The most striking visual difference between Windows 10 and Windows 11 is the latter’s centered taskbar icons. While you can’t bring the central Start menu from Windows 11 to Windows 10, you can adjust the placement of taskbar icons and mimic Microsoft’s new design. Here’s how.
Windows 11’s refreshed design (first leaked ahead of its June 2021 announcement) shares some similarities with Windows 10X, namely the centered taskbar. Microsoft might have removed its dual-screen operating system, but that doesn’t mean its design language can’t survive on your PC.
Soon: Windows 11 confirmed: what we learned from the leaked version
To center Windows 10 taskbar icons, first right-click on your taskbar and deselect “Lock taskbar”.
Next, right-click the taskbar again, hover your mouse cursor over the “Toolbars” option, and select “Links.” A check mark will appear next to it once it has been selected.
Right-click the taskbar a third time and make sure “Show text” and “Show title” are both checked.
You should now see “Links” on the right side of the taskbar, with two vertical lines to the left of it.
Move your cursor over the two vertical lines, then click and drag “Links” to the left side of the taskbar. It should align to the right of the Windows and Search icons.
Changing the location of “Links” will also force your pinned icons to move to the right side of the taskbar. Use the two vertical lines next to your icons to click and drag them to the center of your taskbar. They won’t latch onto the center, so you’ll have to watch them.
Next, right-click on the taskbar and deselect “Show text” and “Show title”.
The “links” should now disappear from the taskbar.
Finally, right-click on the taskbar and select “Lock taskbar”.
The vertical lines you used to drag “Links” and pinned icons should now be gone, and your Windows 10 computer should look a little more like Windows 11.
