How to hide Windows taskbar

The taskbar in Windows 10 is a very useful place to pin your favourite apps, plus it also gives fast access to a few other features such as volume, calendar, and notifications. You might not always want it around though, so setting it to auto-hide is an easy way to ensure it only appears when necessary.

We show you the few simple steps it takes to make the taskbar disappear, temporarily at least.

There are two main ways of getting to the taskbar settings. The first is to find an area of the taskbar that’s empty, then right-click on it.

You should see a menu appear, at the bottom of which is the option for Taskbar settings. Click this and you’ll be taken there automatically.

The second route is by manually navigating to the right area. Open the Start Menu and click on Settings > Personalisation, then select the Taskbar option from the the left-hand column.

Either method will bring you to the current screen, on which you’ll see a number of on-off settings. The one at the top of the list is to Lock the Taskbar, but you don’t want this to be on as it will permanently keep the bar at the bottom of the screen.

Instead, the setting you want to adjust is found just below. Click the slider button underneath Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode if you’re using a traditional laptop or desktop.

Those with a 2-in-1 such as the Microsoft Surface Pro will also want to turn on the setting to Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode.

That’s all there is to it. Now, when you return to the desktop, or use apps, the taskbar should only show its face if you move the mouse pointer down to the bottom of the screen.

For more ideas on how to personalise your PC, read our How to customise Windows 10 guide. 

Still want the taskbar visible but not seeing your usual icons? Here’s how to fix missing taskbar icons in Windows 10