7+ Taskbar Tweaker

7+ Taskbar Tweaker
7+ Taskbar Tweaker allows you to configure various aspects of the Windows taskbar.
Most of the configuration options it provides can’t be tweaked using the taskbar properties or the registry.
The tweaker is designed for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

Download

exe 7tt_setup.exe (1.78 MB, changelog)
Latest version: v5.15.1
Note: The installer can be used to extract a portable version. Refer to the FAQ below for details.

Beta version
exe 7tt_setup_beta.exe (1.79 MB, changelog)
Latest beta version: v5.15.1.2
More info about beta versions.

Windows 11 Support Status

  • 7+ Taskbar Tweaker doesn’t support the Windows 11 taskbar, and probably never will. See this blog post for more details.
  • Some of the tweaks are available in Windows 11 as Windhawk mods. See here for the list of mods, and vote for missing mods that you’d like to see implemented. Read more about Windhawk here.
  • 7+ Taskbar Tweaker works on Windows 11 with the old taskbar which can be restored with third party tools. See this blog post for more details.

Demo video

Here is a video that demonstrates some of the tweaks:

Source code

https://github.com/m417z/7-Taskbar-Tweaker

FAQ

Q: Which registry keys does 7+ Taskbar Tweaker modify? I don’t need extra processes in my system.
A: The only registry keys the tweaker modifies are its own settings. There are no registry keys for the options it provides. The tweaker does that by injecting a DLL to explorer, hooking/subclassing/some other methods of the dark side.
As for extra processes, the tweaker is a native program, and is very lightweight. It shouldn’t slow down your system, and uses an extremely small amount of memory. Also, you can hide the tray icon if you want.

In case you want to remove the tweaker’s settings from the registry, look for them here:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\7 Taskbar Tweaker
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (“7 Taskbar Tweaker” value)

P.S. if you’re a programmer, you might want to take a look at the 7+ Taskbar Tweaking Library.

Q: My antivirus complains about 7+ Taskbar Tweaker.
A: It’s a false positive. I guarantee that the tweaker binaries (and any other files on this site, unless specifically noted) are 100% clean.
Also remember that the tweaker injects into explorer and modifies its memory, which is indeed suspicious.

Q: Can I Group/Combine/Label only some of the items on the taskbar?
A: Yes, use Taskbar Inspector.

Q: May I use 7+ Taskbar Tweaker in a commercial environment?
A: Yes, feel free to use it wherever you want.

Q: Where is the portable version?
A: When installing the tweaker, choose the Portable type of install, as shown on the image below.
The portable version will be extracted to the selected folder.

Selecting the portable installation type

Note: If the tweaker is already installed on your computer, the option won’t be visible. You can launch the setup with the /portable command line switch to force a portable installation.

Q: I want to report a bug/suggest a feature! What is the best way to do it?
A: Post it on the UserEcho page.

Q: I want to translate 7+ Taskbar Tweaker to my language.
A: The archive below contains the files needed to be translated.
Please read readme.txt before proceeding.

zip 7tt_translate.zip (758.63 kB)

If you are brave enough to translate the help file, contact me for the required software and files.

Posted in Releases, Software by Michael (Ramen Software) on September 30th, 2009.
Tags:

6,605 Responses to “7+ Taskbar Tweaker”

  1. JT Grand says:

    Thank you very much for your wonderful app.

    It gave me the ability to shuffle and reorganize my taskbar, which I can’t thank you enough for. I’d pay for this app if you charged $$.

    Second problem was only partially solved. I have two monitors. I managed to get rid of preview window by clicking “nothing” under Hovering, and it works for one monitor but not the other. Any idea on how I can get this functionality to work for both monitors?

    Thx,
    JT

  2. xpclient says:

    Request: Can you another option to the “Combining” section of 7 Taskbar Taskbar. Combine after x windows. For example, after 5 or 10 windows of the same App/AppID are started, then only combine them.

  3. studog says:

    Running
    7TT v3.4.3 64 bit Compiled Apr 21 2012
    on
    Win 7 64 bit

    ‘Right click’ == Standard window menu

    Last night while preparing to shut down I was right-clicking and “Close”ing many windows in a hurry. My system got into a state where right-clicking no longer brought up the context menu.

    7TT was otherwise still running ok though. I used Task Manager to kill 7TT, verified that Win7 was running the task bar, then restarted 7TT. The problem persisted. A warm reboot fixed the issue.

    That’s all I have. I will run debug builds and perform tests.

    • I’ve never encountered such an issue.

      The ‘Right click’ == Standard window menu option basically makes right click work as Shift+right click. So if you enable it and Shift+right click, it shows the jump list.
      Maybe the system had the Shift key stuck in down state (It happened for me a couple of times, clicking Shift fixed it).

      • studog says:

        Yeah, I’ve had the shift/alt/ctrl keys “stick” on occasion. That didn’t occur to me at the time because I wasn’t using the keyboard. If it happens again, I’ll check the shift key.

  4. David says:

    Thank you for this app! Makes Windows 7 more tolerable 🙂

    I have one request – and I would bow down and kiss your toes if you did this – could you please add the ability to left-click a group and open ALL of the windows of that group? For example, if you have 5 Skype windows grouped together but behind some other application, you’d click the group and they would all come forward.

    That would be incredible. Absolutely universe-shattering.

  5. Stamimail says:

    It dosen’t open the ideas properly.

    Example:
    http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker#comment-221

    It goes to the main page, not to the comment.

  6. Stamimail says:

    Many people request features for right-click or for double click or for hovering etc…

    I think you should create:
    a list of all clicks possible (right click on button, right click on empty space, middle click on button, middle click on empty space, hovering etc…)
    and
    a list of all commands possible (Max Windows, Close windows, Ctrl+Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Win+Tab, etc…)

    What do you think?

    • First, you cannot mix a button click and an empty space click.
      You cannot do “Middle click on empty space -> Close window” or “Button middle click -> Open task manager” (well, you can do the second, but it doesn’t make sense).

      As for allowing, e.g., “Button middle click -> Context menu”, why would anyone want this? It complicates both the interface and the implementation for no good reason.

      • Stamimail says:

        I agree that it will be very complicated to do it in the usual way.
        But let’s think.
        What might happen if we do the two lists mentioned, under Advanced tab, intended for advanced users.
        As a safety, it will be a Reset button (if somrthing goes wrong), and a warning message (Notify no responsibility for everything to work properly, and not everything fits, etc.)
        You can call it: Experimental Zone, Trial and error, etc.
        In this way, the Programmer does not need to work a lot, to make it perfect. And users get the maximum customization they can ask for.

  7. ClockworkBastard says:

    Thanx for 7tt again!
    Still waiting for minimize on rightclick 😉

  8. James says:

    Thanks. There are some pretty annoying things about Windows 7. You made it a little less annoying.

    Greatly appreciated!

  9. James says:

    OMG! You even brought back the “standard window menu” on right-click!

  10. Tiny says:

    When we can expect for Windows 8 compatibility?

  11. Alex says:

    That tweek is awesome!
    I looking for such thing!
    Can you also add posybility to change visual settings for taskbar. I really gate this “glass” like – gradient on taskbar buttons.

  12. legion says:

    this is the exactly tweak I always wanted. Thank you so much RaMMicHaeL!!!

  13. There appears to be a bug where the roll over state does not disengage.

  14. 'seye says:

    Dude…u rock! Just upgraded (unwillingly) to Win7 from WinXP; had another taskbar tweak (Taskix) i used before. Was initially glad Win7 natively allowed moving taskbar items, until i found out similar items were stuck together. Thanx for saving my sanity.

  15. Stamimail says:

    When (approx.) will be the next release?

  16. Stamimail says:

    I want to send you Private Message. Is your Email active? (Last time I didn’t get answer)

  17. V10R37 says:

    I hope someone can help me with this, because I searched on the web and I found nothing about this.:( I want to pin to a program in the taskbar many files (I got 16 pined, but I want more). Is there a way to make windows let me pin more files?

    • Stamimail says:

      As for that matter… Looking for an option to replace “Frequent” in the jumping list to “Recent” (“Frequent” is appearing in some programs like Internet Explorer)

  18. Steve says:

    Thank you. Really helpful. Windows 7 taskbar is now bearable.

  19. techvslife says:

    Is there any way of removing the *left-click* version of the jumplist?–it always shows when I’m using remote control probably because of the mouse delay. It’s the biggest annoyance I have with the windows 7 ui.
    Thanks.

    See:
    http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/116940-how-disable-left-click-jump-list.html

    http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/108076-completely-disable-jump-list-trigger.html

    Thanks.

  20. Stamimail says:

    Bug:

    While moving taskbar button (Right click dragging), the appropriate preview stays in place rather than going with him.

    • Stamimail says:

      Another thing, reorder the preview…
      1. the Reordering doesn’t remains after, to the next time. why?
      2. Enable Right click dragging like in Reordering Taskbar buttons.

      • the Reordering doesn’t remains after, to the next time. why?

        I can’t reproduce this.

        • Stamimail says:

          Mmm… This could be your version already solved the problem.
          What I’m trying to say is, in my opinion, taskbar button and preview belongs to him, should move respectively:

          While moving taskbar button (Right click dragging), the appropriate preview should go with him.
          And…
          While moving preview (also need to be by Right click dragging), the appropriate taskbar button should go with him.

          One last thing.
          Note that when the cursor hovers over the preview, we can see the actual window that belongs to him.
          I would very much want the same thing will happen if I will move the cursor over the buttons on the taskbar, I can see the real window belonging to the button, without moving the cursor to its preview.
          It’s the ideal situation for me.

  21. Marein says:

    I came here looking for a way to fix the shift+right-click menu, but found so much more! Thanks for this amazing app!

  22. Zequez says:

    This tweaker is amazing! Thank you!

  23. VEG says:

    Есть идея насчёт регулятора громкости. Сейчас при скролле создаётся процесс SndVol.exe. На моей машине это после длительного простоя занимает около двух секунд!
    Предлагаю сделать опциональный «минималистичный» регулятор громкости. При наведении курсора на значок громкости отображается стандартная подсказка «Speakers: 15%» или «Speakers: Muted». Можно сделать так, чтобы при изменении громкости (или выключении звука) принудительно отображалась эта же подсказка с текущим значением громкости. Чтобы это не вызывало непонимания, стоит обрабатывать скролл только над значком громкости, как сейчас обрабатывается нажатие средней кнопки для отключения звука.

    • Идея с подсказкой мне нравится. Попробую сделать на досуге.

      • VEG says:

        В плагине Taskbar Gestures (для foobar2000, https://sites.google.com/site/foobar2000components/home/taskbargestures ) реализована похожая возможность для регулировки громкости плеера. Там при скролле подсказка появляется сразу же ровно посередине над иконкой и текст обновляется без задержек. Просто как пример (если не будет получаться сделать, можно посмотреть как сделано).

    • VEG says:

      Судя по всему вы немного ускорили работу регулятора громкости. По ощущениям стало быстрее работать 🙂
      Но если навести на иконку громкости, появляется подсказка «Speakers: 20%» и при изменении громкости скроллом подсказка не исчезает, а поверх её всплывает большое окошко громкости. Но это правда мелочь, конечно.
      Не знаю что вы там сделали, но сейчас уже задержка появленя окна регулятора мало ощутима. Спасибо.

  24. Hylix says:

    Awesome plugin!

    Though I have 1 little question someone up on the top of the comments said that your program isn’t working with an other program which adds a 2nd taskbar. Do you ever plan to add support for lets stay Ultramon (the most popular multiple task bar program)?

    Greetings!

      • Tyson Harty says:

        The issue with Ultramon is simply that 7TaskerbarTweaker does not allow the *reordering* of tabs on the second monitor. Is there a solution for this detail? This is what I’d really like . . .

        • What do you mean by “reordering of tabs”? What tabs?

          • Tyson Harty says:

            Sorry, not “tabs,” I guess, but “taskbar items” (i.e. program icons, etc.). I recently switched to Win7 from XP, where I used a combination of Ultramon (for the extended taskbar) and Taskit (for doing drag ‘n’ drop relocation taskbar items). However, Win7 does not support Taskit, so I’ve been searching for a solution. 7tt seemed to be it, but it doesn’t allow reordering on the second monitoring toolbar AND the Win7 mini-pop window (for multiple open instances of an application) does not pop up on the second window. Any ideas? Thanks.

            • Last time I’ve checked, Ultramon used it’s own implementation of the second taskbar, so there’s not much I can do.

              As I understand, it works as expected on the primary taskbar, right?

            • Eric says:

              I recently switched to Win7 from XP, where I used a combination of Ultramon (for the extended taskbar) and Taskit (for doing drag ‘n’ drop relocation taskbar items).

              Have you tried using Dual Monitor Taskbar? It’s a fair bit more basic (pretty much just a second taskbar), but it does a really good job, you can reorder taskbar items…and it’s free =)

  25. Miranda says:

    Thank you for this amazing software. I installed in windows 7 64bits. I updated from Vista recently. In fact I was looking for a way to show two columns of icons in my taskbar. I use several programs and now instead of having their icons easily grouped in one taskbar, I need to constantly switch between two columns in the taskbar of W7 64 bits. Is there any way your program can solve this or do you know another software that groups the icons into one taskbar?

  26. Tyson Harty says:

    Yes, 7tt works great on the primary taskbar. Thanks!

  27. Austin says:

    I cannot start this programm 🙁 No error-message.

    after doubleklick on your programm the icon appears in the right bottom corner, but when I move my mouse to the icon it disappear 🙁

    I use Win7 64bit

  28. VEG says:

    Багрепорт. Если открыть пуск и при открытом пуске попробовать изменить громкость скроллом, регулятор появляется, но громкость не изменяется, и он как-то странно мерцает. Не критично, но решил запостить на всякий случай.

  29. daisy lee says:

    please have an option to save the settings in the registry without the need to run “7 taskbar tweaks” always, please , it would be really helpfull.

  30. Stamimail says:

    1. Can you please improve the Taskbar Inspector? (Example: to close a lot of windows of 1 group by 1-2 steps, to choose multuple items by the arrow, to add some commands to the context menu)?

    2. I’m looking for switch Combine/Decombine by “click”, so I can choose which 1 group to Combine/Decombine and leave all the rest.

    • to close a lot of windows of 1 group by 1-2 steps

      Double click on the Application Id, right click -> close.

      add some commands to the context menu

      Like what?

      I’m looking for switch Combine/Decombine by “click”, so I can choose which 1 group to Combine/Decombine and leave all the rest.

      There’s a “decombine active group” option.

      • Stamimail says:

        1. I didn’t know about the “Double click on the Application Id”.
        2. The context menu before “Double click on the Application Id” and after is not the same… I looked for those options when I simply R-clicked on the Application Id. Why not to add these commands even before “Double click on the Application Id”?
        3. If I want 2 groups decombined and 2 groups combined?

        • Why not to add these commands even before “Double click on the Application Id”?

          Where would I put the per-Application-Id options then?

          If I want 2 groups decombined and 2 groups combined?

          You can use the per-Application-Id combining options.

          • Stamimail says:

            1. I didn’t understand you. What is the problem to put in the context menu: Show Label / Group / Combine // Sort // Change // Cascade / Tile / Tile // Restore / Minimize / Maximize / Close ?

            2. What you’re suggesting, it’s good if I use the same programs and the same configuration all the time.
            I really think that what I propose (to add “Combine/Decombine” to “Middle click on a group” or any other operation) it is more user-friendly.

  31. Lainy says:

    Though determined to hang on to XP as long as possible, I recently had to buy a new PC. I hate Windows 7 even more than I thought I would. Thank you SO much for 7 Taskbar Tweaker! Between it and Xyplorer I’ve regained my sanity.

  32. Andre says:

    why cant i install within “C:\Program Files\” or “C:\Program Files (x86)\” ?

  33. Stamimail says:

    Taskbar Inspector:
    Please improve the selection by arrow:
    If I press L-click and moving the arrow – sometimes it is selecting sometimes it is changing the order (BTW, Why can’t I reorder to other ID apllication automatically)?
    Consider adding V BOXes next each Item.

  34. Orbidia says:

    Bug.

    Testing this in a clean Win7 Pro 64bit VMware.

    I only checked: Control volume when mouse is over: The notification area.

    Then I closed the settings, tested volume. Then opened settings. Clicked About “3.43”

    Then when I happened to roll the mousewheel over the 7TT settings window, the titles at the top move around in a weird way. For example, if the mouse is on the upper right area where “Jump list (default)” and “Standard windows menu” and I roll the mouse wheel, the words “Taskbar items” above moves to the left and right along the title line. When I rolled the mousewheel somewhere else, “Grouping and combining” started sliding left and right – it would even move off the edge of the window. Also, after the About box is clicked, the mouse roll wheel make all the settings blink a lot in general. It’s a very odd bug.

    Hopefully I’ve told enough information for you to reproduce the erratic behavior.

  35. Orbidia says:

    After I rebooted the VM, I couldn’t make it happen again. Really strange kind of bug… Must have been something I installed earlier which conflicted with 7TT.

    Everything seems solid now.

  36. VEG says:

    Ещё одна неприятность, но это наверное баг стандартного таскбара. Если какое-то приложение «подвисло» на секунды 3-4, то в момент «отвисания» его кнопка (если отключена группировка с запускающими иконками) почему-то перескакивает на самое последнее место. В частности, регулярно проявляется на последнем Firefox, который стал немного подвисать во время сборки мусора при большом количестве вкладок. Может быть там не сложно пофиксить… 🙂

  37. Eric says:

    Hello, I’m quite interested in using your program. However, I seem to be getting an error: “The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you’re running.” I am using Windows 7 64 bit. If there are other aspects that could be causing the issue, please let me know.

    Thanks.

    • Hi,

      Can you upload a screenshot of the error you’re getting?

      • Eric says:

        I can work on getting an image, though it could be difficult to upload while at work today.

        Full error text:
        The version of this file is not compatible with the version of Windows you’re running. Check your computer’s system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the software publisher.

        • That message indicates that you are trying to run a 16-bit application on a 64-bit machine, which is odd as the installer is 32-bit.
          Possibly the installer is corrupt, try to redownload it.

          • Eric says:

            Hmm….I’d like to thank you for your time, I seem to have discovered the problem. I right-clicked on the downloaded .exe and noticed an option for “open with Notepad”, and upon doing so got the text stating my computer’s antivirus had blocked the download. Normally it would give this error when trying to download the file, so hadn’t seen that before.

            I was able to download from an alternate source, transfer it over, and the file works just fine now, ready to start customizing my interface =). Thanks again.

  38. Osmo says:

    Could make 7tt do something about the systray icon spacing? I’m probably not the only one wishing to remove the extra margins around the icons introduced in windows 7.
    See:
    http://www.windows7taskforce.com/view/2774
    http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-support/66115-how-condense-icons-system-tray.html

    Very nice work with the program anyway, it does well what it does. Though it’s pretty sad a third party program is required to e.g. remove the “show desktop icon”.

    • Stamimail says:

      Hello RaMMicHaeL,
      I liked how it worked in XP…
      But you also can do: Show automatically all hiden Icons by hovering.

      You can go on to “system tray manager”, but leave something to the next release… 🙂

  39. Todd says:

    Awesome app! But I am having a problem with 7TT remembering App IDs. My situation is that I have three Firefox icons pinned to the taskbar, each starts a different user profile for Firefox. My aggravation with Windows/Firefox is that no matter which Firefox profile is loaded, the first (default) Firefox icon is always highlighted even if I had clicked the third icon (a defined profile).

    I use 7TT to set the App ID for each Firefox window after it is loaded and the appropriate taskbar item is highlighted, for that session. The problem is that these App IDs are not remembered after closing Firefox. After closing Firefox and restarting a defined profile from the second or third icon, the first (default) icon is always highlighted unless I assign the App ID again within 7TT.

    Is there any way to have 7TT remember the App IDs or could this functionality be added? Or maybe I’m missing a setting?

    Thanks for a GREAT tool!

    • The tweaker changes the App ID of a window only until it closes.
      There’s no way for it to “remember” the change, as there’s no way to distinguish between Firefox windows with different profiles.
      Firefox’s App IDs is something Firefox needs to handle.

      • Todd says:

        Actually, the only way that I could create three different pinned icons on the Windows taskbar was to create copies of the Firefox.exe file. So I have Firefox.exe (default), Firefox_profile1.exe, and Firefox_profile2.exe. This is how I have 7TT linking to a specific icon in the taskbar.

        Is there not a way for 7TT to “remember” the executable that a window is assigned to?

  40. Stamimail says:

    Taskbar items > Hovering :
    Show thumbnail preview / List :

    Now it shows thumbnail preview / List per a group.
    I’m looking for showing thumbnail preview / List for all items at once (not only for one group).

    Is it possible?

    • Now it shows thumbnail preview / List per a group.

      What do you mean?

      • Stamimail says:

        Suppose I opened some windows in Windows Explorer and some in WORD and some windows in IE. When I move the cursor to the taskbar:
        If I move the cursor over the EXPLORER I get a preview only for EXPLORER.
        If I move the cursor over the WORD I get a preview only for WORD.
        If I move the cursor over IE I get a preview only for IE.

        I’m looking for showing the preview for all at once.

        Is it possible?

  41. Elaith says:

    My compliments for the app, really. It provides a number of new useful options that can actually make a difference in the day after day work flow.

    Just a thing, in my opinion, _damn_ desirable:

    it would be possible to create a list or something for applications that I don’t want group?

    (like Windows Explorer, the folders I mean… I NEVER would those grouped!) So I know all others application would work fine, and certain ones won’t go grouped, remaining plainly visible.)

    Thanks!

  42. Elaith says:

    My fault, I’ve just understood now the power of Taskbar Inspector.

    I make a bow, excuse myself and go to enjoy my newly organized taskbar.

    • Stamimail says:

      Hello RaMMicHaeL.
      I tried your suggetions.
      The 1st is working, but for some reason there is a problem with IE application. Although it is included to 1 group with the rest, IE previews are not shown.
      The 2nd is also working… but there is no red X for closing etc.

      Anyway, The main Idea was to ease the use with the mouse only rather than always switch our hands from mouse and keyboard.

      Thank you for your suggestions.

  43. Martin says:

    Hi,

    what is the changelog of version 4.0?

  44. Marcel says:

    do not install version 4.0 BUGGGGGGGGGGG

    every time I click on a minimize program if start a new instance at the place of maximizing it

  45. rodwell says:

    Great utility – I can now order my taskbar as I see fit.

    The inevitable feature request: in previous versions of Windows it was possible to CONTROL+CLICK on multiple programs running in the taskbar then you could RIGHT-CLICK and select ‘close’ to close them all. It would be wonderful if your utility could emulate this feature.

  46. Hello!

    Thank you for the beautiful tool!

    Is there a way to start it without opening parameters window? I have a CMD file that starts my usual tray applications after a logon, they all start silently but 7tt always displays its parameter window on startup.

    Regards,
    Eugene

  47. eain says:

    With version 4.0, volume control when mouse is over the taskbar doesn’t seem to work.

  48. Stamimail says:

    BTW, There is another downside to upgrade to V4.0:
    If you have shortcuts to 7TT (e.g. on RocetDock), they no longer work, since the executable file name is replaced from 7 Taskbar Tweaker.exe to 7+ Taskbar Tweaker.exe
    This creates a little mess…

  49. Name says:

    Hello RaMMicHaeL, great job on the taskbar tweaker!

    Just having an issue with the latest version (v4), whenever I open any explorer window it works fine, but when I open the second one it crashes “explorer.exe”. If I close TT after that, explorer doesn’t work at all and I have to restart. For now my only solution was to remove TT from startup and everything works fine (but I’m missing the TT functionality of course).

    I’m using Windows 7 64-bit. Please let me know if I can provide more info.

    Thanks!

  50. v4.0.1:
    * Made the “Double/Middle click on empty space” -> “Ctrl+Alt+Tab” work as expected on Windows 7.
    * Added the option “Double/Middle click on empty space” -> “Ctrl+Win+Tab” for Windows 7. If aero is off or the tweaker runs on Windows 8, the option works like “Ctrl+Alt+Tab”.
    * Fixed a crash when using the “When not grouping, place new items next to the existing ones” option.

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