Forum Discussion
How to enable 'Never Combine taskbar buttons'. Windows 11 ?
This weekend I rolled-back to Windows 10 in order to resolve multiple Windows 11 productivity issues. The missing "Never combine taskbar windows" option impacted my workflow dramatically. There are multiple other Windows 11 changes that make my day longer but this is the only one I can't get past eventually without installing 3rd party solution (not an option for me). Dell's Support Assistant software made the move back to Windows 10 relatively straightforward, though definitely not easy. The overall rollback effort was very large (copying files, reinstalling and reconfiguring applications, fixing a driver issue).
This Dell is about 5 years old. I missed the opportunity to buy a new computer before the Microsoft mandate that all new computers must ship with Windows 11 from January forward. I will either need to live with the performance issues or buy a new Windows 11 Dell and reimage it with Windows 10, after confirming there are also Windows 10 drivers for everything, and then deal with driver update issues until I can move to Windows 11.
My comments after 30+ hours spent dealing with this:
- Did Microsoft really believe that users don't rely on features that have been in Windows for over 30 years?
- Who wanted this change? What customer asked Microsoft to remove this option?
- I don't blame the engineers who built this. They did not hire themselves and they don't make product decisions. Likewise, design teams only propose design changes; they don't make these decisions. A decision like this was reviewed by a Program Manager (or Product Manager) and approved by the business, and the decision is consistent with Microsoft's long term plans.
- This whole experience tells me that Microsoft is now an 'echo chamber', where the business only hears what they want to hear. Long term I can't rely on Windows to support my business needs, or even my personal computer means.
- I hope Windows 11 goes the way of Windows ME, a similar failure from many years ago. Beyond that, I hope Windows 12 is much better.
Hi,
Unfortunately this problem persists not also in Windows 11 but also in Linux Gnome desktop environment. Only reason I can think for this grouping of icons is to enforce the use of touchpad more effectively. I can not understand any other reason than this. By the way, I also use the "explorer pathcher", but these touchpad gestures may be helpful,
Three-finger gestures on the touchpad seem to be a temporary solution. Specifically,
Swipe three fingers up --> Show thumbnails of your currently running apps in Task View
Swipe three fingers down --> Show the desktop
Swipe three fingers either left or right --> Switch between your open apps
Swipe four fingers either left or right --> Switch between virtual desktops
- I use a KVM switch that connects three computers to a single monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Only one of those computers is a laptop and I always use the external keyboard, which doesn't have a touchpad. Even if it did, the differences between Explorer windows, or browser windows, are often very subtle. I'm not able to identify the correct window based on a tiny thumbnail and the insufficient text that appears above it. If I am working with multiple Explorer windows in Windows 10 I just remember their relative position on the taskbar and can click directly on the desired window, moving between windows quickly in a way that allows me to focus entirely on the task at hand.
I suspect you are right when you say the change is an attempt by Microsoft to support a consistent interface across very different devices. I could build a "tricycle fire engine" but children wouldn't be able to drive it and firemen would laugh at me.