Solved Win11 (21H2) - Where is the icon which displays a matrix of large thumbnails of all windows?

By far my favorite feature of Win10 was the icon towards the left end of the task bar which resulted in a display of large thumbnails of all windows. I can't find it in Win11. Google searches and searches here have not been fruitful.

Thanks, Bob

Not 100% sure I know what you mean, if I am reading it right I think that option is a goner in win 11 unless you mean task view in which case it's still there and a lot of things can be brought back with a few tweaks

The-Hive said:

Not 100% sure I know what you mean, if I am reading it right I think that option is a goner in win 11 unless you mean task view in which case it's still there and a lot of things can be brought back with a few tweaks

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Thanks very much for responding. I should have included in my post an image of the icon I am talking about (but I forgot that I have an old Win10 laptop which is barely limping along). I was able to get a screenshot of the icon but not of the display which it produces. So the icon is:



I do have Taskview turned on in Taskbar Settings. Until a few moments ago it was showing me my desktops. But not the windows belonging to the current desktop. If I then click on Desktopt 1 (the only one I really use) sometimes I see an instantaneous flash of what I am looking for - but it's of such short duration that I cannot be sure.

I'd appreciate any further thoughts you might have.

Thanks, Bob

That is the win 10 task view button it must be different in win 11 If you search on this site for Task View there are a few tutorials probably by Brink which are excellent

Greetings Bob,

As a former Mac user that moved to PCs about 6 years ago -- 'taskview' is a DO or DIE feature of any OS. So I understand your upset. But, if you will, there's an even better way to use it.

Some kind person posted WinXCorners. It's preset to the way most Mac users use it. If you put your mouse in top left hand corner of display, taskview. If you do bottom right corner, windows hide to reveal desktop.


There's 3 versions posted on this page. The more you scroll, the 'newer' the version.

Here's a direct link to Version 2 --


It's a tiny program and harmless. I've used it for years.

Taskview was completely revamped in Windows 11 and is totally useless unless you are using multiple virtual desktops or physical monitors. Losing the functionality it had in Windows 10 was one of my biggest disappointments with 11. If you want to see what it looks like, right click on taskbar-taskbar settings-toggle taskview to on. The icon that appears on the taskbar is 2 little squares, one on top of the other. When pushing Windows 11 MS touted it as the next big thing, but I've yet to find a use for it with the way I use my computer. I don't do multiple desktops.

Hey Bob, what build are you on? I'm on .376 and here's how Taskview looks on my computer.

Thanks very much to the responders! What I was looking for is what you get from the Windows key + Tab or Alt + Tab (I've found that I have to click on both keys simultaneously). (I can remember when icons were considered much preferable to key combinations.) NOTE that (at least on my machine) when I use the Taskview icon in the Taskbar -



- I get only very large icons of my current desktops.

Thanks again to all responders. And thanks to brink - it was from one of his posts that I learned about the Windows key + Tab key.

Bob