Windows 11: How to bring back the old taskbar

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The new Windows 11 taskbar is not for everyone.

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A small registry hack makes it possible to restore the Windows 10 system tray. In Build 22000.194, however, the Windows 11 start menu does not function, which was not the case with its predecessors. There is therefore no guarantee that the hack will still work after the next Windows update. Use this option only if you have already installed Open Shell.

Step 1:

Start Regedit from Win-R and go to

 Hkey_Local_MachineSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionShellUpdatePackages

Step 2:

In the right part of the window, create a new Dword value, name it UndockingDisabled and the value 1.

Step 3:

Press the keyboard shortcut Win-R and enter

shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9} 

a. Click Enable or Disable Icons. Set the switches behind “Clock”, “Volume”, “Network” and other icons in the notification area to “On”.

Step 4:

Use the context menu of the taskbar to remove the check mark in front of “Show Cortana button”.

Step 5:

Go to Registry Editor

 Hkey_Current_UserSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSearch

Step 6:

Create a dword value with the name

SearchboxTaskbarMode

and the value 0.

Restart Windows. Windows 11 now shows the familiar Windows 10 taskbar and the open shell menu.

Now remove the check mark in front of “Fix taskbar” in the context menu. Then the bar can be dragged to the desired edge of the screen.

More about Windows 11:

Windows 11: The new taskbar in the test

Windows 11: The new start menu in the test

Windows 11 in the mega test: unnecessary Windows 10 successor?