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![Taskbar Taskbar](/uploads/1/3/6/9/136972342/539378530.png)
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Applies to
Pin Control Panel Applets to Taskbar in Windows 10. The first thing we need to do is to pin Control Panel to the taskbar. Here is how it can be done. Open Control Panel in Windows 10. Right click the Control Panel icon on the taskbar and choose 'Pin to taskbar'. Now, drag and drop your favorite applets from the Control Panel to its icon on the. The Search icon will then disappear from the Taskbar and you can now have more space for the more important items that you want to pin into the Taskbar. What About the Task View Icon? Next to the Search box/icon is the Task View icon which is more useful than the former. The taskbar supports two display options: Auto-Hide and, in Windows Vista and earlier only, Always On Top (the taskbar is always in this mode in Windows 7 and later). To set these options, the user must open the taskbar shortcut menu, click Properties, and select or clear the Auto-hide the taskbar check box or the Keep the taskbar on top of.
- Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 with Desktop Experience, Windows Server 2019 with Desktop Experience
Looking for consumer information?See what's on the Start menu
Organizations might want to deploy a customized Start and taskbar configuration to devices running Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education. A standard, customized Start layout can be useful on devices that are common to multiple users and devices that are locked down for specialized purposes. Configuring the taskbar allows the organization to pin useful apps for their employees and to remove apps that are pinned by default.
Note
Taskbar configuration is available starting in Windows 10, version 1607.
Start and taskbar configuration can be applied to devices running Windows 10 Pro, version 1703.
For information on using the layout modification XML to configure Start with roaming user profiles, see Deploy Roaming User Profiles.
Using CopyProfile for Start menu customization in Windows 10 isn't supported. For more information Customize the Default User Profile by Using CopyProfile Cassiano de silva.
Start options
Some areas of Start can be managed using Group Policy. The layout of Start tiles can be managed using either Group Policy or Mobile Device Management (MDM) policy.
Note
The MDM policy settings in the table can also be configured in a provisioning package using Policies > Start. See the reference for Start settings in Windows Configuration Designer.
The following table lists the different parts of Start and any applicable policy settings or Settings options. Group Policy settings are in the User ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesStart Menu and Taskbar path except where a different path is listed in the table.
Start | Policy | Local setting |
---|---|---|
User tile | MDM: Start/HideUserTile Start/HideSwitchAccount Start/HideSignOut Start/HideLock Start/HideChangeAccountSettings Group Policy: Remove Logoff on the Start menu | none |
Most used | MDM: Start/HideFrequentlyUsedApps Group Policy: Remove frequent programs from the Start menu | Settings > Personalization > Start > Show most used apps |
Suggestions -and- Dynamically inserted app tile | MDM: Allow Windows Consumer Features Group Policy: Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsCloud ContentTurn off Microsoft consumer experiences Note: This policy also enables or disables notifications for a user's Microsoft account and app tiles from Microsoft dynamically inserted in the default Start menu. | Settings > Personalization > Start > Occasionally show suggestions in Start |
Recently added | MDM: Start/HideRecentlyAddedApps Group Policy: Computer configurationAdministrative TemplateStart Menu and TaskbarRemove 'Recently Added' list from Start Menu (for Windows 10, version 1803) | Settings > Personalization > Start > Show recently added apps |
Pinned folders | MDM: AllowPinnedFolder | Settings > Personalization > Start > Choose which folders appear on Start |
Power | MDM: Start/HidePowerButton Start/HideHibernate Start/HideRestart Start/HideShutDown Start/HideSleep Group Policy: Remove and prevent access to the Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate commands | none |
Start layout | MDM: Start layout ImportEdgeAssets Group Policy: Prevent users from customizing their Start screen Note: When a full Start screen layout is imported with Group Policy or MDM, the users cannot pin, unpin, or uninstall apps from the Start screen. Users can view and open all apps in the All Apps view, but they cannot pin any apps to the Start screen. When a partial Start screen layout is imported, users cannot change the tile groups applied by the partial layout, but can modify other tile groups and create their own. Start layout policy can be used to pin apps to the taskbar based on an XML File that you provide. Users will be able to change the order of pinned apps, unpin apps, and pin additional apps to the taskbar. | none |
Jump lists | MDM: Start/HideRecentJumplists Group Policy: Do not keep history of recently opened documents | Settings > Personalization > Start > Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Start or the taskbar |
Start size | MDM: Force Start size Group Policy: Force Start to be either full screen size or menu size | Settings > Personalization > Start > Use Start full screen |
App list | MDM: Start/HideAppList | Settings > Personalization > Start > Show app list in Start menu |
All Settings | Group Policy: Prevent changes to Taskbar and Start Menu Settings | none |
Taskbar | MDM: Start/NoPinningToTaskbar | none |
Note
In local Settings > Personalization > Start, there is an option to Show more tiles. The default tile layout for Start tiles is 3 columns of medium sized tiles. Show more tiles enables 4 columns. To configure the 4-column layout when you customize and export a Start layout, turn on the Show more tiles setting and then arrange your tiles.
Taskbar options
![Taskbar Taskbar](/uploads/1/3/6/9/136972342/539378530.png)
Starting in Windows 10, version 1607, you can pin additional apps to the taskbar and remove default pinned apps from the taskbar. You can specify different taskbar configurations based on device locale or region.
There are three categories of apps that might be pinned to a taskbar:
- Apps pinned by the user
- Default Windows apps, pinned during operating system installation (Microsoft Edge, File Explorer, Store)
- Apps pinned by the enterprise, such as in an unattended Windows setupNoteWe recommend using the layoutmodification.xml method to configure taskbar options, rather than the earlier method of using TaskbarLinks in an unattended Windows setup file.
The following example shows how apps will be pinned - Windows default apps to the left (blue circle), apps pinned by the user in the center (orange triangle), and apps that you pin using XML to the right (green square).
Note
In operating systems configured to use a right-to-left language, the taskbar order will be reversed.
Whether you apply the taskbar configuration to a clean install or an update, users will still be able to:
- Pin additional apps
- Change the order of pinned apps
- Unpin any app
Note
In Windows 10, version 1703, you can apply an MDM policy,
Start/NoPinningToTaskbar
, to prevents users from pinning and unpinning apps on the taskbar.Taskbar configuration applied to clean install of Windows 10
In a clean install, if you apply a taskbar layout, only the apps that you specify and default apps that you do not remove will be pinned to the taskbar. Users can pin additional apps to the taskbar after the layout is applied.
Taskbar configuration applied to Windows 10 upgrades
When a device is upgraded to Windows 10, apps will be pinned to the taskbar already. Some apps may have been pinned to the taskbar by a user, and others may have been pinned to the taskbar through a customized base image or by using Windows Unattend setup.
The new taskbar layout for upgrades to Windows 10, version 1607 or later, will apply the following behavior:
- If the user pinned the app to the taskbar, those pinned apps remain and new apps will be added to the right.
- If the user didn't pin the app (it was pinned during installation or by policy) and the app is not in updated layout file, the app will be unpinned.
- If the user didn't pin the app and the app is in the updated layout file, the app will be pinned to the right.
- New apps specified in updated layout file are pinned to right of user's pinned apps.
Learn how to configure Windows 10 taskbar.
Start layout configuration errors
On The Taskbar Icon
If your Start layout customization is not applied as expected, open Event Viewer and navigate to Applications and Services Log > Microsoft > Windows > ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation > Operational, and check for one of the following events:
- Event 22 is logged when the xml is malformed, meaning the specified file simply isn’t valid xml. This can occur if the file has extra spaces or unexpected characters, or if the file is not saved in the UTF8 format.
- Event 64 is logged when the xml is valid, but has unexpected values. This can happen when the desired configuration is not understood, elements are not in the required order, or source is not found, such as a missing or misspelled .lnk.
Related topics
With the introduction of Windows 7, you can pin a program to the Windows taskbar. Pinning creates a shortcut to a program that allows the user to open that program from the taskbar using a mouse or shortcut keys. This feature is beneficial because you don't have to minimize all your windows like you would to use a desktop shortcut.
Quick Launch is a feature that was included with Windows 98 up through Windows Vista. It works the same way as pinning. Locate your version of Windows below and follow the steps.
Windows 7, 8, and 10
Pin an already open program
If the program is open, pin it to the taskbar by right-clicking the icon on the taskbar and clicking Pin to taskbar. Once pinned to the taskbar, it always appears on the taskbar even if the program is closed.
Pin from Start menu
- Press the Windows key to open the Start menu. You see a menu similar to the one below:
- Scroll down the apps list to find the program you'd like to pin.
- Once you located the icon, right-click it, then move your cursor over More and select Pin to taskbar.
- When you're done, you will see the program's shortcut to the right of the search bar.
Drag-and-drop a shortcut
- Locate the shortcut you would like to pin.
- Drag-and-drop the shortcut onto the taskbar.
Removing shortcuts from the taskbar
- Right-click any shortcut icon on the taskbar.
- Select Unpin from taskbar.
To The Taskbar
The exact Unpin option text will differ depending on the location of the pinned item. For example, if a program is pinned to the taskbar, the option will be named Unpin from taskbar.
![The The](/uploads/1/3/6/9/136972342/940641983.jpg)
Windows 98, 2000, XP, and Vista
Adding a program to Quick Launch
- Right-click an empty portion of the Quick Launch tray, and select Open folder to display the icons stored in the Quick Launch directory.
- Once the Quick Launch folder is open, create new shortcuts in it, or you may drag-and-drop existing ones.
Adding shortcuts to Quick Launch
How To Pin A Program To The Taskbar
Drag-and-drop the shortcut you want to add onto the Quick Launch section of the taskbar.
Removing shortcuts from Quick Launch
To remove icons from Quick Launch, right-click the icon you want to delete, and then select Delete.
Additional information
- See the Quick Launch definition for further information and related links.