How do I make the Windows 11 Taskbar always on top?

TiredSoul 156

I cant seem to access my taskbar when it is hidden by auto-hide, and when I use the shortcuts, then switch to my tabs, it immediately disappears instead of going down. Every article I've read are for older windows versions, and use taskbar properties, but I don't know how to access taskbar properties on Windows 11, as right clicking it doesn't have all the options it used to.

Mario Liebisch 36 Reputation points

2021-12-14T13:38:53.567+00:00

The very same issue has been bugging me for weeks. I originally thought it's a side-effect by Battlefield 2042's fullscreen mode (which sometimes crashes the ShellExperienceHost handling the regular Start Menu (but not the Search version accessible through Win+S), but only recently noticed it's actually (most likely) caused by the task bar no longer being always on top.

I'm pretty sure it hasn't been that way when Windows 11 released, but I might be wrong. It made me go back to the always visible task bar, since it's just annoying when you can't access anything with the bar not popping up (due to being behind other windows and the Start menu not always showing).

Guess I'm writing a small script to just manipulate the window style on my own…
Fredrik Lidström 26 Reputation points

2022-01-14T14:49:45.547+00:00

I'm having this problem as well. The taskbar is frequently obscured by other windows which makes it quite unusable. Have experienced this ever since I upgraded to Windows 11, but I have not found any solution to it. When searching I find answers regarding moving the taskbar to the top of the screen, which has nothing to do with the problem I am experiencing.

I don't understand how this apparent bug is flying under the radar?!

It's becoming very apparent that Windows 11 is the new Windows 8, with changes no one ever asked for or wanted. Here's hoping Windows 12 will be the new Windows 10 where they try to fix most of their mistakes.
ElkkuOne 6 Reputation points

2022-03-02T08:37:01.207+00:00

I had the same problem, and went to github to find solution and found someone that made a fix to atleast GeForce window broblem, so i don't have to turn it off ingame owerlay
https://github.com/dechamps/RudeWindowFixer
JUAN M 1 Reputation point

2022-06-03T16:22:15.503+00:00

I want to move the taskbar back to the bottom of the screen, since what i meant for always on top was on top of all windows. But when I change the regedit back to number 03, press ok, then restart, the taskbar remains on top of the screen. When I check the regedit again, i see that the number goes back to 01. What should i do?
T Mac 5 Reputation points

2023-02-21T22:07:45.0566667+00:00

I am having this same issue. All the sudden it just stopped showing up when I have windows open on full screen.
Steve Olsen 0 Reputation points

2023-12-01T16:57:49.28+00:00

This worked for me:

https://windowsreport.com/windows-11-taskbar-always-on-top/

It is basically changing a registry value in:

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

In "Settings"

On line 00000008, byte 5, change 03 to 01...

Then in Task Manager restart Windows Explorer.
Behzad 0 Reputation points

2024-02-09T11:28:19.95+00:00

same issue here, very annoying, worst when the keyboard covers the taskbar or you swipe up to see the taskbar but the start menu pops up, and cannot do anything before u close the stat menu. also most of the time must manually open the virtual keyboard when using this waste of money as a tablet. it has been my worst Microsoft experience

21 answers

TiredSoul 156 Reputation points

2022-01-18T02:15:18.553+00:00

I've found the answer. I've seen another forum, and it seems to be a side effect of Nvidia's Game Overlay. Disabling Nvidia's Game Overlay will fix this. Here's a link to the post I found it on: https://superuser.com/questions/1163969/windows-10-taskbar-is-not-always-on-top

New GeForce Drivers that are installed with GeForce Experience (since 2016) call it the In Game Overlay, and you can disable it by opening GeForce Experience > Settings (top right) > General and untick the In Game Overlay option.
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22 people found this answer helpful.
Mario Liebisch 36 Reputation points

2022-01-18T16:49:16.98+00:00

Ahh! That's helpful! I've tried all kind of things, except disabling that overlay. However, it seems as the latest driver updated from last week fixed this, at least for me it seems to be working as expected right now.

Mario Liebisch 36 Reputation points

2022-01-18T16:53:39.213+00:00

Forgot to mention, the driver I'm talking about is version version 511.23 from 14th January 2022. This fixed it for me (at least for now). So maybe you want to give that a spin and if it helps, update/select your answer as the solution.

TiredSoul 156 Reputation points

2022-01-18T23:43:25.163+00:00

Sadly, that version still presents this problem to me, so I'm not sure if it's fully fixed yet.

Mario Liebisch 36 Reputation points

2022-01-19T07:49:59.7+00:00

You're right! Just had it happen again, but switching windows fixed it once again. It's clearly not fixed, but definitely better (at least for me).

Doc2000 6 Reputation points

2022-02-02T03:09:48.057+00:00

Thank you TiredSoul-0538, the taskbar not staying on top of other windows was driving me crazy from the first day I upgraded win 10 to 11, I disabled Nvidia overlay and it fixed my problem.

Mahdi Noor Hasan 1 Reputation point

2022-02-21T17:32:21.917+00:00

Thanks. That fixed my issue in windows 11. Let me know if a new update fixes this issue.

Javier Saenz 1 Reputation point

2022-04-19T19:10:19.387+00:00

Aha, my hero and savior! feels good to finally see my taskbar again thanks a lot for the help! you've made someones UI 10x better

Mark Pengelski 1 Reputation point

2022-12-22T16:28:18.547+00:00

THANKS TO TIRED SOUL-0538. Nvidia Overlay pushing Windows Task Bar to NOT be on Top was REALLY annoying and iniconvenient. Turning it off fixed the problem isntantly.

Bill Milosz 0 Reputation points

2023-03-19T02:32:59.32+00:00

Yes! This was exactly the cause of the issue for me on Windows 11!

Kane 5 Reputation points

2023-05-20T09:22:22.8266667+00:00

Thank you! This fixed it. Though someone else pointed out that you DON'T need to entirely disable GeForce Experience, just open the overlay and go to Settings > HUD Layout and turn all the HUD indicators OFF.

INSPRT 0 Reputation points

2023-07-13T07:07:20.5533333+00:00

This is the answer! TY:)

Sean M 0 Reputation points

2023-07-31T23:51:42.6633333+00:00

Thanks. 👍

Arthur Salt 0 Reputation points

2024-02-22T19:17:46.7933333+00:00

You beauty!
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LumberJ4Ck 56 Reputation points

2022-05-17T15:36:54.09+00:00

Turning off my HUD FPS Layout in NVIDIA Settings (ALT + Z) appears to have resolved the issue for me.
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11 people found this answer helpful.
Aleo 0 Reputation points

2023-03-02T11:19:40.1866667+00:00

Ha, I was getting ticked off, this was the issue for me!

Kane 5 Reputation points

2023-05-20T09:20:35.3033333+00:00

Thank you! This works without having to disable Nvidia GeForce Experience entirely.

CJ 0 Reputation points

2023-06-09T13:56:23.8066667+00:00

This worked like a charm dude, thanks so much!

Bryson Tidman 5 Reputation points

2023-07-09T23:12:26.0766667+00:00

This was the issue for me and disabling performance overlay fixed it. You don't have to alltogether disable geforce experience in-game overlay, but just the performance indicator seems to have fixed it. DUMB.

DaPistolShrimp 11 Reputation points

2023-07-14T12:18:48.2133333+00:00

This also worked for me. Nvidia needs to fix this.

Zuko 0 Reputation points

2024-01-18T15:47:54.7966667+00:00

Wow you solved it. Thankyou so much.
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Limitless Technology 39,511 Reputation points

2021-12-20T13:51:29.297+00:00

Hi @TiredSoul

You can check in the article below how to customize the taskbar in windows 11 and the different options you have to do this:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/customize-taskbar-windows-11

You also have the option to move the taskbar to the top using regedit, follow the instructions below:

1) Search for regedit in the Start menu and open Registry Editor.

2) Navigate to the key below:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3

3) Right-click on the StuckRects3 key and select the “Export” option. Save a REG file to your desktop with an easy-to-identify name, such as bkp_registro_win11. This file is a backup of the registry key that will be modified, which you can restore if something goes wrong.

4) Double click on the “Settings” value on the right side.

5) In line 0008, place the mouse cursor in the fifth column, before the value 03 and press the “Del” key to delete the value 03. Then type 01 in the same place and click “OK” and close the editor .

6) Finally, restart Windows Explorer to apply the change. Open the Task Manager with "Ctrl + Shift + Esc", right click in Windows Explorer and select the option "Restart."

7) Once this is done, the taskbar will appear at the top of the Windows 11 desktop.

If you want to return the Windows 11 taskbar to the bottom of the desktop, just double click on the REG file you exported and finally restart Windows Explorer.

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept as answer--
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4 people found this answer helpful.
Mario Liebisch 36 Reputation points

2021-12-20T14:57:52.767+00:00

Uh, I'm pretty sure "always on top" here refers to "make the Task Bar overlap/in front of all other windows". There's no extra option for that, since it's been like that since Windows 95 (as long as it's not auto-hiding right now), but in Windows 11 this has been broken for some time now. At least for me and apparently a few others.

TiredSoul 156 Reputation points

2021-12-20T16:28:35.493+00:00

@Mario Liebisch is correct. By always on top, I meant always on top of other applications, not at the top of the screen.

Mohammed Al Awad 1 Reputation point

2022-02-23T09:01:31.79+00:00

Thanks, this is helpful however when I did this I lost the view when I open more than one file, ex. if I open 3 excel file I lose the view and when I click on those file nothing appear and I use the Alt Tap to navigate between my files

Gustavo 6 Reputation points

2022-03-03T16:17:11.583+00:00

This works great only for main monitor. If you have two or more monitors, the taskbar stills on bottom on them.

Gustavo 6 Reputation points

2022-03-03T16:17:50.77+00:00

This works great only for main monitor. If you have two or more monitors, the taskbar stills on bottom on them.

Stephen Cotton 1 Reputation point

2022-03-05T00:08:40.147+00:00

I agree - this how to is not giving a solution to the problem. I looked for a setting somewhere to ensure the taskbar is always visible - i.e. always in front or always on top (not position on the screen). There is no setting. The work around is to hit the windows button on the keyboard and this pops the taskbar to the front.

kakao3ri 1 Reputation point

2022-03-09T10:23:51.027+00:00

it seems to me that "stuckrects3" isnt available on the path you mentioned. is there anything i can still do?

Cleverson Izzo 1 Reputation point

2022-03-31T16:46:08.753+00:00

and startmenu animation continues comes from of down to up ....

Alzeroff 1 Reputation point

2022-05-03T03:09:15.93+00:00

For dual screen setups, head over to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MMStuckRects3. Look for a item named SAM0D37#5&3664bf47&0&UID4354 and follow the same steps as above.

Javier Lince 0 Reputation points

2023-04-08T15:53:52.12+00:00

Thank you!!

Ole-Thomas Moe 0 Reputation points

2023-07-03T18:42:56.5666667+00:00

Regedit worked like a charm.
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Mario Liebisch 36 Reputation points

2022-03-11T06:32:12.627+00:00

Microsoft acknowledged the issue in this Feedback Hub thread and promised a solution to be included starting with build 22567.

For the time being, you can also use this tool, which runs in background and tries to fiddle with windows styles to avoid the issue. I've been using it for quite some time and only some games bug out the task bar, but this can be fixed by hitting the Windows key once or twice to make the start menu pop up and close. After that the cursor makes it reappear as expected.
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2 people found this answer helpful.
DMay 1 Reputation point

2022-04-07T21:39:35.877+00:00

Tapping the Windows key pops the Taskbar over top of a window such as a video that is set to fullscreen.

I have the taskbar set to show only the icons for the apps that are open on 'that' monitor. I might have 5 windows open on one monitor and three on another monitor. When I run a video fullscreen the video window covers the taskbar, and I can't access the other 4 apps I have on the monitor. I was having to take my video out of fullscreen. MarioLiebisch's recommendation to hit the Windows key solved my issue!

Thanks!
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Ary 6 Reputation points

2022-09-29T11:26:02.2+00:00

I have tried mucking around with the regedit and followed the online articles and videos but still the new updates on the Windows 11 revert back to the defaults.
I now absolutely hate the windows 11 ! hate how the new windows 11 doesn't allow you to move your task bar to the top. Having the task bar at the bottom is not ergonomic and it hurt my neck.
What happened to having the option to customize your windows
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How do I make the Windows 11 Taskbar always on top?

21 answers