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How to hide the Windows 11 taskbar

You can hide the Windows 11 taskbar by turning on Automatically hide the taskbar in Settings. It comes back when you point at the bottom edge of the screen. Glassline keeps the taskbar and Start menu hidden while it runs, with a menu bar and dock in their place.

2 min read

Hide it in Windows Settings

  1. Open Settings. Choose Personalization, then Taskbar.
  2. Find Taskbar behaviors. If its options are folded away, click it to open them.
  3. Check Automatically hide the taskbar. Move the pointer away from the taskbar to let it slide out of sight.

This hides the existing taskbar between uses; moving the pointer to the bottom edge brings it back.

Replace it with Glassline

Glassline gives your apps a dock along the bottom and puts a menu bar along the top. While it is running, the Windows taskbar and Start menu stay hidden.

  1. Install Glassline from the Microsoft Store. It needs Windows 11, version 22H2 or later.
  2. Open Glassline. The Windows taskbar disappears, and the menu bar and dock appear. The dock starts with the apps you keep on the Windows taskbar.
  3. Press the Windows key. Glassline Search opens. Type the name of an app, file or setting to find it.

The dock holds your apps, and the menu bar holds the active app's menus, status icons and clock. For arranging your apps, see the Windows 11 dock guide.

Keep it hidden after sign-in

Set Glassline to open when you sign in so the replacement is there each time you start using your PC.

  1. Right-click the menu bar. Choose Glassline Settings to open the app's settings.
  2. Open General. Find Start Glassline when I sign in.
  3. Turn on Start Glassline when I sign in. Next time you sign in to Windows, Glassline opens by itself and brings back the menu bar and dock.

With this option off, you open Glassline yourself whenever you want the taskbar replaced.

Bring the taskbar back

  1. Right-click the menu bar and choose Quit Glassline. The Windows taskbar and Start menu come back exactly as they were.
  2. Restore it if it has stayed hidden. Start Glassline again, then right-click the menu bar and choose Quit Glassline. You can also press the Windows key and R, type glassline --restore-taskbar and press Enter.

If you had enabled Windows' auto-hide setting, clear Automatically hide the taskbar under Settings, Personalization, Taskbar, Taskbar behaviors to turn that hiding off.

Try it right now

The home page is a working Glassline. Move over its dock, click its menu bar, open Search and Control Center.

Get it from Microsoft Store

$9.99 once. No subscription, no account, no ads, and every update is free.

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