It’s safe to assume that most Windows-interfaced so-called improvements have been a disaster since the days most folks will say Windows 7, but I think we should go further in time than that to at least Windows Vista or even Windows XP.
Those two were beautiful, while Windows 11 is a disaster. Microsoft also keeps removing interface features only to return them after two years of backlash and present them as an innovative change to user experience.
One such feature is taskbar icons grouping. In previous versions of Windows, you could expand the taskbar to have a separate box for each separate window and also have the name of the application displayed as text. Windows 11, which has been around for about two years already, doesn’t have that. It only displays the icon without the name of the application and combines all the open windows of the same application into one icon. So, if you don’t know how the icon looks, not only are you struggling to find the correct icon, but you are also losing time while hovering over the icon, waiting for the thumbnails of the active windows to expand, and then struggling to find the exact window you want to open. All of that takes much more time and many more clicks than it used to. Apparently, Microsoft just hates productivity.
Anyway, after two years, they are finally returning this feature. If you’re using an older build of Windows 11 and haven’t received the update yet, you can force Windows to download it. There are a few ways to do it.
One method involves using a tool that comes in two versions: a command-line-only version and a graphical user interface (GUI) version. I’ll be using the latter. To enable the feature, download the tool, press “Advanced Options,” which will open a text box, and enter the specific feature ID. In the “Perform Action” drop-down menu, select “Activate Feature.” After that, it should display a success message. Then, go to Windows Updates and download the update that appears there. Once successfully downloaded and installed, reboot your computer just in case.
After rebooting, open the Taskbar Behavior settings. Previously, the feature we needed was missing, but now, after activation and updating, a new option appears called “Combine Taskbar Buttons and Hide Labels.” By default, it’s always enabled, but you can set it to “Never.” After doing that, the windows in the taskbar will finally be ungrouped, and their names will appear.
This feature is still half-baked, though, and doesn’t work exactly as it did in, say, Windows 10. However, Microsoft is rolling out the update, so this workaround may become irrelevant pretty soon if you update your Windows or have freshly reinstalled a newer build. But for now, this is how you do it.