Question Taskbar icons and open programs

kkilgore

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I've just set up a new laptop with Windows 10 x64 pro and am going crazy over a feature that I've never seen before. In the past, I've always created a two-tier taskbar, with pinned programs on the top and space for open programs on the bottom. But with the version of Windows on my new laptop, open programs are no longer shown with tabs, but with underlines under the pinned programs on the top tier that are opened. I've searched endlessly for a fix for this, so my main question is - am I wasting my time? Is there no way to get back that taskbar version where open programs all appear on the taskbar separately from the pinned program icons? Thanks.
 

kkilgore

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It's a new laptop with a fresh Windows 10 pro installed. I've been using Windows 10 on my other laptops, with all the requisite updates. I'm pinning items to the taskbar - at least those that are allowed - for example, with the new laptop, I can't pin the recycle bin, for whatever godforsaken reason. What I'm talking about is knowing which programs/windows are open without that underlining of pinned icons.
 
As far as I can tell the underlining happens when an app is open. If it doesn't have an underline, it's not open. If you want another way of knowing, in Settings -> Personalization -> Taskbar, set "Combine taskbar buttons" to something other than "Always combine." If the app is open, then the button expands out.
 

kkilgore

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OK, thanks, that's definitely better, but not exactly what I'm looking for. To make it clearer, I'm providing a link to an image of my taskbar in my other laptops, with the pinned program icons on the top tier, and the open programs expanded out on the bottom tier (along with some other pinned icons) - taskbar2. In my next post, I'll provide a link for an image of the taskbar on my new laptop - I can't move anything to the bottom tier of the taskbar - taskbar3. taskbar2 - old taskbar
 

kkilgore

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Here are the links. As I mentioned, the recommended fix above (re: always combine) is a good solution to my problem, which I can live with, but again, it's not the two-tiered taskbar that I prefer. And I might as well add while I'm here - is there a workaround to get a recycle bin icon on the taskbar? This apparently is no longer allowed by Windows.

old taskbar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Kx_MtCPdUiPjRwekzZ2TaLMp6JGoaDQ/view

new taskbar: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tgcnTUXinLW9eHv2t80iT8jBF4-7nTzY/view
 

kkilgore

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Yeah, I get that - I wasn't aware a login was necessary. But the icon above for share image requires a url, and that's the only place I know where to store the images online.
 

kkilgore

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Thanks for these suggestions - I'm going to work on them.

I created a new folder on the desktop and called it Taskbar 2 and added a recycle bin shortcut. Then I created a new toolbar for the Taskbar 2 folder and it worked. If I get the courage, I'll put my already pinned taskbar icons in that folder, and then hope that all the opened programs appear in the original taskbar and all the icons in the new toolbar. That might solve my problem.

However, I would want to change the toolbar to include only the icons and not the spreadable labels. Not sure how to do that, and I don't want to change that on the original taskbar.
 
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kkilgore

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OK, the problem is solved, thanks to your responses. That link from Colif really did the job. I created a Desktop folder and called it Taskbar2, and dropped in all the shortcut icons that I want on the taskbar. I then created a new toolbar linked to the Taskbar2 folder, dragged it to the left on the second tier of the taskbar space. I then right clicked on the toolbar and unselected 'show text' and 'show title' so that only the icons appear, without any labels or text - you can only do this if the taskbar is unlocked. I then unpinned all the shortcut icons I previously placed on the original taskbar, so that only open programs remain. Voila - open programs on one level of the taskbar space (the original taskbar) and shortcut icons on the second level (the toolbar). Finally, I switched the location of the two levels so that the icons appear on top and the open programs on the bottom, and locked the taskbar.

Thanks again for the help.