How do I move my taskbar to the side of my screen?

Please reconsider providing this ability. I need the extra space at the bottom! Our monitors are already horizontal, and Microsoft has taken away valuable real estate by requiring the task bar to be at the bottom and not allowing us to move it to the side.

This feels like the reason why Windows keeps losing market share to me. Ah well, Cannonical has a very workable solution for this problem. I've moved all of my personal boxes over to Ubuntu, so there's just my one work box, and I literally curse about MS every time I have to do more than one thing at a time.

Totally agree

I contacted my IT department about this. I suffered from carpel tunnel & had surgery. Moving side to side for selections is much easier than constantly breaking my wrist going up & down to a task bar. SMH

Where can we provide feedback to the Windows 11 development team on this issue? If you call something an upgrade from a previous version but you take away functionality that has existed for years, then it's not an upgrade. There are literally thousands and thousands of people that have been asking for this since Win 11 came out. What's the issue?

You have to use the Feedback Hub to file suggestions.

Feedback for Windows is provided via the Feedback Hub app in Windows. That is how you share feedback with the Windows team. We have no control over what the team does with it on this site.

Instead of telling us that we have merely grown used to something, think about most of us repositioned the taskbar to the side to gain more useable space. Most work spaces are square. Taking more room from the top and bottom of a landscape screen is self defeating. That is why most of us choose to park the taskbar on the side. Every program and web page already parks their tabs and options on the top. We don't need another. Right at this moment, I have text from top to bottom of my screen but wasted space on both sides.

Is MicroSoft encouraging its customers to resort to third party hacks?

Don't try to placate the issue! Come up with a solution!

Please figure out how the user may customize the desktop to their best work methods! A vertical taskbar was very, very helpful in getting the most screen for the document or image. Thanks.

Austin A - thanks for the polite NO, but you also say "there’s no official way to move it to the left or right side of the screen" so let us know about the 'unofficial' method to move the task bar...

YET ANOTHER STUPID MR SOFTY change that makes their software LESS USEFUL for no good reason. Same with restricting the use of Microsoft Office versions of Outlook with an exchange account!!!! WTH MOCROSOFT!!! I bought the Office software and now I can't use it with an Exchange account I'm paying you for? I have to use the brain damaged Web Outlook app instead? guess I need to go find a new email program...

Austin - still awaiting to hear about the "unofficial" way to relocate the taskbar

please consider the problem. thankyou and please.

Yeah, an AI programming bot could do this in an hour or less. Or is Mr. Softy's AI no good? Really silly not to fix this.

You must reinstall this feature to place the taskbar where we like it.

<off topic comment removed>

How do you install this feature in windows 11?

unbelievable

...well... that was a "placate the masses" answer. I see a future job as a Press Secretary for you...

Move Taskbar position on Windows 11 (Deprecated):

To move the Taskbar to the top, left, right, or bottom of the screen on Windows 11, use these steps:

Open Start on Windows 11.

Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry Editor.

Browse the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3

Double-click the Settings binary key.

Under the “Value data” section, in the second row and the sixth column, click the 03 value, press the Delete key, and replace the value with 01 to move the Windows 11 Taskbar at the top of the screen.

Windows 11 change taskbar position

*Change the 03 value to 02 to move the Taskbar on the right side of the screen.

*Change the 03 value to 00 to move the Taskbar on the left side of the screen.

*Change the value to 03 to move the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen.

Click the OK button.

Right-click the Start button and select the Task Manager option.

Click the Processes tab.

Select the Windows Explorer process.

Windows 11 restart explorer service

Click the Restart button.

Once you complete the steps, the Windows 11 Taskbar will move to the top or either side of the screen as specified in the binary key.

This is a bad limitation that reduces productivity. Please consider it for your future enhancements

i have tried this several times now, but it does not work, do you have screen shots to show it working?

This is an important accessibility feature to some people, and it's really sad to see it be removed. Is there anyone we can reach out to about this?

Austin I need your help really bad buddy. I'm going through a rough time in all aspects of my life and this little taskbar was the last straw. I'm sitting here at home and I really think I can't take it anymore ya know. Like I mean I really refuse to be treated like this. Do you really, in any sense whatsoever "understand how frustrating it must be to lose a feature you relied on". Are you even capable of understanding anything real, or has the cacophony of bald faced lies told by strange creatures with pearly white teeth you're surrounded by at work rattled your head so hard that you actually don't care at all about anyone in this thread? I wonder. It's a good question, does anyone at microsoft care about anyone in this thread to any extent?

You heard Rusty Halverson, the guys having panic attacks. This is a normal guy trying to use one of his most basic household tools and it's making him freak out.
It's like you buy a a hammer and it just shocks you sometimes. A windows 11 operating system is like a hammer that randomly shocks you.

Using a computer is about having power. It should, and can be a very edifying experience. Something that strengthens you, something that makes you grow.

The simplest way to give users that power, the best way to "empower", to make things "accessible", to "support creatives", is to have more options in the settings screen. Buttons to click. Drop down options. Let the user craft their own special menu, their own delicious meal. But microsoft seems to have no conception of what using a computer is about, nor do they care at all about user experience.

Austin, I just hope you understand that everything in this god-forsaken world is degrading.

I'm immensely angry about this. I'm enraged beyond belief.

Microsoft engineers are idiots. Sorry, but true. Overpaid, underworked and incapable of simple tasks that those before them mastered with ease. Why do we have to "regress" b/c some idiot in MS wants to feel "important" and FORCE all of us to choose HIS/HER way?? I STILL have seen NO intelligent explanation for why this was removed other than "it's too HARD to program it"...really?? A $3 TRILLION company and you can't figure this out and it EXISTED before, but now it's "too hard" waaaa. I hope someday soon Elon takes your business (and your jobs) because you all deserve it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_3dHEjmZvc

exactly they are goofs. why they can't see how they are screwing up everything for the users is beyond me. And all of this thread is just more proof they dont give a crap

That method no longer works. It did until the latest WIN 11 update. For whatever reason MS has blocked that method. And that is one reason so many are upset.

I do not recommend this, however, I reverted to the previous version of WIN 11 in order to retain the taskbar on the right side. While I would much prefer to have the updates, having the real estate means more.

tens of thousands of users have replied to this topic and it is past time for Microsoft to listen to their customers. We know you can do this because you have in the past. Don't know whose job, promotion or ego is on the line here but ignoring us won't make this topic go away.

Mr. Softy doesn’t give a crap. That they can’t make this simple feature available again is proof they just don’t care. And yet we keep giving them our money. I plan to move my email off of a Microsoft Exchange server and stop using Office and Outlook. It’s the only way to fight their lack of care.

I hope Microsoft immediately brings back this feature of being able to align the taskbar to the left, right, bottom or top of the screen.

More non answers

Please revert this downgrade, I need this for a professional work flow.
Windows 10 (the last windows you will ever need..), Win10 obsolete, Win11 with more limitations.

Since there's no official solution and people have to resort to workarounds, one people could use is setting up something like Nobara KDE (which does support panel on the side), and then running Windows apps via either Bottles or Valve's Proton, or if that doesn't work, then via WinBoat or WinApps.

This provides Windows 11 applications usage, but with the benefit of being able to better customize the look of the system.

P.S. worth pointing out Windows did support KDE natively back in XP days. But I don't think it works anymore.

I am a veteran software developer and I was recently forced to move to Windows 11 by my company because Windows 10 support is sunset. In the first day of use, I immediately found out this feature was removed from Windows 11. I don't quite understand the decision process of removing feature at the Microsoft production management team. This is exactly the same thing as when they decided to remove the Start button in Windows 8 and people were willing to pay $5 to the third party software to get the button back. Years later, Microsoft put the Start button back in Windows 10. At that time, I joked with my wife that Microsoft should fire the product manager who made the wrong decision. I sincerely hope Microsoft can learn the lesson and hear the customers' voices more.

...an attempt at placating thousands of frustrated users! Windows 11 is the most BLOATED, frustrating version of windows that has ever been released! FIX THE CRAP THAT NO LONGER WORKS AS IT DID IN PREVIOUS VERSIONS!

Microsoft please hire some programmers that will know how to add resize taskbar function back into Windows. You should have never released Windows 11 without this feature being caried over. What is happening over there in Redmond?

I think everyone would be quite happy if they'd take KDE, and migrate to using that as a GUI for their system, essentially integrating into the larger ecosystem of many other OSes out there and resolving the problems with customization. Hk, even the handhelds are using KDE these days 🤷‍♂️ And I am writing this comment from a KDE as well.

Hopefully, the update to allow moving the taskbar to the side of the screen will happen soon. It is so uncomfortable to have it at the bottom of the screen!

Well, you can use extended Win10 support for now. Or migrate to more customizable KDE as another option.

I have the same question : why it isn't still possible to anchor the bar to all screen edges?
It's been years since 11th release, and I do not believe that it is so hard to do it.

All it has to be is simple replacement of vectors per screen's edge.
But in my my opinion there isn't a good will on the side of Ms to include it.
Disappointing. Whole tech sector is disappointing nowadays.

Please update to be able to move the taskbar! This feels limiting!

We need more than just a standard foreign "help-desk" response. We know you're sorry, blah blah: sure. Just fix it.

This is crazy. Millions of users had their taskbar on the side of the screen and you've completely eliminated it. What did you replace it with? AI that nobody wants but is really good at cheating in school and boiling lakes?

I would like to add my vote to giving back the functionality to move the taskbar into the vertical positions! Quite stupid and annoying that it has been removed

Just to be clear, the taskbar on the side is not merely aesthetic, it is a necessity. When you are a teacher, you have piles of papers to grade blocking the bottom aligned taskbar, making the taskbar inaccessible! Please change your settings, Microsoft! (Why so controlling?!)

it is quiet impressive how stable windows is, shittiest OS in the world for decades

The answer is unsatisfactory because this is not a "get used to it" issue but the placement of the task bar at the bottom of the screen creates really damaging ergonomics requiring a massive increase in neck tilt for the bottom row to be visible when using a lap top. It is so bad that I'm having to recommend people switch to MAC even though I really don't like their OS, physical health comes first. Seems that health is not a priority for Microsoft.

Losing the feature to put the Taskbar along the left hand side of the screen has been a major impediment to productivity. When it is along the left hand side it can show some text that helps distinguish multiple instances of the same program. For example I often have 4 or 5 ssh sessions to different servers. I used to see them listed along the left hand side of the screen and could pick the one I wanted. Now I have to hover the mouse over the single taskbar item and wait for the list of sessions to show, then move the mouse to pick the one I want.
I have no idea why something that worked well was removed. I want it back.

I tried the suggested regedit of Яίτζ with no change in taskbar position. I can't reply to them directly, maybe they will see this message? Made the edit as directed but the instructions on restarting are a little vague. Sounded like an easy fix. Thanks for trying.

GREAT NEWS!

IT'S OFFICIALLY COMES TO WINDOWS NATIVELY (it's on Insider)