Windows 7 was one of the best-looking operating systems that Microsoft has ever designed, and one reason for that was its Aero design language introduced with Windows Vista. Its key distinguishing feature was its emphasis on translucency, which gave it a glass-like appearance. Unfortunately, with Windows 8, Microsoft replaced this with a flat, simplistic design.

The most recent version of the OS, Windows 11, also lacks transparent and translucent elements, which is a shame since many users want things like the taskbar to be fully transparent. However, there are ways to achieve this, like using a third-party app or editing the registry.

Method 1: Using the Registry Editor

You can edit the Windows Registry to make your Windows 11 taskbar transparent. However, make sure to back up the registry first because making changes to it without proper knowledge can cause problems and make your PC unusable.

  1. Open the Start menu, type registry editor and click on 'Run as administrator'.
  1. When the Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following directory: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
  1. On the right side, right-click on an empty area and go to 'New' before clicking on 'DWORD (32-bit) Value'.
  1. Give the newly created DWORD the name UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency and set its value to 1.
  1. Restart your computer and you should now see that your taskbar is transparent.

Method 2: Using TranslucentTB

TranslucentTB is a third-party app that is completely free to use and uses very little resources. The benefit of using this app instead of the above method is that you get more customization options.

  1. Open the Microsoft Store from the Start menu and install TranslucentTB.
  1. Once the program is installed, click on the 'Open' button.
  1. You will see your taskbar has become completely transparent and the application will appear on your desktop. Click on the 'Continue' button.
  1. The TranslucentTB icon should now appear on the taskbar in either the system tray on the left of the existing icons or in the overflow menu that appears after clicking the arrow on the right side of the taskbar.
Note: If you don't see the TranslucentTB icon on the taskbar, it's generally a bug that might go away after resetting the system tray setting for the app icon. Navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and expand the Other system tray icons section. Here, enable and disable the toggle for TranslucentTB once. This should make the icon appear on your taskbar.
  1. Click the TranslucentTB icon from the taskbar to customize the appearance of the transparent taskbar.

    For instance, you can make the transparent taskbar more easily distinguishable by adding a border around it, select various transparency options, like Transparent, Acrylic, Opaque, etc., or configure the taskbar's appearance in different instances such as when the Start menu is opened, Task View is opened, Battery saver is on, etc.
  1. To add a border around the transparent taskbar, go to the 'Desktop' option and click on 'Show Taskbar Border'.
  1. If you want the taskbar to appear transparent when you power on your PC, enable the 'Open at Boot' option by clicking on the checkbox. Similarly, you can tweak other settings as per your preference.

Method 3: Using GPU settings

Both AMD and Nvidia allow you to customize your taskbar and make it transparent.

  1. Open the Nvidia Control Panel and go to 'Color Settings' or search for 'Adjust Desktop Color Settings'.
  1. Adjust the various colors and opacity until you get a transparent taskbar. Then save the changes.

Things to know

  • Windows keeps making changes to its system, which means that third-party apps like TranslucentTB may not always work. Updates can break the application and stop it from working.
  • If you want to restore your taskbar to its original appearance after making changes to the Registry, you can simply remove the DWORD added to it. For the TranslucentTB method, simply uninstalling the program or closing it from the taskbar will restore the taskbar to its default appearance.
  • It is a good idea to create a system restore point before making changes that affect your system. This way, you can easily undo the changes in case something goes wrong.