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In Windows windows are displayed in the taskbar (or at least were -- before 11). With deactivating of grouping it was even possible, that every window got a separate "block". When a program had multiple windows, multiple "blocks" were displayed:

taskbar

Windows 10 switched to the "Mac like" style. Now not the windows were displayed, but the icons of the opened (or pinned) programs. Somehow I changed this behavior to the "Windows 7" like. How to do the same for Windows 11?

How to configure Windows 11 to display window "blocks" instead of programs' icons in the taskbar?

automatix
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    I don't understand your question. The Windows taskbar has always shown icons, and hovering over the icon for a running program shows an image of the current or last window state. Grouping icons has also been around for a while and shows an image for each instance of that application when there are multiple running. I believe part of my confusion comes from your use of the words "windows" and "apps". In the context of your question they mean the same thing, "running programs", and so trying to say they mean something different requires that you explain further what you mean. – music2myear Jan 03 '22 at 17:30
  • @music2myear Thank you for the comment! I'll try to resolve your confusion: When I say "app" I just mean a program, e.g. Firefox. Let's stick to this example. In the version before 11 every opened Firefox window got a separate "pace" in the taskbar. (In 10 it wasn't the default behavior, but it was at least configurable.) In 11 the Firefox icon is shown instead (like in MacOS and the Linux GUIs I know). So how to change this behavior to the "old Windows style"? – automatix Jan 06 '22 at 12:08
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    Not too sure if I got it correctly..however you may try ExplorerPatcher a third-party tool that I believe should give you what you want. However this will change Windows 11 Taskbar to Windows 10 Style altogether. https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher See these screenshots for now https://i.imgur.com/5HxmAWB.png and https://i.imgur.com/sVRVpRy.png By Block I guess you mean the Taskbar Button shows icon as well as Title Text. – patkim Jan 06 '22 at 13:58
  • @automatix when asked to clarify a question please use the EDIT button to make the question itself more clear. Another suggestion is to use the same word when you mean the same thing. Don't switch between "app" and "program" and "window" when you mean the same thing. – music2myear Jan 06 '22 at 17:02
  • Finally, Windows 11 does not currently have the ability to Combine Taskbar Icons. You can check the Feedback hub to register your suggestion, or find the existing suggestions for this (they exist): https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/never-combine-taskbar-buttons-in-windows-11/856279f9-7abf-453c-81e4-0c7c147efef0?auth=1 – music2myear Jan 06 '22 at 17:03

2 Answers2

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Windows 11 used to have a compatibility registry setting for using the Windows 10 Start menu, but Microsoft has now removed it. This setting was called Start_ShowClassicMode and used to live in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. If you see it mentioned on the internet, know that it doesn't work any more.

You need a third-party product to make it work:

User @patkim mentioned ExplorerPatcher. In general I try to avoid patching Microsoft software, as such actions are dangerous and usually short-term. I have not tested it. (Edit: At least one poster on our site has reported that ExplorerPatcher has destroyed his Windows with no solution except total reinstallation.)

A commercial product is StartAllBack ($4.99 with trial).

This product allows to reset Windows to versions 11/8/7 as regarding: Start Menu, Taskbar and Explorer.

Here is how my taskbar looks like when it's set to the "Plain8" setting:

enter image description here

harrymc
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ExplorerPatcher is a free tool that allow users to restore the style of the Windows 10 taskbar, including text labels next to each icon.

Thanks to Jodi_Martin for sharing it.

A.L
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