Keep Taskbar Visible with Touch Keyboard in Windows 10

By default, the Touch Keyboard appears on top of the taskbar hiding it. You can change this behavior and make the taskbar remain visible when the virtual touch keyboard appears on the screen. This can be done with a simple Registry tweak.

This feature is new to Windows 10 so it won't work with earlier releases of Windows. When applied, it will allow you to switch between apps using the taskbar even if the Touch Keyboard is open. This can be handy on devices with touch screen input. The tweak can really save your time and increase your productivity. Here is what you have to do.

To Keep Taskbar Visible with Touch Keyboard in Windows 10, apply the Registry tweak as described below.

1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Go to the following Registry key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\StigRegKey\Typing\TaskbarAvoidanceEnabled

   If such a key doesn't exist in your Registry, then just create it.
   Tip: You can access any desired Registry key with one click.

3. Create a new 32-bit DWORD value named TaskbarAvoidanceEnabled and set its value to 1. Note: Even if you are running a 64-bit Windows version, you still need to create a 32-bit DWORD value.
4. Restart Windows 10.

Once this is done, the Touch Keyboard will appear above the taskbar, so your running tasks, pinned apps, clock and the notification area (system tray) will remain visible and accessible with a single tap or click.

To save your time, I have created ready-to-use Registry files which you can download here:

Download Registry Files

The undo tweak is included.

You can save your time and use Winaero Tweaker instead. It comes with the following feature:

You can download it here: Download Winaero Tweaker.

The Touch Keyboard is the built-in app in Windows 10 to type using a touchscreen or a pen. It is included since Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and has undergone several changes in Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Initially the touch keyboard in Windows 10 was similar to one available in Windows 8, but it changed in Windows 10 build 10056, which was one of the pre-release builds. The style of the app and notification area icon where updated to match the modern appearance of Windows 10. Unlike Windows 8, where the touch keyboard's taskbar button was implemented as a toolbar, in Windows 10, it is integrated into the notification area.

One important improvement in Windows 10 is that the touch keyboard automatically pops up when you tap inside a text field in a Win32/desktop app. For Windows 8.1, you need a separate app. See the following article: Keyboard Opener automatically opens and closes the Windows touch keyboard in Windows 8