One way to boost your productivity is by working without distractions. In this case, having a cluttered taskbar with notifications can interfere with your workflow. So, you can choose to hide it whenever you’d like.
But, the steps to get rid of the taskbar in Windows depend on whether you want to remove it temporarily or permanently. So, let’s look at all the possible ways to remove the taskbar.
Using Taskbar Settings
If you want to get rid of the taskbar in Windows only for a short time, you can try hiding it from the taskbar settings. You can follow these steps:
On Windows 10
- Hit right-click on any empty space on the taskbar and click on Taskbar Settings.
- In the Settings page, slide the toggles for both options that say Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode and tablet mode.
- For tablet mode, you can also select Automatically hide the taskbar from the additional tablet settings.
Turning on the setting for desktop mode will allow you to work seamlessly in fullscreen. You can access the taskbar again whenever you hover over the bottom of the screen. Similarly, the same setting for tablet mode is best if you have a laptop that’s foldable and has a touch screen.
On Windows 11
If you want to hide the taskbar in Windows 11, you can follow these steps. Although the steps are fairly the same, some settings have slightly different names.
- Hit right-click on an empty space on the taskbar and go to Taskbar Settings.
- Scroll down and go to Taskbar Behaviors.
- Under Taskbar alignment, check the box that says Automatically hide the taskbar.
Using Command Prompt
Another quick and easy way to hide the taskbar on the desktop is by using Command Prompt. All you need to do is enter a command, and your taskbar will automatically disappear. Here’s how you can do it:
- Simply open the Command Prompt by typing “cmd” in the search bar.
- Copy and paste the following command:
powershell -command "&{$p='HKCU:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3';$v=(Get-ItemProperty -Path $p).Settings;$v[8]=3;&Set-ItemProperty -Path $p -Name Settings -Value $v;&Stop-Process -f -ProcessName explorer}"
Your taskbar will now automatically be hidden.
- If you want to turn it off and make the taskbar reappear, you can again use the following command:
powershell -command "&{$p='HKCU:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3';$v=(Get-ItemProperty -Path $p).Settings;$v[8]=2;&Set-ItemProperty -Path $p -Name Settings -Value $v;&Stop-Process -f -ProcessName explorer}"
How to Permanently Hide Taskbar?
It’s not possible to delete a Windows feature, like the taskbar, from the built-in settings. So, in such cases, you’ll need to take help from third-party sources, like the Taskbar Hide app. Even this app helps to only temporarily disable the taskbar and not completely remove the feature.
To use this app, you’ll need to set up a keyboard shortcut to disable the taskbar.
- Install Taskbar Hide and go to the Menu > Settings.
- Click on the Hotkey tab.
- In the last section that says Hotkey for hide taskbar action, you can enter any shortcut that’s convenient. For example, we added the shortcut Ctrl + T.
- Then, click OK.
Your taskbar is now disabled, and you can work fullscreen. Even when you hover the mouse pointer on the taskbar area, the taskbar will not pop up.
If you want to restore the taskbar, again press the same shortcut keys that you used to hide it.
Why My Taskbar Won’t Hide?
If your taskbar is not hiding when following the methods above, it can be due to system glitches and errors. Firstly, make sure you have enabled the Auto-Hide taskbar option. Then, you can try updating your Windows and restarting your PC.
Alternatively, you can also try restarting Windows Explorer from the Task Manager. Here are the steps:
- Open Task Manager by pressing the Ctrl + Shift + Esc shortcut keys.
- From the Processes tab, right-click on Windows Explorer and select Restart.
