All in all, people could modify many aspects of the Windows taskbar but they must unlock it first. Unsurprisingly, the topic of how to unlock taskbar catches the interest of Windows users who want to personalize the taskbar on their computers. You also want to customize the taskbar on your Windows PC but don’t know the way to unlock it? In that case, this article is for you.
Table of Contents
Unlocking Taskbar On Windows: Instructions
Via Taskbar
At the moment, the easiest way to unlock the taskbar is to right-click it and then pick Lock taskbar. Keep in mind that if there is no checkmark next to Lock taskbar, the taskbar is already unlocked and there is no need to click it.
Via Settings
- Step 1: Open Start menu then hit the cogwheel icon to open Settings.
- Step 2: Select Personalization then choose Taskbar.
- Step 3: Toggle off the switch next to Lock taskbar to unlock the taskbar.
Via Registry Editor
- Step 1: Go to Search bar, type Regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
- Step 2: Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
- Step 3: Look to the right, right-click TaskbarSizeMove and pick Modify.
- Step 4: Set the value as 1, hit OK and restart your computer.
Taskbar Cheat Sheet
- Pin apps you regularly use to your taskbar for ease of convenience. To do so, open Start menu, locate the app you want to pin, right-click it and pick Pin to taskbar.
- Create more space on your taskbar by changing Windows Search to an icon. All you have to do is to right-click the taskbar, hover the mouse over Search and click Show Search icon.
- Want to quickly catch some news? Right-click the taskbar, hover the mouse over News and interests and click Show icon and text.
Is There A Way To Change The Location Of The Taskbar?
In times of need, you can change the position of the taskbar. The process is no-nonsense: Open Settings, select Personalization and choose Taskbar. Next, scroll down to Taskbar location on screen, open the dropdown menu and hit the location you like.
What Must Be Done Prevent Other Users From Applying Changes To Taskbar?
By taking advantage of Local Group Policy Editor, you should be able to stop other users from changing the taskbar.
- Step 1: Go to Search bar, type gpedit.msc and hit Enter.
- Step 2: Expand User Configuration then make your way to Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar.
- Step 3: Look to the right, double-click Prevent changes to Taskbar and Start Menu Settings then hit Enabled.
- Step 4: Select Apply, choose OK and restart your computer
Resizing The Taskbar On Windows: Breakdown
Dragging
- Step 1: Hover the mouse over the top of the taskbar.
- Step 2: The moment the mouse changes to an arrow, click and hold the left mouse key then move the mouse up/down to resize the taskbar.
Registry Editor
- Step 1: Open Registry Editor then navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
- Step 2: Look to the right, right-click an empty space, hover the mouse over New and click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
- Step 3: Rename the new value to TaskbarSi. Next, right-click move then pick Modify.
- Step 4: Set the value depending on the size you would want:
- 0= Small taskbar
- 1= Medium
- 2= Large
- Step 5: Save your changes then restart your computer.
Taskbar Flickering: A Few Fixes
Update Driver
- Step 1: Go to Search bar, type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter to open Device Manager.
- Step 2: Expand Display adapters, right-click your graphics card and pick Update driver.
- Step 3: Hit Search automatically for updated driver software.
- Step 4: Restart your computer as soon as the update completes.
- Step 5: When the screen comes back on, see how things turn out.
Perform SFC & DISM Scans
- Step 1: Go to Search bar, type cmd and hit Run as administrator.
- Step 2: In Command Prompt (Admin), type the commands down below and hit Enter every time you complete one to perform SFC and DISM scans:
- SFC /scannow
- DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
- DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
- DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
- Step 3: Close Command Prompt, restart Windows and determine whether the issue persists.
Uninstall Update
- Step 1: Open Settings, select Update & Security and choose View update history in Windows Update.
- Step 2: Hit Uninstall updates, right-click the latest updates and pick Uninstall.
- Step 3: After the uninstallation finishes, restart your computer.
