Microsoft explains why you can't move Windows 11 Taskbar

What you need to know

• Microsoft's Tali Roth recently discussed why the Taskbar on Windows 11 cannot be moved to the side of the screen.
• Roth argued that the feature is not highly requested and that adding it would take a huge amount of work.
• Windows 10 supports a side Taskbar, but Microsoft rebuilt the Taskbar for Windows 11.

The Windows 11 Taskbar is staying put, at least for the time being. While many have complained about the inability to move the Taskbar on Microsoft's latest operating system, the company does not plan to give people the option to reposition it any time soon. Tali Roth, the head of product of Windows Core Experiences at Microsoft, recently discussed the Taskbar in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on YouTube.

Roth's defense of the Taskbar staying in place starts off with the argument that moving the UI element would be a large undertaking.

"When it comes to something like actually being able to move the taskbar to different locations on the screen, there's a number of challenges with that," said Roth (via Neowin). "When you think about having the taskbar on the right or the left, all of a sudden the reflow and the work that all of the apps have to do to be able to understand the environment is just huge."

She continued, citing the fact that the feature is not in high demand.

"And when you look at the data, while we know there is a set of people that love it that way and, like, really appreciate it, we also recognize that this set of users is really small compared to the set of other folks that are asking for other features. So, at the moment, we are continuing to focus on things that I hear more pain around."

The ability to be able to move the Taskbar is one of the most-requested features in the Feedback Hub, so Roth's claim is likely based on telemetry gathered by Microsoft or other data.

While Microsoft will look into adding the option, a side Taskbar appears unlikely. "It is one of those things that we are still continuing to look at, and we will keep looking to feedback, but at the moment, we do not have a plan or a set date for when we would, or if we should, actually build the side taskbar," explained Roth.

Previous versions of Windows support moving the Taskbar to the side of the screen, but Microsoft rebuilt the Taskbar for Windows 11. During that process, the company did not include certain features from older versions of Windows, including repositioning the Taskbar and dragging and dropping content.