How to Disable Taskbar Button Grouping in Windows
Have you ever “lost” a window because it was grouped with other windows in the taskbar? No worries; the window isn’t gone, and you haven’t lost anything—it’s just hidden. Taskbar grouping might be handy for some, but for most, it’s just an annoyance. You can stop Windows from doing this by following these steps. If prompted, follow any additional on-screen directions. A Window called Settings will open. Windows 8 calls it Taskbar and Navigation properties, and older versions of Windows name it Taskbar and Start Menu Properties. If you’re using Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP, you’re wanting to look for the Taskbar appearance options at the top of the window. Windows 10 users can skip this step entirely and go straight to Step 4. For Windows 8 and Windows 7, next to the Taskbar buttons option, use the drop-down menu to select Never combine. See the tip at the bottom of this page for another option you have here. For Windows Vista and Windows XP, uncheck the Group similar taskbar buttons checkbox to disable taskbar button grouping.
Other Ways to Disable Taskbar Button Grouping
The method described above is definitely the easiest way to modify the setting related to the grouping of taskbar buttons, but here are two alternatives: Search for taskbar in Control Panel and open Taskbar and Navigation, or browse for Appearance and Themes > Taskbar and Start Menu, depending on your version of Windows. Advanced users can modify the taskbar button grouping option through a Windows Registry entry:
More Help With Taskbar Button Grouping
Here are some other options:
Windows 10: TaskbarGlomLevel (value of 2)Windows 8: TaskbarGlomLevel (value of 2)Windows 7: TaskbarGlomLevel (value of 2)Windows Vista: TaskbarGlomming (value of 0)Windows XP: TaskbarGlomming (value of 0)
In Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7, you can instead choose the option called When taskbar is full or Combine when taskbar is full if you want the buttons to group together but only if the taskbar gets full. This still lets you avoid grouping the buttons, which can be annoying, but it does leave the combining capability open for when the taskbar gets too cluttered.In Windows 10 and Windows 8, you can enable the Use small taskbar buttons option to reduce the button sizes. This will let you have more windows open without forcing the icons off the screen or into a group. This option is included in Windows 7, too, but it’s called Use small icons.The taskbar settings is also how you can auto-hide the taskbar in Windows, lock the taskbar, and configure other taskbar-related options.
