Taskbar

Though most of the items it contains are now centered by default, the Windows 11 Taskbar looks and works much like that in previous Windows versions. But it has also been simplified, so some options you may have used in the past are either missing or can be found elsewhere.

Get to know the Taskbar
The Windows 11 Taskbar sits at the bottom of the display, below the Desktop. It consists of several areas, each with its own unique functionality.

Where did it go?
The Windows 11 Taskbar is a lot less sophisticated than its Windows 10 counterpart, and much of its predecessor's functionality is now missing or harder to find in Windows 11.

Some key missing interfaces include:

Move the Taskbar to another screen edge. With Windows 10, you could move the Taskbar from its default position at the bottom of the screen to one of the other screen edges. This is no longer possible in Windows 11: the Taskbar can only appear at the bottom of the screen.

No small icons. With Windows 10, you could resize all of the Taskbar icons---Start, Taskbar items, and app shortcuts to a smaller icon size. This is no longer possible in Windows 11: the icons only support a single size.

Taskbar icon groups. The Windows 10 Taskbar could optionally display multiple windows from a single application as separate Taskbar icons. This is no longer possible in Windows 11.

Quick Launch. Windows 10 supported a vestigial feature called Quick Launch, which was a toolbar with icons for legacy features like Control Panel. Quick Launch is no longer available in Windows 11.

Toolbars. It's not just Quick Launch: While Windows 10 let you optionally display and create toolbars, this functionality is no longer available in Windows 11.

Lock Taskbar. The Windows 10 Taskbar supported a Lock/Unlock toggle that would prevent or allow you to move icons around, respectively. This option is not available in Windows 11. Instead, it is always in an unlocked state.

Taskbar context menu. When you right-clicked a blank area of the Windows 10 Taskbar, it would display a long menu of options. But this menu is gone in Windows 11: instead, you will see a small context menu with just two options, "Task Manager" and "Taskbar settings."
Here's a quick rundown of the major Taskbar areas from left to right.
Widgets
The Widgets icon displays the weather forecast and sits at the far left side of the Taskbar. If you mouse over or select this icon, the Widgets interface opens.

Start button
The Start button is used to open the Windows 11 Start menu.

You can also right-click the Start button to display the Quick Access menu, which provides access to a handy list of technical and legacy Windows utilities.
Taskbar items
By default, Windows 11 displays four so-called Taskbar items---Widgets, Search, Task view, and Chat---the last three of which appear to the right of the Start button.

Pinned app shortcuts
In addition to the aforementioned Taskbar items, Windows 11 comes with...