Shell Frosting

Shell Frosting is a unique Windows application that unlocks hidden shell features in Windows Insider builds, specifically the taskbar item ungrouping and labeling feature. The app addresses anyone who enjoys testing out experimental features and was developed in response to the numerous requests for an updated Windows 11 taskbar with ungrouped items.

While this is not a program in itself, but rather a shell extension, it does provide a small, practical interface where you can install the frosting extension. Once you are done, you’ll be able to newly enabled features and the taskbar’s grouping and labeling behavior in particular.

Simply put, you can choose the ‘Never combine’ option to have everything displayed separately in the taskbar. Alternatively, you can configure it to combine only when the taskbar is full or to combine and hide the labels. The settings can be applied to other displays, if you are using multiple monitors.

The utility can come in handy for anyone who needs to regularly work with several instances of the same program simultaneously.  You no longer have to access your IDE and then the tab instance by hovering over each icon to find the right one.

It is worth mentioning that in some cases, you may notice some items not displaying properly after you disabled the grouping feature. The developer points out that this is not related to the app, but rather it is because of the code provided by Windows. A workaround that did the trick in most cases was to toggle the grouping on and off again.

Shell Frosting is a tool can best be described as an unconventional shell extension that lets you experiment with various new features included in Insider builds. For the time being, the app is enabling you to test out the item ungrouping, but who knows, maybe more experimental features will be added in the future.