TaskbarXI

Windows 11 comes with various enhancements compared to previous Windows iterations, some of the most noticeable ones being related to the taskbar and the working area, in general. While there are a few customization options available, these are limited for the taskbar and that is why developers started to create tools that allow tweaking of the desktop. TaskbarXI is one that targets the Windows 11 taskbar.

Created by the developer of TaskbarX (formerly FalconX), TaskbarXI is practically the predecessor of the X edition. This lightweight application allows you to modify the appearance of the Windows taskbar. To be much more specific, once TaskbarXI is running, the taskbar in Windows 11 automatically turns into a dock, although not a floating one, like in Mac OS. Essentially, the areas of the taskbar that have no icons practically disappear, leaving room for the ones that do include pinned icons.

TaskbarXI supports both central and left-sided taskbars and works even if your computer is equipped with more than one monitor, applying the changes on all. It looks just as fine whether you keep your taskbar centered or to the left. Separate DPI scaling is supported.

It acts upon the taskbar in its whole, not just the central / left area and thus, it also creates a dock for the system tray area or the area where the clock is. In other words, you will have two docks on your desktop: one to host the taskbar icons, the other to display the tray area and the clock.   When a maximized window is opened, the changes are automatically reverted and the taskbar seems to come back to normal mode.

TaskbarXI does not currently have a standard GUI, nor does it allow you to customize the way it works in any way. It would be nice to allow the customization of the taskbar or dock even further, by adjusting their transparency level, their color or their background style. For now, it remains an interesting customization tool cut out for the Windows 11 taskbar.