Adaptive Taskbar

In case you don’t already know, Windows offers an optional small taskbar mode, which allows you to view more icons at a time even on smaller displays.

Adaptive Taskbar is a small utility aimed at users who frequently switch between small and large screens, such as a laptop display and TV. It runs in the background and automatically changes the taskbar mode based on the size of the current size of the primary screen.

This application can be very helpful for users who regularly connect an external display to their PC. While the smaller taskbar mode may be more suitable for a laptop screen, the standard-sized taskbar is better for a larger display.

The program determines which taskbar mode should be used based on the screen resolution, but it also takes the Windows DPI setting into account. If, for instance, a small display has a native resolution of 1920x1080 but uses a 150% DPI setting, it will be considered small, as the actual reported resolution is 1280x720.

When setting up Adaptive Taskbar, all you have to do is launch the downloaded installer. The application will begin running in the background right away, and it will also be added to the Windows startup list.

While you can change the initial resolution threshold (1920 by default), this requires you to access the application’s configuration file, as Adaptive Taskbar does not offer a graphical user interface.

Nevertheless, the process is still pretty straightforward. You can find the file (AdaptiveTaskbar.exe.config) in the “C:\Users\<user_name>\AppData\Local\AdaptiveTaskbar\app-<version>” folder; once you have opened it in Notepad, just replace the value highlighted in this screenshot with the desired display width.

Even though it is a relatively simple application, Adaptive Taskbar can save you a lot of effort if you often need to change between the two Windows taskbar modes when connecting external displays.

It would still benefit from a basic GUI that makes it easier for novices to customize the resolution threshold, but I can only appreciate its lightweight design and the ease with which it can be installed.