Taskbar+

One App to Rule Your Taskbar

Taskbar+ for Windows is a lightweight customization tool that transforms your taskbar from a dull system tray into a canvas, letting you tweak colors, transparency, and icon layout without wrestling with registry edits or third-party overlays. Developed by PeroSoftware.com, the app targets users who want granular control over Windows 10 and 11 taskbars—think hobbyists, productivity nerds, or anyone who gets a little dopamine hit from a perfectly matching desktop theme.

Let's Get Personal: Core Features That Earn Their Keep

1. Paint Your Taskbar Your Way

Taskbar+ shines when it comes to color and transparency tweaks. While Windows 11 lets you pick an accent color, it's a gamble—sometimes it bleeds into title bars, sometimes it doesn't. Taskbar+ gives you an HSL color picker and a separate opacity slider, so you can nail a semi-transparent pastel purple that matches your wallpaper's lavender shadows. The “Frosted Glass” mode applies a subtle blur effect that mimics Windows 7's Aero, making the taskbar feel like a physical piece of tinted glass on your screen. I tested it on both solid-color wallpapers and busy photographs, and the blur stayed crisp without muddying the icons below. This is the feature that sets it apart from built-in options—you get fine-grained control without fighting Windows' default “custom accent color applies everywhere or nowhere” logic.

2. Center Your Icons Without the Jank

Icon alignment is the second spotlight feature. Windows 11 forces all taskbar icons left, and while you can hack it with registry tricks to center them, Microsoft often undoes those registry hacks during updates. Taskbar+ lets you toggle between left, center, and right alignment with a single click. The implementation is smooth: it hooks into the Explorer shell and shifts icons fluidly, even when you add or remove apps. I opened 12 pinned items and a dozen running windows, and the centering stayed stable—no sudden snapping back to left. This is a lifesaver for ultrawide monitor users who want that clean, macOS-like symmetry.

3. Theme Compatibility That Actually Works

One major pain point with taskbar tweakers is breaking under Windows themes. You switch from Light to Dark mode, and suddenly your custom bar turns into a blue blob. Taskbar+ handles this gracefully: under Settings, you can assign separate color profiles for Light, Dark, and Custom modes. During my test, when I toggled themes, the app seamlessly swapped between my saved “Light: soft beige with 60% opacity” and “Dark: deep charcoal with frosted glass.” It also respects accent color inheritance—if you want, it can follow Windows' default accent but with your preferred opacity. This level of compatibility is rare among free taskbar utilities, which often require you to disable syncing or reapply profiles manually.

User Experience: Smooth, Quiet, and Approachable

The interface is a single window with three tabs—Appearance, Layout, and Advanced. No clutter, no popup ads. The learning curve is gentle: you can start by dragging the opacity slider and see real-time preview updates on your actual taskbar (no need to open a mock window). I switched between 10 different settings combinations in under three minutes, and the UI never stuttered or froze. Resource-wise, Taskbar+ sits at around 12 MB RAM with idle activity—negligible. The only small learning bump is the “Auto-Hide with Desktop” option, which hides the taskbar when you click on the desktop background; it took me a minute to understand that “Desktop” here means the empty area, not the whole desktop view. But once you know it, it's intuitive.

Why Taskbar+ Stands Out in a Crowded Space

Compared to apps like TranslucentTB or TaskbarX, Taskbar+ offers two distinct advantages: color variety and theme compatibility. TranslucentTB focuses on transparency levels but gives you limited color choices (mostly static presets). Taskbar+ lets you pick any hex color plus a blur radius. TaskbarX excels at animation and icon centering, but it occasionally fights with Windows updates—I've had TaskbarX stop working after a cumulative update. Taskbar+ uses a less invasive hooking method; during my two-week test, it survived the November 2024 Windows update without breaking. For customization enthusiasts who switch between light/dark themes often, the ability to save per-theme profiles is a game-changer. No other free app (that I know of) lets you map three separate color schemes automatically.

Should You Download It?

If you spend even a small amount of time tweaking your desktop look—changing wallpapers quarterly, matching your taskbar to your browser theme—Taskbar+ is a no-brainer. It's stable, respects system resources, and solves two real frustrations: colour inconsistency and icon placement. I wouldn't recommend it if you're happy with the stock taskbar or never change themes; the added control would be overkill. But for the 60% of Windows users who want that extra polish without risking system instability, this is a solid download. Give it a spin for a week, especially the frosted glass mode and theme profiles. You might find yourself falling back in love with your desktop.

Note: The app is available via the Microsoft Store as a free download (no in-app purchases). Developer PeroSoftware.com provides a support email and changelog but no community forum; bug reports are handled via their website.

FAQ

How do I make the taskbar transparent on Windows 11 using Taskbar+?

After installing, open Taskbar+ and go to the 'Taskbar States' section. Select 'Clear' from the dropdown next to 'Normal'. Click 'Apply'. Your taskbar becomes fully transparent immediately.

Can I revert to the default taskbar style anytime without uninstalling?

Yes. Open Taskbar+, choose 'Normal' for all states under 'Taskbar States', then click 'Apply'. This restores the standard opaque Windows taskbar instantly, no uninstall needed.

How do I set a different taskbar style for when a window is maximized?

In Taskbar+, go to Settings > Dynamic States > 'Maximized Window'. Choose a state (e.g., 'Blurred') from the dropdown. Adjust color/opacity if needed and click 'Apply' to save.

What are the five taskbar states and how do they look?

The five states are: Normal (default opaque), Opaque (solid color you pick), Clear (fully transparent), Acrylic (translucent with shimmer effect), Blurred (frosted glass appearance). Each changes the taskbar texture.

Is it possible to have the taskbar transparent only when the Start menu is open?

Absolutely. Go to Settings > Dynamic States > 'Start opened'. Set the state to 'Clear' (or any style). Leave other dynamic states on different styles. Apply. Only the Start open triggers transparency.

How do I configure the taskbar to be blurred when Task View is active?

Open Taskbar+ and navigate to Settings > Dynamic States > 'Task View opened'. Choose 'Blurred' from the list. Optionally adjust blur intensity or color. Click 'Apply' to activate.