Easy Ways to Move the Taskbar to the Left on Windows 11

Download Article

Move or align the taskbar to the left side of the screen on Windows 11

Written by Luigi Oppido | Edited by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: March 11, 2026 Fact Checked

Download Article

Changing Taskbar Alignment

|

Moving the Taskbar

|

Other Taskbar Tricks

|

Video

While Windows 11 has introduced a lot of great features, it has also taken away a number of them, including Windows 10's left-aligned taskbar buttons. If you align the Start menu, search bar, and taskbar icons to the left but keep the taskbar at the bottom of the screen, you can simply change the taskbar alignment. However, if you want to fully move your taskbar to the left side of the screen, you'll need to install a simple utility. But don't worry—we'll teach you both of these methods in the article below.

Moving the Windows 11 Taskbar to the Left

To align your taskbar to the left, go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, then click the Taskbar behaviors tab. Next to "Taskbar alignment," choose Left. If you want to move the taskbar to the left side of the screen, you'll need to install the StartAllBack utility.

Section 1 of 3:

Changing Taskbar Alignment

Download Article

1
Open Settings. There are a few ways you can do this:
- Press ⊞ Win+i.
- Right-click the Windows icon in the taskbar, then click Settings.
- Click the Windows icon in the taskbar, then click Settings.
- Search "settings" in the taskbar search bar, then click Settings in the Start menu that pops up.
It has an icon of a paintbrush.

Advertisement
3
Click Taskbar. It has an icon of a rectangle with a line running through its bottom section.
- Alternatively, you can right-click the taskbar and click Taskbar settings.
This option is in the first section of options, right above the header that says "Related settings."
It's the first option under "Taskbar behaviors."
6
Choose Left. Your taskbar will automatically be aligned to the left.^{[1]
X
Research source} This means that the Windows (Start) menu icon and all of your application icons will move to the left, similar to how the taskbar was set up in Windows 10. Your system tray icons (such as the clock, volume settings, and network settings) will remain on the right side of the taskbar.
- Do you miss the look and feel of Windows 10? Check out our guide to making Windows 11 like Windows 10!

Section 2 of 3:

Moving the Taskbar

Download Article

1
Download StartAllBack. StartAllBack is a utility that allows you to enable some extra enhancements in Windows 11.^{[2]
X
Research source} One of these enhancements is moving where your taskbar is on the screen. Use this method if you want the taskbar to run vertically along the left side of your screen.
- You can download StartAllBack by going to startallback.com and clicking the Download button at the bottom of the page. The button will also list the current version.
To install StartAllBack, run the StartAllBack setup .EXE file in your Downloads folder (or wherever you saved it) and follow the on-screen instructions. After installing, StartAllBack will launch automatically and change your taskbar orientation to make it look more like Windows 10. While the Start menu and icons will now be left-aligned, the taskbar is still at the bottom of the screen for now.
It's the icon that looks like a menu.
It has an icon of a rectangle with a line running through the bottom section. This opens your taskbar settings.
5
Choose Left from the "Taskbar location on screen" menu. The taskbar will immediately move to the left-hand side of the screen.^{[3]
X
Research source}
- You can also use the other settings in this menu to tweak the taskbar more. Feel free to adjust these settings to your liking.

Section 3 of 3:

Other Ways to Customize the Taskbar

Download Article

To show widgets in the taskbar, toggle on Widgets in the Taskbar settings menu. This will display a widget on your taskbar, and if you click it, a widget board will pop up. This panel of widgets will show you the weather, news, and other insights. You can add more widgets by clicking the cog wheel in the upper-right corner, but the default widgets cannot be removed.^{[4]
X
Trustworthy Source

Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

Go to source}
By default, you'll have a search box in your taskbar. However, you can change how that search bar looks in Taskbar settings. You can choose from seeing a search box, a search icon and a label, just a search icon, or you can hide the search entirely.^{[5]
X
Trustworthy Source

Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

Go to source}
In Windows 11, you can easily switch between multiple desktops. This is great if you use your home computer for both work and personal use. By default, the "task view" option is enabled, and the icon shows up as two gray rectangles in your taskbar. If you don't want to use this setting, you can toggle it off in Taskbar settings.^{[6]
X
Trustworthy Source

Microsoft Support
Technical support and product information from Microsoft.

Go to source}
By default, Windows 11 will show badges on taskbar icons when activity is happening (such as new messages or emails). You can disable this option by going to Taskbar settings > Taskbar behaviors and clicking off "Show badges on taskbar apps."
If you want your taskbar to only show up when you mouse over it, you can set it up to hide when you're not using it. To enable this option, go to Taskbar settings > Taskbar behaviors and click the checkbox next to "Automatically hide the taskbar."