Utility that can permanently hide taskbar?

darien_day · Nov 27, 2021

Anyone know of a utility that can permanently hide the taskbar?

BunnyJ · Nov 27, 2021

Here's a suggestion from MS

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/is-there-a-way-i-could-hide-the-windows-taskbar/2e8868c9-f08a-4552-b535-eff549a8ff0d

BunnyJ · Nov 27, 2021

One more.. HTH

https://www.intowindows.com/how-to-auto-hide-or-completely-hide-windows-10-taskbar/

darien_day · Dec 3, 2021

Unfortunately, none of the above works reliably. The one suggested on the MS forums works for a few minutes then the taskbar starts popping up again when the mouse is brought near it.

CountMike · Dec 4, 2021

Only in Tablet mode.

darien_day · Dec 4, 2021

CountMike said:
Only in Tablet mode.

Huh?

davewin11 · Dec 4, 2021

darien_day said:
Huh?

https://www.intowindows.com/tablet-mode-in-windows-11/

das10 · Dec 4, 2021

If you are familiar with AutoHotkey, one idea might be to try this AutoHotkey script to see if it may work for you.

Hide / unhide taskbar, disable autohide. - AutoHotkey Community

1 First, set the taskbar to Autohide in Windows Settings.
2 Run the script and Press the Hotkey Ctrl+q to completely disable the taskbar from popping up when the mouse is rolled over it.
3 To view the taskbar, enter the Hotkey Ctrl+q again and the taskbar should be visible when rolled over with the mouse.
4 ps: This will prevent the taskbar from showing even when the WIN key is pressed. I haven't done any long term test on this script, but it seems to be working.

Code:

; This is not my script, to see the source, have a look here:
; https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=84587

; toggle taskbar on and off using hot key 
; Control q

^q::            ; ToggleTaskbar()

If Transparent := !Transparent
{
    WinSet, Transparent, 0, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd
 }
Else
{
    WinSet, Transparent, 255, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd
    WinSet, TransColor, OFF, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd
    WinSet, Transparent, OFF, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd
    WinSet, Redraw,, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd
}
Return

darien_day · Dec 4, 2021

davewin11 said:
https://www.intowindows.com/tablet-mode-in-windows-11/

Ok. I don't see how this relates to being able to permanently hide the taskbar?...

CountMike · Dec 4, 2021

darien_day said:
Ok. I don't see how this relates to being able to permanently hide the taskbar?...

Sorry,I didn't know it was discontinued in W11 but in W8 and 10 there was option "Don't show taskbar in Tablet mode".

Ed Gabel · Jan 22, 2023

das10 said:
If you are familiar with AutoHotkey, one idea might be to try this AutoHotkey script to see if it may work for you.

Hide / unhide taskbar, disable autohide. - AutoHotkey Community

1 First, set the taskbar to Autohide in Windows Settings.
2 Run the script and Press the Hotkey Ctrl+q to completely disable the taskbar from popping up when the mouse is rolled over it.
3 To view the taskbar, enter the Hotkey Ctrl+q again and the taskbar should be visible when rolled over with the mouse.
4 ps: This will prevent the taskbar from showing even when the WIN key is pressed. I haven't done any long term test on this script, but it seems to be working.

Code:

; This is not my script, to see the source, have a look here: ; https://www.autohotkey.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=84587 ; toggle taskbar on and off using hot key ; Control q ^q:: ; ToggleTaskbar() If Transparent := !Transparent { WinSet, Transparent, 0, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd } Else { WinSet, Transparent, 255, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd WinSet, TransColor, OFF, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd WinSet, Transparent, OFF, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd WinSet, Redraw,, ahk_class Shell_TrayWnd } Return

Works like a charm and thank you.

Berton · Jan 22, 2023

Would Kiosk Mode work for the purpose?

Kiosk Mode

Learn about Kiosk Mode in Windows IoT Enterprise.

learn.microsoft.com

octolex · Sep 6, 2023

I did fount a workaround to achieve such a thing, recently Power Toys has included a tool to crop the window of any app ◆ and still be able to use it, you can set your taskbar to automatically hide, then make it appear by hovering it with the mouse and press win + ctrl + shift + r (damn what a simon) select the area you want to crop, and it will detach the taskbar and keep it in a separate window, what I do next is move the window wrapping the taskbar into another virtual desktop to not see it in the task view.

https://imgur.com/w4H6sNl

You can still use the Start menu by pressing the win key or win + s without showing the taskbar.

Notes:
If you want the taskbar to behave as usual, you can do it by closing the cropped taskbar window, but sometimes it gets stuck, you can disable the autohide feature and it should reappear.

It seems that the cropping feature prevents most applications from rendering properly, so in most cases you will not be able to use the taskbar through the cropped window.