When Windows 11 launched in 2021, we mostly liked its refreshed look — the rounded corners and menus, with a hint of transparency, were a nice change from the flat colors and hard corners of the Windows 8/10 era. But its redesigned taskbar and Start menu came with several functional regressions from versions of Windows 10. Some of these were addressed immediately; Others continue to delay.
A new Windows Insider Preview build released to testers includes a new wave of improvements that fix long-standing bugs while trying new things.
Most importantly, the Windows 11 taskbar can now be docked to any edge of your screen, including the left and right, something that was possible in Windows 10 (and many older versions of Windows) but has been missing from Windows 11 since launch. Users can configure slightly different taskbar behavior for each taskbar position – if you prefer a different icon alignment or a left/right-mounted taskbar over a top/bottom-mounted taskbar, or if you want different settings for labels and icon grouping, you can choose different options for each position and Windows will remember them.
Microsoft says there are several features that have not yet been implemented – the taskbar will not automatically hide in any alternate position, and a “tablet-optimized taskbar” with larger, more finger-friendly icon sizes and spacing is also not supported. Touch gestures and search boxes are also not supported. All of these features are coming at some point; They are not ready yet. Microsoft is “evaluating additional features such as different taskbar positions per monitor” for multi-monitor setups.
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