Getting the Desktop Menu Button back on the Win11 Taskbar (System Tray)

[britechguy]

Here is what my partner's Windows 10 machine, and many Windows 10 machines, looks like on the Taskbar, at the right side:



If you click that button, a pop-up menu appears showing everything that's on the desktop, without having to show the desktop directly.

One of my clients is used to using this, and asked me today if this can be placed on the Windows 11 Taskbar. Well, my search mojo is off, and I think because I have not come up with "the magic search term" that peels away many posts that don't deal with just that button and on the taskbar (and, believe me, I've tried). We have discussed pinning to Start Menu as well as Quick Access, but I really want to know if there is a way to get this button on (and, conversely) off the Windows 11 (and/or Windows 10) taskbar in the system tray area.

Assistance very much appreciated.

 

[fincoder]

I believe ExplorerPatcher can do it (open source I think).

 

[GTP]

Drag and drop to the Taskbar has been disabled in Windows 11, however you can change some registry settings to make it work again so you can drag the "Desktop" icon from Explorer to the Taskbar.
Or:
It also re-enables the old Win 7/10 style menu when you R/C the Taskbar where you can select "Desktop" from the "Toolbars" list.


Go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell \Update\Packages

click Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and create a new entry called UndockingDisabled.


Double click the new entry and assign it a value of 1.

You have to restart to enable it.
Works as expected.

 

[GTP]

I believe ExplorerPatcher can do it (open source I think).

Explorer patcher does not do what @britech guy wants. It resets everything back to default.
I tried it on a couple of Win 11 testers and was not impressed by it.
So if you have any desktop customisations like taskbar, context menus, etc they will be reverted to default.

 

[britechguy]

And I'm really looking for just that button, which gives a pop-up menu that displays a vertical list of all items on the desktop, without needing to throw focus all the way back to the desktop itself.

I've also never figured out how to toggle this thing on and off under Windows 10. This thing appears on my partner's machine, and never did on mine, and I could not ever make it appear on mine, nor go away on his. Now WIndows 11 adds another complication.

I'm also not looking to use any 3rd party solution. If it can't be achieved by the native Win11 UI through settings the end use can tweak, then we'll do without.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Windows 11 no longer supports this. You have to do the registry edits to restore the old taskbar.

To enable this in win 10 just right click on a blank spot on the taskbar and hit the toolbar menu then click on or off desktop.

 

[GTP]

The registry edit is quick and simple and works perfectly.

 

[britechguy]

The registry edit is quick and simple and works perfectly.

I'll have to play with it on my machine as the trial balloon. Thanks for sharing. In all that's been swirling about I've forgotten to acknowledge what's been offered on this thread and thank you all for it.