Why does the Windows 11 taskbar hurt me like that?

Former Windows manager explains design decisions behind it

A former Windows boss has explained why the taskbar in Windows 11 is the way it is and how he "fought hard" to stop Microsoft from removing customization options present in Windows 10.

There are reports Microsoft is working on bringing back this functionality, though the Windows maker has not issued an official confirmation. However, Mikhail Parakhin, former CVP of Technology at Microsoft, explained the thinking behind the original decision to lock the taskbar in place.

Widgets were at least partially to blame.

"The vision," Parakhin writes on X (formerly Twitter), "was to create symmetric panes: you have notification/system controls/etc. pane on the right, Weather/Widgets/News pane on the left. That pushed start menu into the center position.

"If you have taskbar vertically, it starts conflicting with the panes..."

The taskbar in Windows 11 is located at the bottom of the screen. It cannot be moved or resized. It has also long been a bone of contention among many users of the operating system, who remember the days when the strip could be relocated. Parakhin writes, "Windows had it since 95, that's how I use it my whole life."

It is possible to align the content of the taskbar to the left and also have it automatically disappear in Windows 11. However, moving the bar itself to the top, left, or right sides of the desktop is not supported.

Parakhin famously made that "make Start menu great again" post at the beginning of 2024, although the current state of the enlarged user interface component is unlikely what users had in mind. Microsoft also relentlessly pushed advertising into Windows during Parakhin's tenure as CEO of Advertising and Web Services from 2022 to 2024.

So there you have it. Microsoft decided to sacrifice Windows 10-levels of taskbar customization to, at least in part, inflict Widgets on users of its flagship operating system. For many, this will confirm that Microsoft spent the last few years stepping back from one of the original tenets of Windows – customization.

Even Copilot, whom many might say adds functionality that users haven't asked for, is critical of the direction of travel. When we gave it the prompt "Should the taskbar of Windows be moveable?" it came up with this response: "A core principle of Windows has always been flexibility. Locking the taskbar to the bottom feels like a step backward in user control." ®