How to ungroup WiFi, Sound, Battery Charging taskbar icons in Win 11?

infinity · Oct 23, 2021

1. Find it very annoying that these 3 icons are GROUPED together instead of being individual icons that I can configure like in win10. How do I revert the behavior?

2. I noticed quick access shortcuts in Win Explorer is removed in W11. How do I restore that too please?

3. when dragging and dropping files (E.g. from File Explorer to Chrome or Whatsapp), the 2ⁿᵈ window (i.e. chrome or whatsapp) does not get activated unlike in win10. How do I restore that?

4. How do I always show the FULL list of right click context menu instead of the nerf-ed list?

Thank you.

jaree1961 · Oct 23, 2021

I think you will find most of the tweaks you are after in @Ghot - Windows 11 Tweaks - Leader Board

Windows 11 Tweaks - Leader Board.

These are tweaks I've seen asked for... many times. They are collected here for easy access. All of these and more can be found in the Eleven Forum Tutorials Make sure to read the "notes" in the various tutorials. App Removals Completely remove Widgets...

www.elevenforum.com

Oh, I almost forgot "Welcome to ElevenForum" :)

infinity · Oct 23, 2021

thanks! unfortunately, #1 and #3 is not found in the link you provided. Any advice please? Cheers.

jaree1961 · Oct 23, 2021

you could give this 3rd party addition a look over and see if it can give you all that you are after.

StartAllBack to fix all Windows 11 deal-breaking UI issues

StartAllBack restores taskbar, start menu, context menus, explorer, sanity, style and order!

www.startallback.com

hdmi · Oct 24, 2021

GitHub - valinet/ExplorerPatcher: This project aims to enhance the working environment on Windows

This project aims to enhance the working environment on Windows - valinet/ExplorerPatcher

github.com

Try3 · Oct 26, 2021

1 Those icons are not grouped together. Please explain what you want without using the word grouped [because you are not using it the way everybody else does].

This is what people normally mean by taskbar grouping - Enable or Disable Grouping of Taskbar Buttons [Windows 10, 11] - TenForumsTutorials

Do you, possibly, mean whether or not they are shown on the Taskbar itself as opposed to the ^ area?
This is illustrated in Notification Area Icons - Hide or Show in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Denis

tomdsr · Oct 26, 2021

Try3 said:
1 Those icons are not grouped together. Please explain what you want without using the word grouped [because you are not using it the way everybody else does].

This is what people normally mean by taskbar grouping - Enable or Disable Grouping of Taskbar Buttons [Windows 10, 11] - TenForumsTutorials

Do you, possibly, mean whether or not they are shown on the Taskbar itself as opposed to the ^ area?
This is illustrated in Notification Area Icons - Hide or Show in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Denis

Way to split hairs, but yes, they are in fact grouped. Click on just sound and adjust your volume without the whole panel coming up?

unifex · Oct 26, 2021

Try3 said:
1 Those icons are not grouped together. Please explain what you want without using the word grouped [because you are not using it the way everybody else does].

This is what people normally mean by taskbar grouping - Enable or Disable Grouping of Taskbar Buttons [Windows 10, 11] - TenForumsTutorials

Do you, possibly, mean whether or not they are shown on the Taskbar itself as opposed to the ^ area?
This is illustrated in Notification Area Icons - Hide or Show in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Denis

These icons are not in the Taskbar, but rather in the Notification Area and they are indeed grouped (if there is a better word for it, please enlighten us, but I don't see how "grouped" could be not clear here) - I don't have a battery icon on my desktop, but sound (volume) and network (LAN) form a single "button" there

Now, what you see on that screenshot is the result on clicking on the LAN "icon" - or rather, on the LAN portion of that notification "button". In fact, whether I click on the sound "icon" or LAN "icon" I get the same thing, this pop up above, where - guess what - there is nothing regarding any network settings!

So yes, I do find this "innovation" completely ridiculous! It's probably made by a youngster who thinks everyone should be using WiFi and never a cable and moreover never tinker with any network settings.

hdmi · Oct 26, 2021

How to ungroup WiFi, Sound, Battery Charging taskbar icons in Win 11?

1. Find it very annoying that these 3 icons are GROUPED together instead of being individual icons that I can configure like in win10. How do I revert the behavior? 2. I noticed quick access shortcuts in Win Explorer is removed in W11. How do I restore that too please? 3. when dragging and...

www.elevenforum.com

unifex · Oct 26, 2021

Hmm, did you just post a link to this very thread? :wink:

Wisewiz · Oct 26, 2021

@hdmi
Do you intend to get us into an infinite loop just because the new member chose the name he/she chose?

Wisewiz · Oct 26, 2021

Sorry, unifex. We passed in the night.

The-Hive · Oct 26, 2021

ExplorerPatcher mentioned earlier in this thread is the easiest way to go, Winaero Tweaker is another

Hollywood · Oct 26, 2021

There is a command you can use in a RUN box (copy and paste the next line),
shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9} \SystemIcons
It will allow you to hide/unhide some icons and restore some system icons. It seems to work well for Windows 11 that used the registry entry to use the classic taskbar. Some options are grayed out if you have the new Taskbar.

I have the Notification button that displays the volume and network settings (wifi) and it works perfect, but like the original poster stated, they wanted a dedicated network icon on the taskbar.

Using the command I posted I was able to restore a dedicated Network icon. The dialogue box it displays exactly as if you pressed the notification icon.

This worked perfect on one of my computers, but on the other, the dedicated icon opens the dialogue box for a split second and then it disappears while the icon in the Notification box still works. This is really bugging me! :)

My goal it to have the sound the in the grouped tray icons, but a dedicated wifi icon on the task bar to be able to easily view it's state. Like I said, It does this on one computer, so I hope I will be able to duplicate it on mt other one too.

The-Hive · Oct 26, 2021

@Hollywood This does not always work as quite often the options are greyed out

Hollywood · Oct 26, 2021

The-Hive said:
@Hollywood This does not always work as quite often the options are greyed out

I mentioned that in my post. It seems like with the new taskbar that many options are grayed out, but if you have done the registry change to restore the old taskbar, most of the icons can be restored. I really did write that :)

If you want to restore the classic taskbar, here is the registry change.
Restore the Classic Taskbar in Windows 11
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell\Update\Packages.
right-click the empty space and select New > DWORD (32-bit value.)
Rename the new value to UndockingDisabled .
Double-click it and set the value date to 1.
Right-click the Start menu button and select Shut down or sign out > sign out.

If you want to change the taskbar size to a smaller one, here is the registry change.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
TaskbarSmallIcons DWORD
0 = Large taskbar buttons
1 = Small taskbar buttons

Those changes are what I found on various sites (not my own work). When I did revert to the classic taskbar, I needed to use the command in my above post to restore the clock and other right side stuff.

The-Hive · Oct 26, 2021

Hollywood said:
I mentioned that in my post. It seems like with the new taskbar that many options are grayed out, but if you have done the registry change to restore the old taskbar, most of the icons can be restored. I really did write that :)

If you want to restore the classic taskbar, here is the registry change.
Restore the Classic Taskbar in Windows 11
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell\Update\Packages.
right-click the empty space and select New > DWORD (32-bit value.)
Rename the new value to UndockingDisabled .
Double-click it and set the value date to 1.
Right-click the Start menu button and select Shut down or sign out > sign out.

If you want to change the taskbar size to a smaller one, here is the registry change.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
TaskbarSmallIcons DWORD
0 = Large taskbar buttons
1 = Small taskbar buttons

Those changes are what I found on various sites (not my own work). When I did revert to the classic taskbar, I needed to use the command in my above post to restore the clock and other right side stuff.

I still think it's easier to use explorerpatcher

hdmi · Oct 27, 2021

The-Hive said:
I still think it's easier to use explorerpatcher

It's not only easier, it also gets rid of undesired side effects like the Win+X menu stops working, the flyouts for network/power/sound, clipboard history, the search bar in Explorer, etc.... See the 2nd post in this thread for some possible workarounds, a lot of which simply aren't needed with ExplorerPatcher:

Classic Shell • View topic - Classic Shell / Open Shell Start and Windows 11

(I haven't tried StartAllBack because it's not free, and, ExplorerPatcher with Open-Shell, Battery Mode, TranslucentTB, Winaero Tweaker and Ultimate Windows Tweaker already does everything I need, plus more.)

Hollywood · Oct 27, 2021

hdmi said:
It's not only easier, it also gets rid of undesired side effects like the Win+X menu stops working, the flyouts for network/power/sound, clipboard history, the search bar in Explorer, etc.... See the 2nd post in this thread for some possible workarounds, a lot of which simply aren't needed with ExplorerPatcher:

Classic Shell • View topic - Classic Shell / Open Shell Start and Windows 11
(I haven't tried StartAllBack because it's not free, and, ExplorerPatcher with Open-Shell, Battery Mode, TranslucentTB, Winaero Tweaker and Ultimate Windows Tweaker already does everything I need, plus more.)

I said I modified the registry to get the results I wanted on 2 computers to get the taskbar how I wanted, but on one, the tray wifi button didn't work properly. After yesterdays Cumulative Windows 11 update, now both computers wifi icons no longer work.

I just tried explorerpatcher and it fixed the icon to work properly and easily removed the redundant Control Center. Thank you both (and The-Hive)!

I can follow instructions, but I like manually changing the registry so I know what changes are being made, but I am not quite at the level of following source code. Being open source I am confident it is safe, but all things being equal I wish I had the skills to do the changes manually.

Thanks for your replies as they did get me the results I want. :)

Try3 · Oct 27, 2021

Hollywood said:
After yesterdays Cumulative Windows 11 update, now both computers wifi icons no longer work

Thanks for the warning.
- My modifications to Win11 are, I think, the same as yours [My Taskbar setup [post #6] - ElevenForum].
- I'll await Patch Tuesday for my next CU [that you've just installed the Preview version of].

I appreciate that you've now adopted a different solution but I'll still post back here if I find a simpler method.

All the best,
Denis

Welcome to ElevenForum.

It's really worth making time to browse through the Tutorial index - there's a shortcut to it at the top of every page [within the Tutorials dropdown list].
- At the foot of the Tutorial index is a shortcut to download it as a spreadsheet.
- I download a new copy each month.
- By downloading it as a spreadsheet I can benefit from Excel's excellent filtering capabilities when I search for topics of interest.
- Tutorials are also listed at Tutorials - there's a shortcut to that at the top of every page.

You can search ElevenForum using the search box in the top-right corner of all ElevenForum webpages or using Advanced Search - ElevenForum
- You can also search ElevenForum threads in many general search engines, such as Google, by adding site:elevenforum.com after your search term. For example,
Taskbar setup site:elevenforum.com
- [This is what the search box in the top-right corner of ElevenForum webpages does automatically]