The Windows Taskbar Can Move Again. Top, Left or Right

You gave up on this years ago, moved your taskbar back to the bottom because Windows 11 would not let you put it anywhere else, and stopped asking.

Microsoft published the change two days ago. The taskbar can go to the top, the left or the right again, and four other visible things changed in the same update.

I have not installed this update on my own machine, so what follows is Microsoft's published wording rather than anything I have clicked. That gap is stated where it matters.

The one people have wanted since 2021

Top of Microsoft's own list, which tells you how loudly it was asked for.

⭐ Microsoft says it in one sentence in its message center: "You can now choose whether the taskbar appears at the bottom, top, left, or right side of your screen."

⚡ All four edges. Not just left alignment of the icons, which is what Windows 11 has offered until now.

⚠️ If you have complained about this, you were not alone. It is the commonest Windows 11 complaint since launch, and it has taken almost five years.

⛔ It arrives with the August 2026 preview update, KB5120998, so it may not be on your machine yet.

What comes with it, and what does not

The detail in Microsoft's sentence is the part worth reading twice.

⭐ Microsoft documents the scope: tooltips, flyouts "and most customization settings, such as never combining taskbar icons, working in every position".

⚡ Never combining icons is the other long standing request, and it now works on a side taskbar too.

⚠️ Most is doing some work in that sentence. Microsoft does not list what falls outside it.

⛔ So expect a rough edge or two at the sides. The rest of what the taskbar can and cannot do has its own page.

A smaller taskbar, for small screens

Aimed at laptops rather than desktops, and easy to miss.

⚡ Microsoft describes it as reducing "the size of taskbar icons and taskbar height to maximize screen space on smaller devices".

⭐ Start, Search and the system tray stay reachable, in its own wording, so nothing is hidden to make room.

⚠️ On your laptop screen this is worth more than it sounds. The taskbar is a fixed cost on every window you open.

⛔ It is an option rather than a change, so nothing moves unless you choose it.

What changed in the Start menu

This one undoes a complaint four years old.

⭐ Microsoft says the Start menu "is now more personal", with a small or large menu size to choose from.

⚡ And the part that matters most: you can "independently show or hide the Pinned, Recommended, and All sections".

⚠️ Hiding Recommended has not been possible before. Emptying it was the only approach, which is a different thing.

⛔ You can also hide your name and profile picture. The rest of the Start menu settings are worth a look while you are in there.

Search, and where results come from

A small change, and it removes a daily irritation.

⚡ Results now say what they are. Microsoft's wording is that Search shows "where each result comes from", naming app, setting, file, web or Store.

⭐ It also indexes more on its own: it "can automatically index your most used folders so those files show up in your searches".

⚠️ That second one is the useful half. Files outside the indexed locations have always been the reason Search seemed to miss things.

⛔ If Search is finding nothing at all rather than the wrong things, that is a different fault. It has its own causes.

File Explorer, briefly

Fifth, and the smallest of the five.

⭐ Microsoft says launching File Explorer Home "is now faster and more responsive". I would call that a claim rather than a number.

⚡ The Recommended section now supports touch scrolling, in its own words, which matters on a tablet and not at all on a desktop.

⚠️ No figure is given for the speed change. Nothing here lets you check it against your own machine.

⛔ So treat that one as a nice to have rather than a reason to install anything. The taskbar is the reason.

What this machine is on

Ours, and it explains why none of the above is verified here.

⭐ This machine reads 25H2, build 26200.9168. That is the 11 August cumulative update.

⚡ The update carrying these changes is 26200.9278, released 27 August 2026.

⚠️ So I have not seen any of this working. Everything above is quoted from Microsoft rather than clicked here, which is why nothing on this page describes what it looks like.

⛔ Read your own build before deciding whether you have it: Settings, System, About, or run winver.

How to get it, and whether to bother

Short, and there is a real argument for waiting.

⚡ Microsoft says the update is available for Windows 11 versions 26H1, 25H2 and 24H2. Most people are on one of those.

⭐ A preview update is optional. It sits under Windows Update with a download and install link rather than arriving on its own.

⚠️ Preview updates are where problems surface first. One of this month's is already the subject of a Microsoft report.

⛔ Waiting for the September security update gets you the same changes with two more weeks of testing behind them. That is the boring answer and it is usually the right one.

Status: written from Microsoft's own message center entry for the August 2026 non-security preview update, dated 27 August 2026 and read on 29 August 2026, alongside the build number of this machine. ⛔ The update is not installed here, nothing described was clicked or verified, nothing was changed, and no identifier is published.

Can you move the Windows 11 taskbar to the top now?

Microsoft says yes, as of the August 2026 preview update. Its wording is that you can choose whether the taskbar appears at the bottom, top, left or right side of your screen, with most customization settings working in every position. It arrives with KB5120998 and later.

Which update adds the taskbar position setting?

The August 2026 non-security preview update, KB5120998, released 27 August 2026 for Windows 11 versions 26H1, 25H2 and 24H2. On 25H2 that is build 26200.9278. Anything lower than that does not have it yet.

Can I hide the Recommended section in Start now?

Microsoft says the Start menu now lets you independently show or hide the Pinned, Recommended and All sections, and choose a small or large menu size. Before this update, emptying Recommended was the closest anyone could get to removing it.

Should I install a preview update to get these?

There is a good case for waiting. Preview updates are optional and are where problems surface first, and one issue from this month's is already under investigation at Microsoft. The same changes reach everyone in the September security update.

The Short Version

• The taskbar can go to the bottom, top, left or right again.
• Microsoft says most customization settings work in every position.
• A new smaller taskbar option reduces icon size and taskbar height.
• Start can now hide the Pinned, Recommended and All sections separately.
• Start also offers a small or large size and can hide your name.
• Search now shows where each result came from and indexes more folders.
• All of it arrives with KB5120998, released 27 August 2026.
• It is a preview update. Waiting for September gets the same changes.

Where to Next

Read your build number first. On 25H2 you need 26200.9278 or higher to have any of this.

If you are below that and you can wait, do. The September security update carries the same changes.

If the taskbar position is the reason you are here, that is a fair reason to take the preview update early.

Once you have it, set the taskbar position first and the smaller option second. They interact.

And if you move your taskbar to the side and something visibly misbehaves, say what in the comments. Microsoft says most settings work in every position, and most is not all.