Start 11 v2.5 vertical taskbars on Windows 11

Notification Icons, second taskbar sizing

from Stardock Forums

Thank you for providing an alternative to Explorer Patcher's version of vertical taskbars! It works, but has some irritating issues.

  • The secondary taskbar, when vertically positioned, is locked at a very narrow size. Only the primary taskbar's width is adjustable. None of the controls allow sizing or resizing the width of the secondary taskbar if it is placed vertically on the left or right side of the screen. It also cuts off parts of the date and time. 

Image of my secondary taskbar:

Existing secondary taskbar: 

  • On the primary taskbar, the notification icons align themselves vertically, taking up taskbar space. Having the option to align them horizontally would be beneficial and allow more applications to be shown on the taskbar without the need for scrolling.
  • On the primary taskbar, the network notification icon is redundant. It would be nice to be able to hide it, or the speaker icon, as they seem to be one button anyway.
  • When the seconds are displayed on the clock, the centering seems to be off, especially after restarting explorer.

Image of the notification area of my primary taskbar:

Existing 3* :    Preferred 5* : 

These modifications/updates would make the vertical taskbar functionality surpass the functionality of Explorer Patcher.

  • Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super. 
  • Primary monitor resolution: 1920x1080,
  • Secondary monitor resolution: 1496x935.
  • Stardock Start11 v2.5 - part of Object Desktop v4.04.
notification icons taskbar sizing windows 11 stardock software start11 start menu products
18,276 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. If you refer to my screenshot below, you can see I can resize my secondary vertical taskbar without issue. Not sure why it is not working on your. Looking at your secondary taskbar, may I know, how you actually get to pinned those application to your secondary taskbar? And also, your clock look cut off. Do you have any other application running in the background? If you was using, for example, Explorer Patcher, have you uninstalled it?

For the Taskbar tray icons, it is known behavior, for Windows 11 tray icons and has been reported by others. Hopefully we will get something on it in the future.

Thank you
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

I was able to find a work-around. When I set the secondary taskbar to Align Right, I can resize it. Once I have the width I like, I can set it back to Align Left, and it stays locked at the new width.

Odd thing: Even the primary taskbar, when set to Align Left, is locked width. Putting it at Align Right lets me resize it again. 

Not sure what can cause this behavior. I am running Stardock Fences5 and Stardock WinBlinds Service.

Explorer Patcher was uninstalled when I installed Start11 v2.5, as "enhance the taskbar" was unavailable - a line under the setting stated there was a conflict. I find that Start11's version of the vertical taskbars a bit better than Explorer Patcher's. 

Thank you for the vertical taskbars that look nice and work well. I will eagerly wait for any updates and patches that provide the features I was mentioning.

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Make sure you have "Allow the taskbar to be resized" turned on.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Resized is on, otherwise it would not work when aligned on the right side. Since I have 2 monitors, I have one taskbar on the right side, and one on the left side. Regardless which monitor they are on, the only one that allows resizing is Align Right; the taskbar size is locked when Align Left is selected for that taskbar. So, if I set both taskbars Align Right, they are resizable; if both taskbars are Align Left, they are not resizable. it is the same for Top and Bottom. Top is not resizable, Bottom is resizable.

 

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Have you tried the Start11 v2.51 beta yet?

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

I tried Start11_2.5.1.0-j191-Setup.exe and there was no difference. 

However, on the same pc, logging on as a different user, the issue seemed resolved and I was able to resize the taskbars regardless of where they were positioned.

I am not sure what I have in my admin account that prevents it from working - registry entry or background application. I am still testing.

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting spiderlech3377, reply 6

I tried Start11_2.5.1.0-j191-Setup.exe and there was no difference. 

However, on the same pc, logging on as a different user, the issue seemed resolved and I was able to resize the taskbars regardless of where they were positioned.

I am not sure what I have in my admin account that prevents it from working - registry entry or background application. I am still testing.

Have you used rounded corner options?

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting spiderlech3377, reply 8

Yes. No improvement.

The Beta is up to 2.5.1.2

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

New download 2.51 and I don't have any option to put the taskbar on the right or left - only top or bottom, but my co-worker does have it.  Why would two people on the same build have different options and how can I get it to give me the vertical option, which is the only reason I would purchase this product.

 

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting brettwut, reply 10

New download 2.51 and I don't have any option to put the taskbar on the right or left - only top or bottom, but my co-worker does have it.  Why would two people on the same build have different options and how can I get it to give me the vertical option, which is the only reason I would purchase this product.

 

What version of Windows 11 do you have including build number?

You need to use 23h2 or later.

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

I'm also missing the grid layout of notification area icons in the vertical layout. I like to have all icons shown, but if they simply pile up vertically they really take up a lot of space, which would be available to the left/right sides, if the taskbar is wide (I have it configured ~100px wide, so I can read most of the window titles...).

Is there any solution yet to make the tray icons more compact?

best regards, Rainer

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

Have you made any progress getting the notification area of the vertical taskbar to be horizontal (5 star) vs vertical.  This is a serious shortcoming of Start11, IMO.   Also, the pinned programs at the top should be horizontal.  

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting trw412, reply 13

Have you made any progress getting the notification area of the vertical taskbar to be horizontal (5 star) vs vertical.  This is a serious shortcoming of Start11, IMO.   Also, the pinned programs at the top should be horizontal.  

Hello,
Nothing new to report on this one yet.

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.