Knowledgebase

How to turn off Windows' taskbar button grouping is covered in this post.

How to Disable Taskbar Button Grouping in Windows

Ever "lost" a window in the taskbar because it was grouped with other windows? You haven't lost anything, and the window is still there; it's just hidden, so don't worry.

For some people, taskbar grouping may be useful, but for the most, it only causes discomfort. By doing these, you can stop Windows from doing this.

1. Right-click or tap and hold on the taskbar. This is the bar that sits at the bottom of the screen, anchored by the Start button on the left and the clock on the far right.

    

2. In Windows , select Taskbar settings in the menu that pops up. choose Properties.

   

   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.

    

3. In Windows , go into the Taskbar tab at the left or top of the window and then find the Taskbar buttons option.

   If you're using Windows 7, you're wanting to look for the Taskbar appearance options at the top of the window.

    

    

4. For Windows  users, next to the Combine taskbar buttons option, select the menu and choose Never. The change is saved automatically, so you can skip the final step below.

   

   For 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.

    

    

5. Select OK or Apply to confirm the changes.

    

If prompted, follow any additional on-screen directions.

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 the taskbar in the 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:

1. Find this key:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

    

2. Modify the value below for your version of Windows in order to disable taskbar button grouping. The value is on the right side of Registry Editor; if it doesn't already exist, make a new DWORD value first and then modify the number as shown here:

   • 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)
    

3. You might have to log the user out and then back in for the registry change to take effect. Or, you can try using Task Manager to close down and then reopen the explorer.exe process.

    

More Help With Taskbar Button Grouping

Here are some other options:

• In Windows, you can instead choose the option called When the 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, 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.