Revert to the Classic Taskbar on Windows 7

If you’ve been used to Windows operating systems for years prior to Windows 7, you’ve probably noticed a huge difference with regard to the operating system’s visual style. The fonts are sharper, the windows are transparent; however, the biggest change of all is the Windows 7 taskbar (now sometimes called the Windows Superbar). It’s now minimalist and icon based, which is quite a far cry from the flat, labeled style of generations past.

For some users, the drastic changes might take some getting used to, or might even hamper one’s productivity. Follow these steps to get the taskbar back to the old format.

Steps

Revert to the old taskbar for displaying active programs

  1. Right-click the taskbar, then click “Properties.” The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window will appear.
  2. Click on the option, “Use small icons.”
  3. Click on the rectangle Under Taskbar buttons, and a drop-down menu will appear. Select the option “Never combine.”
  4. Click on “Apply” at the lower right portion of the Properties window. The changes will be reflected immediately. Now, you have small icons + labels on your active running programs! Click on “OK” to save these changes.

Adding the Quick Launch Toolbar

  1. Right-click the taskbar, hover to “Toolbars”, then click “New toolbar…”
  2. Copy and paste this path into the location bar:  %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
  3. Click “Select Folder”. The Quick Launch toolbar will immediately show up in the right side of the taskbar (next to the clock and notification icons.)

Configuring the look of the Quick Launch Toolbar

  1. Right-click the taskbar. Click on "Lock the taskbar" to unlock it.
  2. Click and hold on the dots near the Quick Launch Bar, then drag it all the way to the left. The Quick Launch toolbar should be right next to the Start button.
  3. Right-click on the dots near the Quick Launch Bar. Uncheck “Show Title”. You’ll see that the “Quick Launch” label vanishes.
  4. Right-click on the dots near the Quick Launch Bar. Uncheck “Show Text”. Upon doing so, you’ll see the labels disappear: the Quick Launch icons are all now neatly arranged into small icons.

Completing the Look

  1. Click and hold on the dots at the lower right side, you’ll see the toolbar for your Active running programs. Drag it to the left just before the Quick Launch toolbar. All done! Your taskbar is now reverted back to the old style! Hopefully this will boost your productivity within Windows 7!



Tips

  • If you liked the fact that the old taskbar had options to expand the taskbar buttons into several ungrouped buttons, you'll need to expand the drop-down list from the original dialog box that asked you to "Use small icons". However, if you enjoyed the Vista grouped icons, leave this setting completely alone.
  • If you still see icons the pinned way when you have the rest of the icons set to the classic version, this means that this item was manually pinned. To fix, you'll have to remove and start these programs manually without pinning them to the taskbar.

Warnings

  • If you still see icons the pinned way when you have the rest of the icons set to the classic version, this means that this item was manually pinned. To fix, you'll have to remove and start these programs manually WITHOUT pinning them to the taskbar.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

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