Bars Beneath Taskbar Icons


bob17821

Active member
Local time
5:38 AM
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31
OS
Win11 (as of 12/17/2021)
I've just noticed recently that some icons in the taskbar have colored bars beneath them. What are the bars and colors telling me? Image of taskbar attached.

Thanks, BobWin 11 Taskbar .png
 
Windows Build/Version
21H2 (22000.613)

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 (as of 12/17/2021)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo P1 (a laptop)
    CPU
    i7
    Memory
    32GB
    Screen Resolution
    4K
  • Operating System
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Legion
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-12700
    Motherboard
    No Idea
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    GEFORCE RTX 3060Ti
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    4K
I've not seen anything official about it, but in my experience, Grey is a session that is open and not the active focus, Blue is the active open window, and Red/Orange means something needs attention (I see that one when the UAC prompt is hiding behind another window). I've also seen Green when an active install or download is running.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro (Insider Beta channel)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer AN515-54
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9300H CPU @ 2.40GHz 2.40 GHz
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, Intel UHD 630
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer CB272D
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    256GB and 1T SSD
    Keyboard
    Logitech K375S
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    250MB
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro (Insider Canary Channel, unsupported)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell E6430
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3540M CPU @ 3.00GHz 3.00 GHz (non-compliant)
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000, NVIDIA NVS 5200M
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
Thanks very much dbartenstein. Any idea why the width varies? Or will the blue/active always be longer?

Bob
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 (as of 12/17/2021)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo P1 (a laptop)
    CPU
    i7
    Memory
    32GB
    Screen Resolution
    4K
  • Operating System
    Win11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Legion
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-12700
    Motherboard
    No Idea
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    GEFORCE RTX 3060Ti
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    4K
Thanks very much dbartenstein. Any idea why the width varies? Or will the blue/active always be longer?

Bob
No idea. I'm just going on my own observations. I did a little Googling, but didn't find any quick answers.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Pro (Insider Beta channel)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer AN515-54
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9300H CPU @ 2.40GHz 2.40 GHz
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, Intel UHD 630
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer CB272D
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    256GB and 1T SSD
    Keyboard
    Logitech K375S
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
    Internet Speed
    250MB
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro (Insider Canary Channel, unsupported)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell E6430
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3540M CPU @ 3.00GHz 3.00 GHz (non-compliant)
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4000, NVIDIA NVS 5200M
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 2TB WDC HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
No idea. I'm just going on my own observations. I did a little Googling, but didn't find any quick answers.
It's longer and blue if it is Maximized and displayed on screen now, or shorter and grey if its running in the background(eg: playing music but not being displayed on the screen).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
That's also what I see, it's different from Win10.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro RTM
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro RTM x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 2TB WDC HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security

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