outdword:00000010= Sleepdword:00000040= Hibernatedword:00000002= Shut downdword:00000004= RestartShow Start menu on monitor where the mouse is located when pressing the Windows key
0 = Enabled (Start menu shows on the monitor where the mouse is located)
1 or not created = Disabled (Start menu always shows on the first monitor)
Show Command Prompt instead of PowerShell in Win+X menu
Open Start directly to All apps
Maximum number of apps to show in the Most used list in Start
Enable/disable Windows version watermark on the desktop
Disable new command bar in Explorer (and alternate way to disable the immersive context menu in Explorer)
Credit: Reddit thread
Disable new context menu:
Restore new context menu:
Disable Explorer command bar:
Restore Explorer command bar:
Basically, it overrides the values in HKLM which specify where the code for the COM components responsible for the new immersive context menu and the new command bar are located, providing empty values (for path and the threading model) so that Explorer fails to load the aforementioned components and the code falls back to the old code path where the ribbon or command bar is used. A very smart approach, I might add.
Disable / enable modern search box in File Explorer
Disable:
Enable: