How to Customize the Windows Taskbar

By customizing your Windows taskbar you can streamline your desktop, allowing you to hide or remove icons you do not wish to view and making room for the icons you want. Adding the Quick Launch to your taskbar will enable you to have programs you use frequently ready to launch without having to wade through the Start Menu. The screen captures in this article are from Windows Vista taskbar menus, but Windows XP has similar customization options.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A computer running Windows XP or Vista

Instructions

1. 
    
   Taskbar Menu in Vista

   Right-click on an empty area of your taskbar. A menu will pop up. Choose "Toolbars."

2. 
    

   Another menu will pop up with some options. Choose the options you would like to have. If you don't like the result, you can easily remove it by deselecting it within the menu.

3. 
    
   Taskbar and Start Menu Properties Window, Appearance Options

   For further customizations, choose "Properties." This will open the tabbed taskbar properties window.

4. There are several options in this view. Checking the "Lock the taskbar" option will prevent being able to move or size the taskbar both horizontally and vertically. Auto-hide will cause the taskbar to be in view only when the cursor is hovered over the taskbar.

5. 
    

   Move through the tabs and choose the options you wish to use. Click "Apply" to see the changes in action.

6. 
    

   In the Notification Area tab, you can turn off which icons you do not wish to show, such as the Clock and the Volume and Network icons. Click "Customize" to choose the behavior of individual taskbar icons. You can choose to hide them, always show them or only hide them when they're inactive.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't like the taskbar at the bottom of the screen? Make sure it is not locked, and then click on any empty area and drag it to the top or to either side of the screen. Quick Launch is one of the most useful tools in the customization options if you have a lot of programs installed. Simply drag and drop a program shortcut to the Quick Launch area, and it will be ready whenever you need it without having to spend time looking for it in the Start Menu. Click on "How do I customize the taskbar?" from within the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties tabbed dialog box for more information about customizing the taskbar.
• There are many software add-on taskbar customization tools available for download. Use caution when installing these, as some may contain spyware or viruses or may produce other undesirable results.