It’s been possible to automatically hide the taskbar in Windows operating system since the time of Windows XP, but many users who recently started using computers or Windows operating system are not aware of this nifty feature offered in Windows.
What’s is taskbar auto-hide?
As the name of the feature suggests, Windows 10 allows you to automatically hide the taskbar when it’s inactive. That is, when the auto-hide taskbar feature is enabled, the taskbar is hidden most of the time and re-appears when the mouse cursor is moved to the bottom edge of the screen (or to the side of the screen where the taskbar is currently positioned). And once you move the mouse cursor away from the taskbar, the taskbar hides again automatically.
How useful is the taskbar auto-hide feature in Windows 10?
The feature comes in handy when you’re working on a notebook or tablet with a relatively small screen. By hiding the taskbar, you get more screen real estate, which in turn helps you get your work done faster.
The feature also comes in handy when you want to focus on something for a long time without distractions. For instance, if you’re compiling a report in Office Word, you can auto-hide the taskbar and maximize the Word window for the distraction-free writing experience.
Besides that, desktop and notebook users who always use Alt + Tab to switch between running programs rarely use the taskbar. And as you know, the Start menu can be revealed by pressing the Windows logo key on the keyboard.
How to auto-hide the taskbar in Windows 10?
Complete the given below directions to enable or disable the auto-hide taskbar feature in Windows 10.
Step 1: Right-click on an empty spot on the taskbar, click Taskbar settings option to open Taskbar settings page of the Settings app.
Step 2: Here, turn on Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode option to hide the Taskbar immediately. If you want to hide the taskbar only in the tablet mode, please turn on Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode option. That’s it!
Windows will automatically hide the taskbar when it’s not being used.
To completely or always hide the taskbar
In order to completely hide the taskbar, we need to go for third-party tools. While there are many tools around, Taskbar Hider is one of the better tools out there for this job.
Taskbar Hider allows you to assign a keyboard shortcut to hide or show the taskbar so that you can hide or unhide the taskbar in a second.
While configuring it, make sure to check the option labeled Load at Windows Startup.
