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Wingz

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Captain Suave said:
So I am on Win 11 for reasons out of my control (and can't downgrade). I need to be able to put the taskbar vertically on the side of the monitor, a feature which Microsoft has removed in their infinite wisdom. There are a variety of third party tools that claim to enable this, all of which that I've tried are variously ugly, buggy, non-functional with multiple monitors, flagged as a virus by Windows Defender, or regularly BSoD important system components.

Anyone have suggestions for a solution?
Click to expand...
Yea it looks like MS told everyone to fuck off for this with Win 11.

Don't have win 11 myself to try it but a buddy of mine uses Windhawk for this.. 3rd party tool as mentioned:

https://windhawk.net/

Here, as you go down the page shows you what requests are there for the taskbar and which ones are done / not done for functionality.



Vid is from last year so probably a bit different by now.



If not comfortable with 3rd party programs don't use it but it looks like unfortunately there isn't really any alternatives with Win 11.
 
Captain Suave

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Wingz said:
Yea it looks like MS told everyone to fuck off for this with Win 11.

Don't have win 11 myself to try it but a buddy of mine uses Windhawk for this.. 3rd party tool as mentioned:

https://windhawk.net/
Click to expand...

Sadly, this is the one that doesn't play nice with multiple monitors. When you set the taskbar to vertical you get no taskbars anywhere until you remove the plugin.
 
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Janx

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Wingz said:
Yea it looks like MS told everyone to fuck off for this with Win 11.

Don't have win 11 myself to try it but a buddy of mine uses Windhawk for this.. 3rd party tool as mentioned:

https://windhawk.net/

Here, as you go down the page shows you what requests are there for the taskbar and which ones are done / not done for functionality.



Vid is from last year so probably a bit different by now.



If not comfortable with 3rd party programs don't use it but it looks like unfortunately there isn't really any alternatives with Win 11.
Click to expand...

When I was still using Windows 11 I used startallback. $5 for a license was well worth it and it was always getting updates

StartAllBack to fix all Windows 11 deal-breaking UI issues

StartAllBack restores taskbar, start menu, context menus, explorer, sanity, style and order!
www.startallback.com

Looks like there's a version for Windows 10 too that can use the same key, gonna check it out.
 
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Captain Suave

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Janx said:
When I was still using Windows 11 I used startallback. $5 for a license was well worth it and it was always getting updates

StartAllBack to fix all Windows 11 deal-breaking UI issues

StartAllBack restores taskbar, start menu, context menus, explorer, sanity, style and order!
www.startallback.com

Looks like there's a version for Windows 10 too that can use the same key, gonna check it out.
Click to expand...

Perfect, exactly what I wanted. Thanks.
 
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Intrinsic

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I put Win 10 on my new build machine and it is so nice to not have everything bubbling around, looking like it belongs on a tablet, bunch of other integrations and features no one asked for. 10 isn’t perfect but made me realize just how noisy 11 is.
 
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Control

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Still use Windows 10? Throw your fucking computer away apparently:
1742394468934.png
 
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Void

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This one claims to bring back the vertical taskbar as well, but I used up my free trial months ago before that feature was implemented. I'm tempted to try it because it looks like 5 installs is only $15, and at least I know who Stardock is. But I'd like to hear if StartAllBack works as advertised too.

www.stardock.com

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.
www.stardock.com
 
Janx

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Void said:
This one claims to bring back the vertical taskbar as well, but I used up my free trial months ago before that feature was implemented. I'm tempted to try it because it looks like 5 installs is only $15, and at least I know who Stardock is. But I'd like to hear if StartAllBack works as advertised too.

www.stardock.com

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.
www.stardock.com
Click to expand...
I've used startallback since shortly after installing windows 11 and it lets you move taskbars np and do all sorts of customization to the UI. Back on 10 now but using the windows 10 version now (startisback) because it still has some UI customization I liked (ex: centered taskbar icons).
 
Captain Suave

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Xerge said:
DisplayFusion: Multiple Monitors Made Easy by Binary Fortress Software handles taskbar/multi-monitor setups reasonably well
Click to expand...

I forget what the exact failure mode was, but I was unable to get DF to produce what I wanted.

I've got two monitors, the primary of which is an OLED. I wanted to limit burn-in, hence auto-hiding the taskbar, but having it at the bottom of the screen sucks because it constantly pops up and resizes windows when you try to mouse down to the bottom edge for something else (media controls, etc.). I ended up making my side monitor the "main" in Windows, disabling the secondary taskbkar on the OLED, and using StartAllBack to put a vertical taskbar on the LCD at the interface of the two desktops.

StartAllBack was the only one of like a dozen solutions I tried that got me to a tolerable place. It seems essentially impossible to get full control over taskbars on multiple monitors (differential location, hiding, geometry, etc.).
 
Deathwing

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What a stupid feature to remove. Even Teams, eventually, brought back the triple backtick for code quoting.
 
Xerge

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Captain Suave said:
I forget what the exact failure mode was, but I was unable to get DF to produce what I wanted.

I've got two monitors, the primary of which is an OLED. I wanted to limit burn-in, hence auto-hiding the taskbar, but having it at the bottom of the screen sucks because it constantly pops up and resizes windows when you try to mouse down to the bottom edge for something else (media controls, etc.). I ended up making my side monitor the "main" in Windows, disabling the secondary taskbkar on the OLED, and using StartAllBack to put a vertical taskbar on the LCD at the interface of the two desktops.

StartAllBack was the only one of like a dozen solutions I tried that got me to a tolerable place. It seems essentially impossible to get full control over taskbars on multiple monitors (differential location, hiding, geometry, etc.).
Click to expand...
I don't experience any of those issues on win11 tbh. I have a three monitor set up and I auto hide the task bar on each, I just tested changing one taskbar to vertical and it auto hid just fine.
 
Captain Suave

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Xerge said:
I don't experience any of those issues on win11 tbh. I have a three monitor set up and I auto hide the task bar on each, I just tested changing one taskbar to vertical and it auto hid just fine.
Click to expand...

Oh, I think I remember the issue. Some of the multi monitor options are disabled until you pay, which I didn't want to do until I was sure it was going to work.
 
Xerge

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Captain Suave said:
Oh, I think I remember the issue. Some of the multi monitor options are disabled until you pay, which I didn't want to do until I was sure it was going to work.
Click to expand...
I swear by the app these days, was worth the dollars. Has other cool features as well. One of my favorites is the added buttons next to the normal window controls; slips the window to the left or right screen. Keybinds to dim the screen is a nice touch too for video watching.
1742400891088.png
 
Void

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Xerge said:
I don't experience any of those issues on win11 tbh. I have a three monitor set up and I auto hide the task bar on each, I just tested changing one taskbar to vertical and it auto hid just fine.
Click to expand...
If you are somehow getting vertical taskbars on Win11 with DisplayFusion, I want to hear all about it. I can't get mine to do it with just 2 monitors. DF is perhaps one of the greatest cheap applications I have ever purchased, and it annoys me that I can't make it work with 11.

I just bought that Start11 from Stardock, including a coupon code for the 5 simultaneous activations that brought it to like $12.50 total (code is TRIAL-15-OFF), and it won't play nice with DF. It works by itself, but only for a single taskbar. The other one just won't show at all. There is an option for what secondary monitor taskbar behavior is, but changing it does absolutely nothing. And when I have DF running at the same time, my desktop is constantly fighting between the two it seems, because every 10-15 seconds the icons stretch, then compress, over and over, endlessly. Obviously I can't deal with that, so turned DF off for now, but that's not optimal.

I've combed through the DF forums and can't see anywhere that vertical taskbars are a thing in 11, but if you know how and can share it, I'll be your best friend.
 
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Captain Suave

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Void said:
It works by itself, but only for a single taskbar. The other one just won't show at all. There is an option for what secondary monitor taskbar behavior is, but changing it does absolutely nothing
Click to expand...

I dug into this a bit when I was researching. It seems Microsoft has removed the software hooks that would allow much of this control because they're incompetent dickwads who don't care about user choice. StartAllBack creates a synthetic taskbar which can override the primary Windows taskbar, but can't control the secondary. (Other programs manage the opposite in various ways with various other unsatisfactory compromises.) This is why I ended up disabling secondary taskbars all together and reversing my primary/secondary monitor designation. A single persistent vertical taskbar with StartAllBack works fine for me as long as it's between the desktops.
 
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Xerge

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Startallback on win11 can do a vertical main taskbar, however autohide seems broken; doesn't appear on mouseover - workaround is using the win key. DF can do vertical taskbars on your other multi monitors. Both work fine installed together depending on settings. I use both.
 
Void

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Xerge said:
Startallback on win11 can do a vertical main taskbar, however autohide seems broken; doesn't appear on mouseover - workaround is using the win key. DF can do vertical taskbars on your other multi monitors. Both work fine installed together depending on settings. I use both.
Click to expand...
I'll disable Start11 and try Startallback then.

Autohide isn't an issue for me, as I detest that feature, and any time I need to work on a computer that has it I rage a little bit inside.

I just want 2 vertical taskbars in the center of my two monitors, like I used to have on 10. Microsoft are complete dickbags for taking that away.
 
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