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Modifying Windows 11 Start button location and Taskbar icons during OSD/AutoPilot

Posted on October 8, 2021October 8, 2021 by Jörgen Nilsson

I was determined not to do any customization of the Start button location, but I couldn’t keep my hands off. There are some useful registry keys that we can use to set the default location of the Start Button and hide Task View, Chat icon for example during OSD or AutoPilot for that matter using a PowerShell script.

The really cool part is that the Start menu moves as soon as you set the registry value as shown below.

We could make it look like below example, not saying that you should that is up to you.

The following settings can be changed using the registry.

Start button alignment – 0 = Left
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
“TaskbarAl”=dword:00000000

Remove Task View from the Taskbar
[KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
“ShowTaskViewButton”=dword:00000000

Remove Chat from the Taskbar
[KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
“TaskbarMn”=dword:00000000

Remove Widgets from the Taskbar
[KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
“TaskbarDa”=dword:00000000

Remove Search from the Taskbar
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search]
“SearchboxTaskbarMode”=dword:00000000


Here is a sample script that can be used during OS Deployment or Intune for that matter to set the default behaviour in in the Default user registry hive. I used reg.exe to set the Search settings otherwise the registry hive fails to unload.

REG LOAD HKLM\Default C:\Users\Default\NTUSER.DAT

# Removes Task View from the Taskbar
New-itemproperty "HKLM:\Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "ShowTaskViewButton" -Value "0" -PropertyType Dword

# Removes Widgets from the Taskbar
New-itemproperty "HKLM:\Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "TaskbarDa" -Value "0" -PropertyType Dword

# Removes Chat from the Taskbar
New-itemproperty "HKLM:\Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "TaskbarMn" -Value "0" -PropertyType Dword

# Default StartMenu alignment 0=Left
New-itemproperty "HKLM:\Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" -Name "TaskbarAl" -Value "0" -PropertyType Dword

# Removes search from the Taskbar
reg.exe add "HKLM\Default\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search" /v SearchboxTaskbarMode /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

REG UNLOAD HKLM\Default

I run it in my task sequence as an inline PowerShell script as shown below.

I hope this can be useful! Now time for more playing around with Windows 11

19 thoughts on “Modifying Windows 11 Start button location and Taskbar icons during OSD/AutoPilot”

  1. OSD says:
    October 10, 2021 at 9:45 pm

    Hi,

    Is it possible /supported to override Windows 11 start layout and have pinned items of my choice only?
    I asked it in MS platform as well at:
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/583131/windows-111-gtgt-add-a-layout-to-an-image.html

    Reply
    1. Jörgen Nilsson says:
      October 12, 2021 at 11:04 am

      Hi, Working on a Post right now on the topic.Depends on if you use MEMCM or Intune.

      Regards,
      Jörgen

      Reply
  2. MStix says:
    October 11, 2021 at 1:20 pm

    hi, glad I found this writeup. How are you applying this as a scheduled task?

    Reply
  3. cb says:
    October 13, 2021 at 12:25 am

    >I used reg.exe to set the Search settings otherwise the registry hive fails to unload.

    Could you elaborate on that? Does this mean that “REG UNLOAD” fails if the last command was “New-itemproperty”, but succeeds if the last command was “REG ADD”?

    Thanks.

    Reply
    1. Jörgen Nilsson says:
      October 21, 2021 at 8:49 pm

      Correct, If you create a new Registry Key, it will remain open until the powershell process finishes and then the unload command will fail.

      I have a workaround for it but the posted script will work just fine.
      Regards,
      Jörgen

      Reply
  4. OSD says:
    October 13, 2021 at 10:03 am

    Hi
    No MEMCM or Intune either. Just working with .WIM image.

    Reply
  5. IntuneGuy says:
    October 16, 2021 at 1:01 am

    Pushed these out via intune and see them on out Win 11 test machine, but they dont appear to do anything.

    Reply
    1. Jörgen Nilsson says:
      October 21, 2021 at 8:47 pm

      Hi,
      The sample script only changes it for new users on the device. Did you push it out before anyone logged on?
      Regards
      Jörgen

      Reply
  6. Pingback: Customizing the Taskbar on Windows 11 devices – All about Microsoft Endpoint Manager
  7. Pingback: Windows 11 Insider Start Menu layout registry customizations - CCMEXEC.COM - Enterprise Mobility
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  9. David says:
    November 3, 2022 at 11:51 am

    This script works great thank you.

    I tried adding values for making the taskbar with a dark theme and windows a light theme but it doesn’t seem to be working 🙁

    Would you have any pointers?

    I tried adding

    reg.exe add “HKLM:\Default\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize” /v AppsUseLightTheme /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
    reg.exe add “HKLM:\Default\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize” /v SystemUsesLightTheme /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

    Thanks

    David

    Reply
  10. Leo Torres says:
    July 8, 2023 at 12:23 am

    This works wonders for new imaged systems.
    however it does not for in-place upgrade TS…

    is there a way to get this working on TS for in-place upgrades?

    NOTE: I cannot not deploy the wind11 GPOs as we are still win10 and it seems they are not backwards compatible

    Reply
  11. Senhor Dolas says:
    August 23, 2023 at 4:59 pm

    Hi and thanks for posting. Hope this will save my life : )

    This is doing my head in as I am trying to do a custom image template for Win11 and I can’t find a way to set the StartMenu to the left.

    On your post you have references to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER…] but on the script you have REG LOAD HKLM\Default C:\Users\Default\NTUSER.DAT and then changes inside the HKLM hive.

    Is this correct?

    Will this work for new and exisisting user profile?

    Many thanks

    Reply
    1. Jörgen Nilsson says:
      January 31, 2024 at 2:19 pm

      Yes, it is correct, it will change both the default profile and existing profiles.
      Regards,
      Jörgen

      Reply
  12. Axe says:
    November 2, 2023 at 9:27 pm

    This is what worked for me to set the Start Menu to the left…

    Set-ItemProperty -Path HKCU:\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\explorer\advanced -Name ‘TaskbarAl’ -Type ‘DWord’ -Value 0

    Reply
  13. Chris says:
    November 27, 2023 at 11:49 am

    Hi, on Win 11 22H2 Ent 64bit (from 2023-09) image it is not possible to change search box to (show icon only) using below:
    reg.exe add “HKLM\Default\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search” /v SearchboxTaskbarMode /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

    Has anyone found a solution ?

    Reply
    1. Art says:
      February 12, 2024 at 10:47 am

      I struggled with this quite a bit also, I wanted the search to be hidden.
      What worked for me was to create a new registry entry at: “HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search” /v SearchOnTaskbarMode /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f (in your case use 1 instead of the 0) once you log out log in the changes should be implemented.

      I added this step to Task Sequence as a powershell script as follows:
      cmd /c reg add “HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search” /v SearchOnTaskbarMode /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

      Reply
  14. Kaspars Caune says:
    May 9, 2024 at 10:13 am

    Hi. Windows 11 23H2 Ent64bit
    reg.exe add “HKLM\Default\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search” /v SearchboxTaskbarMode /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
    Also do not hide Search. All above in script work except last modification.
    Is it not supported anymore? Or how to tell does script worked or not?

    Reply

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My name is Jörgen Nilsson and I work as a Senior Consultant at Onevinn in Malmö, Sweden. This is my blog where I will share tips and stuff for my own and everyone elses use on Enterprise Mobility and Windows related topics.
All code is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties.

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