Figure 20.1 The Windows Media Player jump list, accessed by right clicking on its taskbar icon

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1 20 - More About the Taskbar The taskbar has seen some dramatic changes in Windows 10. Back in lesson 2 we went over the basic elements and in this lesson we will look at some advanced features and some personalisation options Jump lists and the taskbar Jump lists first appeared in Windows 7 and have persisted to Windows 10 too. On the taskbar they can be used to quickly jump to frequently used tasks in an application. To access the jump list for a program on the taskbar, simply right click on the programs taskbar icon. The program does not need to be running in order to access the jump list, it could simply be pinned. Not all apps support jump lists but one that does is Windows Media Player. We cover Windows Media player extensively in Chapter 10, but for now we will simply look at its jump list. In figure 20.1, the user has started Windows Media Player and right clicked on its taskbar icon. Figure 20.1 The Windows Media Player jump list, accessed by right clicking on its taskbar icon The actions you can take from a jump list depend on the program. From Media Player s jump list we can play one of our most frequently played media files. Under Tasks we can resume a previous playlist or simply play all our music. Finally, we can pin the program to the taskbar or close it, or simply launch it as normal by selecting Windows Media Player. Any program on the taskbar can have its own jump list. For some software the jump list simply includes the most recently opened documents or the most frequently opened files or folders. Programs that are Windows 7, 8 or 10 aware can have their own custom jump lists Moving the taskbar There are several customisations we can do with the taskbar, the most simple being moving and resizing it. Before you can move the taskbar, it needs to be unlocked. Right click on the taskbar and deselect the Lock the taskbar or Lock all taskbars option, as shown in figure 20.2.

2 Figure 20.2 Before the taskbar can be moved or resized it must be unlocked When the taskbar is unlocked it can be moved to any screen edge. This is done by clicking and holding down the mouse button and then dragging the mouse towards one of the screen edges. The taskbar can also be resized in the same way we resized a window in lesson 5.2 by moving the mouse to the edge of the taskbar and dragging it upwards. A bigger taskbar is often useful on powerful machines with large monitors. When there are lots of programs open at once, a bigger taskbar gets less cluttered. It is a good idea to lock the taskbar again when you are done moving and/or resizing it. If you do not, you are likely to accidentally move or resize it as you work with your PC Adding toolbars to the taskbar There are several optional toolbars that can be added to the taskbar. To add a toolbar, right click on the taskbar and choose Toolbars. Figure 20.3 shows the available toolbars. Figure 20.3 Choosing a toolbar to add to the taskbar

3 Let s see what each of these toolbars does. Address:- Enables the user to enter a web address or local address or path directly into the taskbar. Links:- This toolbar enables you to quickly jump to your favourite internet links. In order for a link to appear here, you need to add it to the Favourites bar in Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge. Desktop:- Provides links to common locations on the computer and on the desktop. New toolbar:- Creates a custom toolbar. Choosing New toolbar opens up a file browser window. Simply browse to any folder on your PC and choose Select Folder. The content from that folder will then be available to browse from the taskbar Other taskbar customisations There are several other customisation options for the taskbar. To access them, right click on the taskbar and choose Properties. Figure 20.4 shows the resulting window. Figure 20.4 Taskbar and Navigation properties Window At the top of the Window there are several options. We already covered the Lock the taskbar option. Autohide the taskbar makes the taskbar automatically shrink down out of sight when it is not in use. To reveal it again, move the mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen (or the edge of the screen where the taskbar is positioned), the taskbar will then reappear. This option is useful on smaller monitors where screen space is at a premium. We also discussed this option in lesson Selecting Use small taskbar buttons reduces the size of program icons on your taskbar, figure 20.5 shows an example of this.

4 Figure Small icons (top) Vs large icons (bottom) on a Windows 10 taskbar Using the Taskbar location on screen: menu, it is possible to reposition the taskbar automatically, rather than by dragging it. Below this control is the Taskbar buttons: control, figure 20.6 shows the available options. Figure 20.6 Taskbar button options Each option will change how the icons are displayed on your taskbar. We will take a detailed look at each option now. Always combine, hide labels:- This is the default setting you have been using while working through this course. Icons will appear on your taskbar without labels. Windows from the same applications will stack on top of each other. Combine when taskbar is full:- This makes the taskbar behave more like it did in previous versions of Windows. Icons for programs that are running will be displayed next to a label indicating the window title. Figure 20.7 shows an example of this. Figure 20.7 A taskbar set to Combine when taskbar is full mode Never combine:- Works the same as Combine when taskbar is full, except that as the taskbar fills up, Windows won t combine related windows (e.g. multiple File Explorer windows) into groups.

5 Finally, it is possible to disable the desktop Peek button (the button at the end of the taskbar that we showed you way back in lesson 2) by deselecting the Use Peek to preview the desktop option. When you are done making changes, be sure to click on Apply to make them take effect Multi-monitor support Windows 8 brought us some great improvements for multi-monitor users that have also carried over into Windows 10. If you re doing any kind of work on your PC, two or even three monitors can be extremely useful. This book was written on a workstation with no less than three monitors, and the author is a strong advocate of the multi monitor desktop! In figure 20.4 we can see a section at the bottom of the window called Multiple displays (On a PC with just one monitor, this section will be blank). We ll go over the options available in this section of the window now. First of all, if Show taskbar on all displays is selected, then each monitor on your PC will get its own independent taskbar. In previous versions of Windows, there was only ever one taskbar, which users usually placed on their central display. There are also several options for how the taskbar icons are positioned across your multiple taskbars. Figure 20.8 shows the available options. Figure 20.8 Changing taskbar button options for multiple displays On a system with three monitors (which we ll call A, B and C) the options would have the following effect. All taskbars:- A window open on either monitor A, B or C would have a corresponding taskbar icon on all three taskbars/monitors. Main taskbar and taskbar where window is open:- Assuming monitor B is the main monitor, a window open on monitor A would have an icon on the taskbar on monitor A and on monitor B, but not on monitor C. If the window was on monitor B, it would only have a taskbar icon on monitor B (since monitor B is where the main taskbar is positioned). Taskbar where window is open:- A window open on monitor A would have a taskbar icon on monitor A s taskbar only. Below the options for taskbar buttons is the option to change the types of button shown on your secondary taskbars. This works in exactly the same way as with the primary taskbar (see figure 20.6).