The taskbar is the classic user interface element in Windows. First introduced in Windows 95, it exists in all Windows versions released after it. The main idea behind the taskbar is to provide a useful tool which shows a list of running apps and open windows as tasks so you can switch quickly between them. By default, the taskbar appears on all displays connected to your computer. Today, we'll see a number of ways to customize this behavior.
The taskbar in Windows 10 may contain the Start menu button, the search box or Cortana, the task view button, the system tray and various toolbars created by the user or third-party apps. For example, you can add the good old Quick Launch toolbar to your taskbar.
If you have multiple displays connected to your computer, Windows 10 will show the taskbar on each display. This behavior is set by default, but you can customize it.
For example, you can make Windows 10 show the taskbar only on your primary screen. Alternatively, you can make it show taskbar buttons on all taskbars, main taskbar and taskbar where window is open, or taskbar where window is open. Let's see how it can be done.
To hide the taskbar on multiple displays in Windows 10, do the following.
- Open the Settings app.
- Navigate to Personalization - Taskbar.
- On the right, disable the option Show taskbar on all displays.
- The taskbar now appears on the main display only.
The same can be done with a Registry tweak.
Hide Taskbar on Multiple Displays with a Registry tweak
- Open the Registry Editor app.
- Go to the following Registry key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
See how to go to a Registry key with one click.
- On the right, create a new 32-Bit DWORD value MMTaskbarEnabled.
Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows you must still create a 32-bit DWORD value.
Set its value to 0 to hide the taskbar on multiple displays. - A value data of 1 will make Windows 10 show taskbar on multiple displays.
- To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to sign out and sign in to your user account. Alternatively, you can restart the Explorer shell.
That's it.
Related articles:
- Change Taskbar Button Width in Windows 10
- Disable Taskbar Button Combining in Windows 10
- Change Taskbar Preview Thumbnail Size in Windows 10
- ...and more Taskbar Tips and Tricks on Winaero
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