How to move the taskbar to the top in Windows 11

When Windows 11 launched in 2021, it pinned the taskbar to the bottom of the screen. Windows 10 had let you dock it to any edge; Windows 11 simply dropped the setting, and for years the only ways back were a registry tweak that stopped working in later builds or a tool that patches Explorer.

That changed in September 2026. Here is how to move the taskbar to the top today - with the new built-in setting, on a PC that doesn't have it yet, and with lumabar if you want the top of your screen to do more than hold icons.

Move the taskbar with the built-in setting

The September 2026 update for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2 (KB5124008) brings back a taskbar position setting:

1. Open Settings → Windows Update, install the latest updates and restart.
2. Go to Settings → Personalization → Taskbar.
3. Expand Taskbar behaviors.
4. Under Taskbar position, choose Top. Left and Right are there too.

Microsoft is switching the option on gradually (a controlled feature rollout), so a fully updated PC may not show it straight away.

What the built-in top taskbar can't do yet

Early reports list a few limits that come with the new positions:

• Auto-hide works only while the taskbar is at the bottom.
• The search box isn't shown on left or right taskbars.
• You choose the position in Settings; the taskbar can't be dragged to another edge.
• It is still the same taskbar: app icons, the tray and the clock.

If you don't see Taskbar position

• Windows 10 has had it all along: right-click the taskbar → Taskbar settings → Taskbar location on screen → Top.
• On Windows 11, check for updates again later - the setting arrives in waves, even on PCs that already have the update.
• The old registry edit (StuckRects3) no longer moves the taskbar on current Windows 11 builds.
• Tools that patch Explorer to move the taskbar, such as ExplorerPatcher or StartAllBack, can clash with the new setting. Uninstall them first if you switch to the built-in option.

A top bar that does more: lumabar

Moving the taskbar gives you the same row of icons, just higher up. lumabar puts a live dock there instead: your apps plus the things you check all day - the clock and date, the weather, your calendar, battery, CPU and RAM, what's playing, even your Claude or ChatGPT limits.

1. Install lumabar and activate your license.
2. Drag the dock by an empty spot into the top half of the screen and let go - it snaps to the top edge, and its panels open downward.
3. Right-click the dock and choose Widgets… to add what you want up there.

lumabar doesn't patch Explorer, so it works on Windows 10 and on every Windows 11 build, whether or not the new setting has reached your PC. While it runs, it sets the Windows taskbar to auto-hide or hides it completely; quit lumabar and the taskbar comes back as it was.

Built-in top taskbar or lumabar?