Customizing Windows 7 Taskbar

You can make signifcant changes to Windows 7 Taskbar. In this post you will learn how to do this.

Change the Taskbar buttons

Using the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box you can the look of the buttons. The default option is “Always combine, hide labels”.

Let us look at the three Taskbar options.

Option 1          Always combine, hide labels

This is the default setting for the Taskbar. Windows 7 combines multiple files from the same application, for example Word, by hiding the labels, preserving valuable space on the Taskbar.

Option 2          Combine when taskbar is full

1. In the section labelled, “Taskbar buttons”, click the down arrow button.



2. This opens displaying  a drop-down list of options.
3. Select the second option, “Combine when taskbar is full”.



4. Click the Apply button followed by the Ok button.
5. With multiple files active in several programs, Word, Paintbrush, Notepad, Paint and WordPad, the Taskbar would be too crowded. So, Windows 7 combines the files from the same application.

Note:  Another aspect of the option, “Combine when taskbar is full”, is that the icons display their labels except when the Taskbar is too crowded. The example below shows the labels for each application.

Option 3          Never Combine

1. Re-open the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box.
2. In the section labelled, “Taskbar buttons”, click the down arrow button.
3. Select the third option, “Never combine”.
4. The Taskbar displays several files from the same applications.

What happens if you have too many applications pinned to the Taskbar?

When you have more application windows open than fit comfortably on the Taskbar, Windows 7 activates the Toggle button.

1. Click the down arrow button on the Toggle button.
2. The additional icons appear on the Taskbar.