Bars Beneath Taskbar Icons


B

bob17821

Well-known member
Local time
1:52 PM
Posts
64
OS
Win11 Home 24H2 26100.2033
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 Home 24H2 26100.2033
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Yoga
    CPU
    Snapdragon(R) X Elite - X1E78100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM
    Memory
    16GB
    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 (24H2 RP)
    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 MX Keys
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Anywhere 3
    Internet Speed
    250MB
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro (unsupported)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell E6410
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 M620 CPU @ 2.67GHz (non-compliant)
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA NVS 3100M
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    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 Home 24H2 26100.2033
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Yoga
    CPU
    Snapdragon(R) X Elite - X1E78100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM
    Memory
    16GB
    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
bob17821 said:
Thanks very much dbartenstein. Any idea why the width varies? Or will the blue/active always be longer?

Bob
Click to expand...
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 (24H2 RP)
    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 MX Keys
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Anywhere 3
    Internet Speed
    250MB
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro (unsupported)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell E6410
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 M620 CPU @ 2.67GHz (non-compliant)
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA NVS 3100M
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

Windows 11 Version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.613)

Just noticed a change on the visual display of the Taskbar and icons on it, the blue line/underscore under the icons are dynamic. Rather than being nearly the same width of the icon, they dynamically shorten on the window/s actually not in focus. The programs showing the 'feature' on this...
www.elevenforum.com www.elevenforum.com
 

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 M.2
  • 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, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
dbartenstein said:
No idea. I'm just going on my own observations. I did a little Googling, but didn't find any quick answers.
Click to expand...
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 M.2
  • 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, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
In case someone comes searching through here looking how to *get rid* of those bars - which I think may only be possible if you're NOT combining task bar icons - I successfully got rid of them after a reboot when I'd manually cleared the iconcache.db and associated iconcache files (e.g. Repair, Rebuild Corrupt Icon Cache, Clear Thumbnail cache in Windows 11)
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop

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 M.2
  • 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, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Primary Taskbar Doesn't Show App Icons
Replies
0
Views
159
GollyRojer
G
Dealing with Taskbar Icons
Replies
4
Views
381
Deltatango08
D
Drag & drop to icons on taskbar slow as Hell .. .
Replies
16
Views
460
dacrone
dacrone
Taskbar icons missing
Replies
3
Views
3K
Bastet
Bastet
Cannot add icon to taskbar
Replies
0
Views
244
mck
M

Latest Support Threads

Latest Tutorials

Back
Top Bottom