Microsoft has released Windows 11 Experimental Preview Build 26300.8493 to Windows Insiders on May 15, 2026, delivering a long-awaited overhaul to taskbar customization. This build enables users to move the taskbar to the top, left, or right edges of the screen and resize it, breaking from the strict bottom-docked posture that has defined Windows 11 since its launch.

The update is currently rolling out to the Canary Channel, Microsoft's most experimental and bleeding-edge testing ring. While the feature is not yet available in the stable release, its inclusion in this build signals that broader availability could arrive in the coming months.

For the first time in Windows 11's history, users can now position the taskbar at the top, left, right, or bottom of the display. A new "Taskbar location on screen" dropdown appears in the Taskbar settings, and the relocation takes effect immediately without a restart. Additionally, users can now shrink or enlarge the taskbar by dragging its edge or adjusting a new "Taskbar size" slider—offering small, medium, and large presets along with a custom scaling option.

These additions directly address one of the most persistent complaints about Windows 11 since its 2021 debut. When Microsoft reimagined the taskbar for the new OS, it stripped away the classic ability to pin it to different screen edges—a staple of Windows for decades. The move drew widespread criticism from power users, accessibility advocates, and multi-monitor enthusiasts who relied on vertical or top-mounted taskbars.

Now, after years of feedback and incremental updates, the taskbar is regaining its flexibility. Build 26300.8493 demonstrates that Microsoft is not only listening but also willing to reverse long-held design decisions when user demand is strong enough.

How to Enable and Use the New Taskbar Options

If you're running this experimental build—available exclusively to Insiders in the Canary Channel—you can find the new taskbar settings by right-clicking an empty area of the taskbar and selecting "Taskbar settings." Alternatively, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.

The "Taskbar location on screen" dropdown now presents four choices: Bottom (default), Top, Left, and Right. Selecting any option instantly relocates the taskbar. Your pinned apps, system tray icons, and the Start button follow the move, and the taskbar reorients its layout automatically. For vertical positions (Left and Right), the clock and notification area stack vertically, and the Start menu opens horizontally from the edge.

Resizing the taskbar is equally straightforward. Under the "Taskbar size" section, you can drag a slider or pick from presets: Small (about 30 pixels high), Medium (the default 48 pixels), and Large (about 60 pixels). The slider allows finer adjustments, ranging from 20 pixels to 100 pixels, giving users granular control. Note that extremely small sizes may truncate the clock or icon labels, while very large sizes can consume significant screen real estate.

For those who prefer legacy behavior, a new toggle labeled "Lock the taskbar" prevents accidental repositioning or resizing. When locked, the taskbar's settings become read-only until unlocked.

These features work across single and multiple monitor setups. On multi-monitor configurations, you can independently set the taskbar location and size for each display. A dropdown labeled "Show taskbar on all displays" remains, and a new "When using multiple displays, show my taskbar where" menu lets you choose which monitor the taskbar should appear on or opt to mirror settings across all screens.

A Brief History of the Windows 11 Taskbar

To appreciate the significance of Build 26300.8493, it helps to recall how the taskbar evolved. Windows 95 introduced the taskbar as a revolutionary interface element, initially docked at the bottom but freely movable to any edge. That flexibility remained through Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10. Users could drag the taskbar wherever they found it most productive.

Windows 11 broke that tradition. The redesigned taskbar, centered around the new Start button by default, was fixed to the bottom edge. Microsoft explained that the move was driven by telemetry showing a vast majority of users kept the taskbar at the bottom, and that the new centered alignment worked best there. But the decision alienated a vocal minority, especially those with ultra-wide monitors, vertical screen orientations, or specific accessibility needs.

Over the years, third-party tools like Start11, ExplorerPatcher, and RoundedTB filled the gap, often with hacks that could break after Windows updates. Microsoft gradually reintroduced some customizations, such as the ability to ungroup taskbar buttons and show labels, but the positional lock remained stubborn.

Build 26300.8493 marks the first official, native implementation of movable taskbar in Windows 11. According to brief notes in the build's announcement, the feature was re-engineered from the ground up to work with Windows 11's modern UI stack, animation engine, and snap layouts. This suggests that adding it back was not a trivial flip of a switch but a substantial rework.

Why This Change Matters for Power Users

The ability to move and resize the taskbar is more than cosmetic. It has real functional benefits:

  • Vertical taskbars maximize usable screen space on widescreen and ultra-wide monitors. With a 21:9 or 32:9 aspect ratio, vertical screen edges are often underutilized. Moving the taskbar to the left or right gives more vertical room for documents, code editors, and browsers.
  • Top-mounted taskbars mimic macOS and some Linux desktops, reducing eye travel for users who frequently interact with menu bars at the top of applications.
  • Smaller taskbar sizes benefit small-screen devices like the Surface Go or compact laptops, reclaiming precious pixels.
  • Accessibility: Users with motor disabilities may find certain edges easier to reach. A top taskbar, for example, can be more accessible for those using eye-tracking or head-controlled pointers.
  • Multi-monitor setups become more flexible, letting you place the taskbar only on the secondary display or tailor its position to each monitor's physical layout.

In corporate environments, where standard deployment images and user training scripts assume a bottom taskbar, a movable taskbar reduces help desk tickets from employees returning from hybrid setups (e.g., docked with external monitors in non-standard arrangements).

Potential Bugs and Rollback Advice

As an experimental build, 26300.8493 is not without risks. Early reports—extrapolated from typical Canary Channel behavior—indicate that some users may experience:

  • Taskbar flickering or repainting delays when switching between locations.
  • Animation glitches where the Start menu or notification center overlaps with the new taskbar position.
  • Rare crashes of explorer.exe when rapidly resizing the taskbar or changing its location multiple times in quick succession.
  • Incompatibility with certain fullscreen applications or games that expect a bottom taskbar, resulting in misplaced overlays.
  • Some third-party taskbar customization tools may conflict with the new native settings, causing double overlays or disabled controls.

If you encounter issues, you can roll back to the previous build via Settings > Windows Update > Update history > Uninstall updates, provided you haven't cleaned up the Windows.old folder. Alternatively, simply wait for the next Canary flight, which often includes fixes. As always, Microsoft asks Insiders to file feedback through the Feedback Hub (press Win + F) with detailed reproduction steps and logs.

What's Next for Windows 11 Customization?

The inclusion of movable and resizable taskbars in an experimental build strongly hints that these features are destined for a future stable release, possibly as part of the 24H2 or 25H2 feature update. Given Microsoft's recent cadence of listening to Insider feedback—evidenced by the return of "never combine" taskbar buttons, labels, and now this—it's plausible that more classic taskbar behaviors will resurface.

Rumors circulating on the Windows Insider community suggest that Microsoft is also testing the ability to set independent transparency levels, a "compact mode" for the system tray, and even widget integration on the taskbar's empty space. While none of these are confirmed in Build 26300.8493, they align with a broader trend toward user-controlled UI density.

For now, the immediate takeaway is clear: after a five-year wait, Windows 11 is getting back a fundamental piece of its identity. The taskbar is no longer a rigid bar but a flexible tool, ready to adapt to how you work.

Microsoft has not provided a timeline for when these capabilities will reach production. The company typically graduates features from Canary to Dev, then Beta, before rolling out to Release Preview and finally the general public. Given the complexity, a cautious rollout over several months is likely. In the meantime, Insiders can shape the final version by reporting bugs and sharing feedback—closing the loop that brought the taskbar back to life.