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Is there a way to ungroup the taskbar item in Windows 11?

After doing some research so far I only found a third-party software option using valinet/ExplorerPatcher from GitHub which works but it changes many other things as well "back to Win 10 style". Are there any other options yet?

Note: There is no "regular" setting to do this in Windows 11, a request has already been added to the Microsoft Feedback Hub sometime last year (mid-2021), e.g. here.

Note: There are a few other 3rd party products to tweak the taskbar, but none of them can ungroup items in the taskbar: Start11, Open-Shell-Menu or StartAllBack (as far as I tried)

Note: I found a similar question by now (different wording that's why I didn't find them in my first searches), but the only solution there doesn't work either: see this question here. Same with this question.

Note: The function for the taskbar is called "never combine mode" by Microsoft and lets you see each window of your applications on the taskbar individually instead of grouping them all into one icon.

Albin
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  • Try [windhawk](https://windhawk.net/mods/taskbar-grouping) from the creator of **7+ taskbar tweaker** – xypha Mar 13 '23 at 13:51
  • Does this answer your question? [How to configure the 'Never' 'Combine taskbar buttons' setting in Windows 11?](https://superuser.com/questions/1683237/how-to-configure-the-never-combine-taskbar-buttons-setting-in-windows-11) – music2myear Mar 16 '23 at 04:16
  • @music2myear no, since I explicitly excluded ExplorerPatcher in my questions – Albin Mar 16 '23 at 14:27
  • You may not like it, but 3rd party tools are the only way to do this. Even your own answer says so at this point. This affirms the linked duplicate is a duplicate. – music2myear Mar 17 '23 at 03:41
  • @music2myear Did you notice that I actually linked the question you are referring to and a second one as well? – Albin Mar 17 '23 at 05:33
  • @music2myear it has nothing to do about "linking it", myself (and a lot of other users) might not have the opportunity to install 3rd party software, that's why I excluded it. In addition to that it doesn't just "solve" the regrouping but introduces other "problems" by changing the whole layout of the taskbar which might be undesirable. – Albin Mar 17 '23 at 05:35
  • @music2myear But if it's absolutely necessary to make a duplicate notice, I would ask to reverse it and mark the other question as a duplicate, since mine has more and better quality answers as well (and without trailware) as an accepted answer and I will keep it updated if a non-3rd-party option comes along in the future (and my question is not that much younger). – Albin Mar 17 '23 at 05:35

4 Answers4

6

As I already wrote in my question that you can third party software option using valinet/ExplorerPatcher from GitHub. This will change your taskbar to Windows 10 style:

enter image description here

You'll have to set the Windows 10 task bar an activate the no grouping option:

enter image description here

But you will keep other functions Window 11 Start button but you'll keep the Windows 11 Start button as well as the Windows key functions like Win+V, etc. (in comparison to the registry hack from my other answer). Note: Displaying the individual Network, Sound etc. icons is optional (the combined button is shown as a gear wheel).

Until there is a working solution without 3rd party software this will be my preferred solution.

Albin
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4

For the time being, I found a registry hack, hopefully this will be included as a setting in one of the future updates:

  • Go to: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell\Update\Packages and create new 32bit Dword Value, name it UndockingDisabled give it the value 1.

    Important!!! Please note: this will reset the taskbar to "classic style" and unfortunately it also disables the Start button and disables the taskbar clock. In addition to that, it seems to make logon/logoff significantly longer and Windows key functions like (win+v or win+shift+s) will stop working.

    This can be fixed though:

    1. Installing e.g. Open-Shell will get you a start button (open-shell will reinstate the classic Start button as used in Win7 and earlier). Alternatively, you can switch to Windows 10 Start button, but I couldn't get this to work. You can also use third-party tools to get function like win+v (clipboard manager) or win+shift+s (taking screenshots).

    2. To get the clock back use the Control Panel Applet for the notification area by opening explorer shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9} via cmd and enable the system icons in the option Turn system icons on or off. In addition to the clock you will be able to add individual items like sound control etc.:

      enter image description here

      enter image description here

  • Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies and create new key: Explorer. Create new 32bit Dword Value, name it NoTaskGrouping give it the value 1. Note: this will disable grouping of task icons

  • Optional: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search and create new 32bit Dword Value, name it SearchboxTaskbarMode give it the value 0. Note: this will enable/disable the search icon next to the Start button (which doesn't work with UndockingDisabled anyway).

  • Sign out and back on (restarting explorer is not enough)

Note: this disables the new Win11 design/functionality for the taskbar and the Start button. I'm still waiting for a better solution, so I didn't accept this as an answer.

Note: I still haven't found a way to get the Start button back without third Party tools. Same for the Windows key functions like (win+v or win+shift+s) but everything else works without third Party tools.

Conclusion so far: Although this is a potential way to ungroup the taskbar without 3rd Party software in the future, it does not quite work yet (at least I couldn't get it to work). So for now, since you need 3rd Party software anyway, I would recommend installing valinet/ExplorerPatcher from GitHub it basically creates the same outcome (Taskbar changes to Windows 10) but you'll keep the Windows 11 Start button as well as the Windows key functions like Win+V, etc. (see my other answer)

Albin
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2

Is there a way to ungroup the taskbar item in Windows 11? After doing some research so far I only found a third party software option

The new Windows 11 Launcher taskbar prevents ungrouping taskbar icons as of the Windows 11 initial release and into early 2022.

There are several supporting articles and here is one such article below.

Win 11 taskbar icons

John
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1

This feature is being re-introduced in Insider Preview 23466:

We’re excited to bring you an early version of one of our most requested features for Windows 11, never combined mode. In never combined mode, you’ll be able to see each window of your applications on the taskbar individually, as well as their corresponding labels. You can find this feature by navigating to Settings > Personalization Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors. This feature is beginning to roll out, so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see it right away.

Orangutech
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