Enhance Windows Taskbar Auto-Hide Functionality Using Taskbar Activate
Many Windows users want to customize Taskbar’s Auto-Hide feature as there are no settings available by default to customize it. You can’t customize Auto-Hide time delay, Always on Top settings, etc.
Today we are going to share an excellent small utility “Taskbar Activate” which extends the Auto-hide functionality of Taskbar and provides an interface to customize various settings.
Taskbar Activate manages activation and deactivation of the Windows Taskbar. It is specially useful for accessing the Taskbar with special applications running (full screen windows, always on top windows, etc). It also prevents an inopportune Taskbar window appearing over your application when the mouse goes close to the screen border.
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Taskbar Activate awakes your Taskbar when it is hidden by a full screen window.
Once installed, you can access its Settings using its system tray icon.
You can download it using following link:
Download Link
It seems the software has been removed by the developer.
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Hmm… the issue with Windows 7, for me, is the same as it was 18 months ago: the start menu icon, ie. the blue circle with colored windows, stays on the desktop.
Remember the taskbar IS set to autohide: this the point of “Taskbar Activate” – to show the taskbar with a delay/
You can fix this issue in Windows 7 by unchecking the “Disable Bar in the Background” option (in the Activation Tab); then the Start Menu icon will hide as well.
Thank You!!!!!
From a captive victim of Windows Vista.
Thanks for your good application
windows do not have good launcher like Linux Ubuntu(canonical cor).
Linux Ubuntu have good unity desktop and very very very nice 3D launcher.
In Ubuntu OS you can have behavior and sensitivity of launcher in settings.
Wow, I was searching for it for windows 10 and…. it works. Thanks alot again VG! 🙂
Hi guys. Regardless of the last posted date, this problem seems to be rampant, but I personally found my own workaround and it is as easy as pie anda
think outside the box” solution. Here is my post on another site. I was so damn glad to discover this solution and bring an end to all taskbar issues where any (ANY) window maximized (in focus or out of focus or all layered on the desktop can now no longer block the taskbar or any other third party taskbar substitute…
••••MaxMax•••• is the one to solve your taskbar and other desktop bar problems when they won’t unhide with the cursor at the edge of the screen.
MaxMax is a freeware app I just stumbled on. It installs in your OS (good for all Windows OS Versions) and its settings can be accessed from the systray. This is an amazing app that allows you to set any desired pixel clearance/proximity from the border edges of any sized monitor (top • bottom • left • right) for ALL MAXIMIZED WINDOWS!!!
That means you can have a clearance of, say, 1 pixel at any edge of your monitor so that if your taskbars won’t unhide, you have that one pixel clearance to put your cursor tip and click to make the faulty hidden taskbar pop to the top and gain focus.
Again… this app overrides all maximized windows to comply with the settings.
No more infamous Windows Taskbar issues where the taskbar cannot be unhidden with the mouse cursor. It also allows you to access any other third party desktop bar like Object dock, desktop sidebar, etc. It’s the best workaround I have found for the irritating and heretofore unsolved window focus problem in all Windows versions since after Windows 98. Screw you Microsoft.
Why was the link to Taskbar Activate removed?
How can I get SOME WAY to STOP the d%$# taskbar activation when the cursor is near the screen edge?
It is now well into the year 2020 and after six or more years of taskbar unreliability, I stumbled into Taskbar Activate through Google searches, which I did for a few hours every six months or so, trying various methods to fix this issue with no success.
Taskbar Activate, written by a French guy over 20 years ago for Windows XP, works perfectly. My taskbar unhides beautifully and I don’t have to worry about it not working after a Windows update or when the wind changes direction. It used to be c.zy. It would work fine for a few weeks and then go out on me.
The problem I had was that the taskbar wouldn’t unhide as the cursor passed over it, when I had a browser open. It worked fine in Windows alone, but when I had a browser or other application open I’d have to press the stupid Windows key. All these years owning computers, and considering myself at an advanced level in software troubleshooting (for an amateur), and this made me feel like a moron.
So here is the link. Click on it next to the little country flags to download the version you want:
pmdevigne.free.fr/TaskbarActivate.html