Windows 11 changes popular taskbar feature — and some users aren't happy

(Prototype credit: ADeltaX/Microsoft)

Update: Speaking of changes, Clippy is back in the latest Windows xi update .

Windows eleven is due for a full release later this year, and based on preview builds seen by Windows Insiders information technology looks like it could bring some unwelcome changes to the manner you interact with apps pinned to your taskbar.

Specifically, current preview builds of Windows 11 don't allow you to drag and drop apps, shortcuts or files onto the taskbar. You can notwithstanding pin apps to the taskbar to create a permanent home for them, equally in Windows x, simply if you try to drag a file onto an app on the taskbar in club to open information technology in said app, nothing happens.

The best Windows laptops y'all can buy correct now
Windows 11 requirements: These are all the CPUs that are uniform
How to do a make clean install of Windows xi — without upgrading

This might seem like a small-scale change, just it's provoking a lot of frustration among Windows power users who accept relied on the fourth dimension-saving feature for years. And while it'south possible Microsoft could modify the style information technology works between now and when Windows 11 officially comes out, a post on Microsoft'due south Feedback Hub (spotted by the team at Windows Latest) suggests the company doesn't run into the taskbar'southward lack of drag-and-drop functionality equally a trouble to solve.

"Currently, dragging a file onto an app in the taskbar to open it in that app is not supported in Windows eleven," reads a response from a Microsoft engineer to a Feedback Hub post complaining nearly the lack. "But nosotros appreciate all your feedback, and nosotros'll continue to use it to help guide the futurity of features similar this."

Windows 11 taskbar not allowing drag and drop of apps — (Paradigm credit: Windows Latest)

As you might expect, Windows users left some less than polite comments in response to that statement, calling it "pathetic," "a disappointment," and an overall downgrade from Windows 10.

And indeed, information technology's hard to argue that Microsoft isn't limiting the usefulness of the taskbar in Windows 11. We already knew that the new Windows xi taskbar is currently express to being docked at the bottom of the screen, meaning you lot tin can't relocate it to the side if you lot prefer a vertical taskbar. That limit might seem like a small outcome, but if you have a ridiculously wide monitor, it makes sense to relocate the taskbar to the side of the screen then you don't take up oodles of screen space with a piece of Windows UI.

Windows 11 Start menu redesign — The taskbar is getting simpler and more centered in Windows 11 (Image credit: Microsoft)

We also know that in the electric current Windows 11 preview builds at that place isn't much of a context menu left when you right-click the taskbar. Gone are the usual array of options to shift the taskbar around or launch the Windows Chore Managing director, and in their place is a single menu of Taskbar settings.

Of course, there'southward all the same enough of time for Microsoft designers to modify course and implement some of the public's much-requested changes for Windows 11 alee of its late 2021 release. Microsoft is clearly thinking about these issues, every bit the company has published multiple blog posts outlining the thought processes backside Windows 11'south dramatic redesign. Microsoft designers have already explained that the Starting time button'south new centered spot on the taskbar is intended to make information technology easier to access for folks using Windows 11 on touchscreens and ultra-broad monitors, for example, and they've made it easy to relocate the Start button dorsum to its old abode in the lower-left corner if you prefer the old means.

Hopefully we'll see them find a similar style to make dragging and dropping apps, shortcuts, and files onto the taskbar an option for Windows 11 users who rely on the feature. Of form, in that location'due south no blitz to upgrade: Microsoft has committed to supporting Windows 10 through at least October of 2025, and in the past the company oft supported versions of Windows well past stated expiration dates.

Up Next: Microsoft is bringing Clippy back to life — thanks to new Windows 11 emojis

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets like Game Developer, Blackness Hat, and PC World mag. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things calculating, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.