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Even though Windows 10 has been out for several years, many Windows 11 users are still not happy with the lack of customization you can do in Windows 11 in regard to the taskbar and start menu. Many people end up having to do things such as perform registry edits or install third party Windows customization\tweaking applications to get these settings and features back.
One feature that many people miss is the ability to have multiple rows on the Windows taskbar, so they have quick access to all their open apps. It also makes things easier to find because they are not as compressed as when you only have one row. Sure, Windows 11 has the taskbar overflow feature but that is not quite the same. In this article, we will be showing you how to add multiple rows to the Windows 11 taskbar.
In order to restore the multiple rows taskbar feature in Windows 11, we will be using a free application called Windhawk. This application works by adding what are called “mods” that are designed to add features to Windows or enhance how existing features work. You can download Windhawk from their website and then install it on your computer.
In order to add multiple rows to the Windows 11 taskbar, we will need to install two different mods in Windhawk and then configure them to work with each other to get the desired results. To install a mod, you can go to the Explore tab and then search for the particular mod. The ones we will be using are called Multirow taskbar for Windows 11 and Taskbar height and icon size.
Once you find each mod, simply click on the Details button and then click on the Install button.
You will then need to click on the Accept Risk and Install button to have the mod added to your Windhawk application.
Now that we have both mods installed, they will be shown under the Home section of Windhawk where we can then do things such change their settings, disable them or even remove them.
To get the best results from these mods, you should set your Taskbar alignment setting from Center to Left if you are using the default settings. You may also want to change the Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels option to Never.
As you can see, the default settings do not work so well so we will need to make some adjustments to the Taskbar height and icon size mod to make everything look correct. The default setting for the Multirow taskbar for Windows 11 mod is 2 rows and you can increase that if desired, but you will need to adjust the Taskbar height and icon size mod again if you do.
The setting we will need to adjust is the Taskbar height setting. The default value is 52 pixels, and you can change this number to whatever you like to make it look the way you want. Just be sure to click the Save settings button every time you make a change.
We changed the Taskbar height setting to 75 and now you can see that things fit much better on the rows.
Now if we were to change the Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels option back to Never, you can see that there are not enough open programs to take up two rows and you will have extra space on your taskbar, so it is up to you whether or not you want to use this setting.
Although this is not a perfect solution to adding multiple rows to the Windows 11 taskbar, its better than not having the option at all!
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