In Windows 11, Microsoft has introduced a new Start menu and a redesigned taskbar. One of the signature changes is that icons such as the Start button are located in the center of the taskbar and the Start menu opens in the center of the screen, which is very different from the position we are used to in Windows 10. Some users have embraced this change, while others find it very unpleasant. In this article, I'll go over how to put the taskbar icons back on the left.
Move Start button and other icons to the left side of the taskbar
To do this, first press Win + I to open the Settings app, select "Personalize" on the left, and then click "Taskbar" on the right. Or you can right-click on the blank space of the taskbar and select "Taskbar settings" in the pop-up.
Here you can add or remove some items displayed on the taskbar, such as search, task view, widgets and chat. And to set the icon position, scroll down the page, find and click on the "Taskbar behavior" option to expand this section.
You can then change the taskbar alignment from the default "Center" to "Left". Windows will then place the taskbar icons in the way you are familiar with, and the Start menu will open from the left.
Of course, if you want to go back to the default settings of Windows 11, just change the option to "Center" again.
Can you change the Windows 11 taskbar position?
In addition to the icons on the taskbar, some users may also want to move the taskbar itself, after all, in Windows 10 it is possible to move the taskbar at will. Unfortunately, so far Windows 11 does not provide such freedom. If you really don't like the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, there is indeed an option to change its position, but only to move it to the top of the screen. The left and right sides are not supported.
Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run dialog box. Type "Regedit" and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
In the Registry Editor, go to the following address.
Double click "Settings" on the right side.
Change "03" to "01" in the "FE" column of the "00000008" line in the pop-up window.
Click "OK" to save the changes, and then close the Registry Editor.
Open Task Manager and search for the "Windows Explorer" process, find it and restart it.
Once that is done, the Windows 11 taskbar should move to the top. If you want to move it to the bottom again, just change the binary value back to "03".
As mentioned earlier, this method currently moves the taskbar to the top, but not to the left or right. We can only hope that Microsoft will give users more options to personalize the taskbar in future versions of Windows 11.