How to Move Windows 11 Taskbar – 2 Ways

Some users need to move the taskbar to a different location on the computer screen in the Windows 11 operating system. By default, on a PC, the taskbar is located at the bottom of the monitor screen.

Windows 11 has redesigned the taskbar, including centering the Start menu and app icons, redesigning the notification area, adding new visual effects and animations, and some other improvements. Despite the addition of new features, some deprecated features have been removed from the operating system, such as the ability to move the taskbar.

In previous versions of Windows, you could move the taskbar to different sides of your computer screen: up, left, or right. If you did not like the new location of this element of the system interface, then you could always return the taskbar down to its default location.

Right now, you can’t move the taskbar up, left, or right in Windows 11 because the operating system uses a completely new design, and moving it across the screen is a rather complicated process. Microsoft explained that just moving the taskbar to the right changes the entire design, including the start menu and apps, and the current UI and animations are for bottom placement.

According to Microsoft, the design changes would have taken a lot of effort to redesign the system interface, and it wasn’t worth it because there wasn’t enough user demand for it.

Previously, before the release of Windows 11 22H2, it was possible to change the position of the taskbar on the screen by making changes to the system registry. But then Microsoft disabled this undocumented feature. Registry settings now revert back to default immediately after a computer restart.

Some users want to know how to move the taskbar on Windows 11. If you are one of those users who like the position of the taskbar in a different place, for example, at the top, left or right, then you can put the taskbar on different sides of the screen.

This guide will show you how to move the taskbar on the screen in Windows 11 in several ways. To accomplish this task, you will need to use third-party software.

Before you start changing the appearance settings of Windows 11, create a restore point so that you have the opportunity to roll back the state of the operating system that it had before the upcoming change in settings, if something went wrong.

How to move the taskbar with StartAllBack

StartAllBack is a program for changing the Windows interface, returning the classic look to the operating system. With the help of the program, you can improve the Start menu, Explorer and taskbar, context menu, theme in the style of previous versions of Windows.

The app has three Windows 11, Windows 10, or Windows 7 look and feel options to fine-tune the look and feel of the system.

This is a paid program with a 30-day free trial that has Russian language support.

Do the following:

1. Download StartAllBack from the official website: https://www.startallback.com/ .
2. Run the application’s setup file.
3. During the installation process, in the StartAllBack configuration window, first select one or all users to use the program on the computer, and then the Windows 11 theme (it is listed as “Correct 11”). These settings can then be changed from the program window.
4. After installing the application on your computer, right-click on the “Start” menu, and select “Properties” from the menu that opens.
5. In the “StartAllBack Settings” window, go to the “Taskbar” tab.
6. In the “Customize Behavior and Superpowers” section, go to the “Position of the taskbar on the screen:” option.
7. Select your preferred taskbar location from the drop-down list:

• Bottom.
• Left.
• Above.
• On right.

If necessary, you can return the taskbar to its original location by selecting the default location “Bottom”.

How to change the position of the Windows 11 taskbar using ExplorerPatcher

If you are a Windows 11 user and looking for answers to questions about how to move the taskbar to the top or how to move the taskbar to the side of the screen, you can use third-party tools to change the position of this interface element.

ExplorerPatcher is a free app from developer valinet that brings back the classic taskbar design with some legacy features such as the ability to move the taskbar to the right, left, or top. While not a perfect solution, if you want to change your system settings, this is the best free option.

ExplorerPatcher has many other functions that change various system settings. After opening the “Properties” window (ExplorerPatcher), the name of the active section with settings will be underlined.

Follow a few steps to move the Windows 11 taskbar to the desired location on the screen:

1. Download the ExplorerPatcher program from the GitHub page: https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher/releases/latest/download/ep_setup.exe .
2. Double click on the “ep_setup.exe” file to install the application on your computer.
3. The installation of the application takes place with the restart of the Explorer. You will briefly see a white screen and then the Windows desktop will open
4. Right-click on the taskbar and select the Properties option. You can also open the properties of ExplorerPatcher using the Start menu by going to All Apps and then selecting Properties (ExplorerPatcher).
5. In the Taskbar section, in the Taskbar style option, select the Windows 10 option.

In the ExplorerPatcher program, you can solve the problem of how to move the taskbar up in Windows 11 or to another place on the screen in two ways.

1 way (actions after step 5):

6. You need to right-click on the taskbar.
7. In the context menu, uncheck the “Lock the taskbar” item.
8. Hold down the left mouse button and manually drag the taskbar up, left, or right to a new location.

Method 2 (follow after step 5 of this instruction):

1. In the “Primary taskbar location on screen” option, select the appropriate placement option.

The following locations are available to you in the drop-down list:

• Bottom (default) – bottom (default).
• Top – on top.
• Left – on the left.
• Right – on the right.

7. Select the desired position of the taskbar on the computer screen, and then click on “Restart File Explorer” (Restart Explorer) to apply these changes in the Windows operating system.

In this image, the Windows 11 taskbar is located on the left side of the screen.

Use the “Start button style” setting to select the “Windows 11” option. In this case, the Start menu button will take on a standard look that is similar to that used by default in the installed operating system.

If you need to undo changes made using the ExplorerPatcher utility, do the following:

1. Click on the “About” section.
2. Select the Restore Default Setting option.
3. In the warning windows that open, agree to make changes to the registry to roll back ExplorerPatcher settings.
4. Restart your PC to return Windows 11 settings to default.

Article Conclusions

Some users of the Windows 11 operating system want to know how to move the taskbar to the left, up, or right side of the screen. The new interface of Windows 11 does not support changing the position of the taskbar. In this regard, users have questions about how to move the taskbar in Win 11. To solve this issue, you can use third-party programs: StartAllBack or ExplorerPatcher, which change the location of the taskbar on the computer screen.