Windows 11 comes with a redesigned Taskbar that, unlike the previous versions of Windows, sits permanently at the bottom of the screen by default. Windows 11 allows you to move the taskbar icons to the left or the center, but it doesn’t allow you to move the taskbar from the bottom to the top, left, or right side of the screen.

However, there’s a Windows registry tweak that you can employ to move the Taskbar to the top of the screen. In this guide, you will learn how to change the position of the taskbar in Windows 11.

Move the Taskbar in Windows 11 by Manually Editing the Registry

Windows 11 has forced the taskbar to stay fixed at its position at the bottom of the screen. So, if you are someone who had gotten used to the versatile placement of the taskbar in Windows 10, it can be a frustrating adjustment. But, with this registry tweak, you can change its position to the top, right, or left. Here’s how to do it.

First, open Windows Registry Editor by pressing the Windows+R keys on your keyboard. Then, type in regedit and click ‘OK’. Alternatively, click the ‘Start’ button, type ‘regedit’, then select ‘Registry Editor’ in the results.

Note: Windows Registry Editor is a powerful tool. Modifying a wrong registry value can crash your system. So, we recommend backing up your registry before altering it.

When Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following key using the sidebar, or you can copy-paste it into the address line:

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

First, back up this current key. To back up your current registry key (StuckRect3), right-click on the selected key from the left pane, then click ‘Export’ from the context menu to save the registry key.

Now, you can make the necessary tweaks. On the right pane of the ‘StuckRects3’ key, double click the ‘Settings’ entry.

You need to change the below value in the second row and the sixth column. By default, the value is ’03’.

To edit the value data, click on the value (03) and press the Right arrow key to move the cursor to the right side of the value.

Then, press Backspace once to remove the value and type one of the following values to change the position of the taskbar to the corresponding position:

  • 00: Move the taskbar to the left of the screen
  • 01: Move the taskbar to the top of the screen
  • 02: Move the taskbar to the right side of the screen
  • 03: Move the taskbar to the bottom of the screen (default)

For example, to move the taskbar to the top of the screen, change the ’03’ value to ’01’.

Once done, either restart the Windows Explorer process using the task manager or restart your PC.

To restart the Windows Explorer process, open the Task Manager by pressing the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keyboard shortcut. In the Processes tab of the task manager, locate the ‘Windows Explorer.exe’ process and right-click on it. Then, select ‘Restart’ from the context menu.

Alternatively, restart your PC and the taskbar will move to the top of the screen.

If you want to move back the taskbar to the bottom of the screen, then change the binary value from ’01’ to ’03’ and restart your PC/ Windows Explorer Process.

Move Taskbar with Registry Files

If you don’t want to edit the registry yourself, you can download these registry files and run them to move your taskbar to any position you want. Use the below link to download the zip file which contains four registry files for positioning the taskbar in four different locations on the screen.

Download Windows 11 Taskbar position Registry files:

Win11_taskbar_position_registry_filesDownload

Download the above file and unzip the files within to any desired location:

  • Taskbar_Left.reg: This file moves the taskbar to the left side of the screen.
  • Taskbar_right.reg: This file moves the taskbar to the right side of the screen.
  • Taskbar_Top.reg: This file moves the taskbar to the top of the screen.
  • Taskbar_Bottom.reg: This file moves the taskbar to the bottom of the screen.

To use a registry file, simply double-click the file and select ‘Yes’ in the User Account Control dialog box.

Then, you will see a Security warning that says “The publisher could not be verified.” Simply click ‘Run’ to continue.

After that, click ‘OK’ in the confirmation dialog box.

Then, restart the file explorer or restart your computer to place your taskbar to your desired location.

That’s it. Now, you can enjoy the taskbar in Windows 11 in whichever position you want it. There’s no need for compromises.