Stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?

How do I stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?
Now I don't mean when they actually get hidden and you have to click "explorer" or "chrome" to see them all.
I mean the slightly less annoying "feature" that if I have two windows belonging to one application, it insists on putting them next to each other. If I drag one along the taskbar, it pulls the other alongside it.

Commander Kinsey wrote:
How do I stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?
Now I don't mean when they actually get hidden and you have to click
"explorer" or "chrome" to see them all.
I mean the slightly less annoying "feature" that if I have two windows
belonging to one application, it insists on putting them next to each
other.* If I drag one along the taskbar, it pulls the other alongside it.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you are describing 'combine taskbar
buttons'.

R click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings
in that window, there's a Taskbar section which contains Combine taskbar
buttons which default says Always; there are 3 options of which one is
'Never'.

--
Mike Easter

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:24:17 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
How do I stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?
Now I don't mean when they actually get hidden and you have to click
"explorer" or "chrome" to see them all.
I mean the slightly less annoying "feature" that if I have two windows
belonging to one application, it insists on putting them next to each
other. If I drag one along the taskbar, it pulls the other alongside it.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you are describing 'combine taskbar
buttons'.

R click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings
in that window, there's a Taskbar section which contains Combine taskbar
buttons which default says Always; there are 3 options of which one is
'Never'.

I already changed that to never, and it had no effect.

To make sure we're talking about the same thing, try this yourself:
Open two file explorer windows.
You should see two buttons on the taskbar, each saying the name of the folder you have open in them.
Now open another application if you don't have one already.
Attempt to drag one of the explorer buttons to the other side of the other application.
You cannot - both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Commander Kinsey wrote:
both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Ah, so. I don't know how to change that association.

--
Mike Easter

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:57:04 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Ah, so. I don't know how to change that association.

The setting you mentioned is weird - it does two things at once. It both removes the text from the buttons, and actually hides one behind a similar one. Both of which are very very irritating and I see no reason to do it unless you have like 50 applications running at once. Firstly, you lose windows. Secondly, you have to remember what the icon refers to, as there's no text. Thirdly, you lose information like which folder is open, what music is playing in media player, etc.

On 05/10/2019 20:02, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:57:04 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Ah, so.* I don't know how to change that association.

The setting you mentioned is weird - it does two things at once.* It
both removes the text from the buttons, and actually hides one behind a
similar one.** Both of which are very very irritating and I see no
reason to do it unless you have like 50 applications running at once.
Firstly, you lose windows.* Secondly, you have to remember what the icon
refers to, as there's no text.* Thirdly, you lose information like which
folder is open, what music is playing in media player, etc.

Is this item of any help?

https://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Grou...-in-Windows-10

--
David B.
Devon, UK

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 20:15:52 +0100, ~BD~ wrote:

On 05/10/2019 20:02, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:57:04 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Ah, so. I don't know how to change that association.

The setting you mentioned is weird - it does two things at once. It
both removes the text from the buttons, and actually hides one behind a
similar one. Both of which are very very irritating and I see no
reason to do it unless you have like 50 applications running at once.
Firstly, you lose windows. Secondly, you have to remember what the icon
refers to, as there's no text. Thirdly, you lose information like which
folder is open, what music is playing in media player, etc.

Is this item of any help?

https://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Grou...-in-Windows-10

That's what Mike suggested, and I'd already tried, by googling that very link coincidentally. It's not the same problem. This is my problem:

Open two file explorer windows.
You should see two buttons on the taskbar, each saying the name of the folder you have open in them.
Now open another application if you don't have one already.
Attempt to drag one of the explorer buttons to the other side of the other application.
You cannot - both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 20:42:41 +0100, in alt.comp.os.windows-10, Commander
Kinsey wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 20:15:52 +0100, ~BD~ wrote:

On 05/10/2019 20:02, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:57:04 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Ah, so. I don't know how to change that association.

The setting you mentioned is weird - it does two things at once. It
both removes the text from the buttons, and actually hides one behind a
similar one. Both of which are very very irritating and I see no
reason to do it unless you have like 50 applications running at once.
Firstly, you lose windows. Secondly, you have to remember what the icon
refers to, as there's no text. Thirdly, you lose information like which
folder is open, what music is playing in media player, etc.

Is this item of any help?

https://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Grou...-in-Windows-10

That's what Mike suggested, and I'd already tried, by googling that very link coincidentally. It's not the same problem. This is my problem:

Open two file explorer windows.
You should see two buttons on the taskbar, each saying the name of the folder you have open in them.
Now open another application if you don't have one already.
Attempt to drag one of the explorer buttons to the other side of the other application.
You cannot - both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Tried it. That appears to be a baked in behavior. All open windows of the
same application appear next to each other. If you drag, say, your
explorer icon somewhere, all the icons move together.

The best you can do is choose "Never." At least then, you get full size
bars. You should be able to read a different folder name in each icon
though. I don't know why you aren't seeing different labels.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 20:55:05 +0100, Zaghadka wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 20:42:41 +0100, in alt.comp.os.windows-10, Commander
Kinsey wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 20:15:52 +0100, ~BD~ wrote:

On 05/10/2019 20:02, Commander Kinsey wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:57:04 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Ah, so. I don't know how to change that association.

The setting you mentioned is weird - it does two things at once. It
both removes the text from the buttons, and actually hides one behind a
similar one. Both of which are very very irritating and I see no
reason to do it unless you have like 50 applications running at once.
Firstly, you lose windows. Secondly, you have to remember what the icon
refers to, as there's no text. Thirdly, you lose information like which
folder is open, what music is playing in media player, etc.

Is this item of any help?

https://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Grou...-in-Windows-10

That's what Mike suggested, and I'd already tried, by googling that very link coincidentally. It's not the same problem. This is my problem:

Open two file explorer windows.
You should see two buttons on the taskbar, each saying the name of the folder you have open in them.
Now open another application if you don't have one already.
Attempt to drag one of the explorer buttons to the other side of the other application.
You cannot - both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

Tried it. That appears to be a baked in behavior. All open windows of the
same application appear next to each other. If you drag, say, your
explorer icon somewhere, all the icons move together.

Pah! (Which I believe is a word made up by and only ever used by Rowan Atkinson). Everything should be customizable!

The best you can do is choose "Never." At least then, you get full size bars.

First thing I did after installing Windows. I hate silly little icons without names, like a Mac!

Why is it both Mac OS and Windows copy the worst things about each other? They're both getting progressively worse.

And why is it called Mac OS, couldn't they think of a name? We don't call ours "PC OS". Maybe it's because it's made in America and has to be simple, like "side walk" and "seeing eye dog".

You should be able to read a different folder name in each icon
though. I don't know why you aren't seeing different labels.

I am.

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:12:47 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

How do I stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?
Now I don't mean when they actually get hidden and you have to click "explorer" or "chrome" to see them all.
I mean the slightly less annoying "feature" that if I have two windows belonging to one application, it insists on putting them next to each other. If I drag one along the taskbar, it pulls the other alongside it.

That's just how it is. You can't change it.

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:37:11 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:24:17 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
How do I stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?
Now I don't mean when they actually get hidden and you have to click
"explorer" or "chrome" to see them all.
I mean the slightly less annoying "feature" that if I have two windows
belonging to one application, it insists on putting them next to each
other. If I drag one along the taskbar, it pulls the other alongside it.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you are describing 'combine taskbar
buttons'.

R click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings
in that window, there's a Taskbar section which contains Combine taskbar
buttons which default says Always; there are 3 options of which one is
'Never'.

I already changed that to never, and it had no effect.

To make sure we're talking about the same thing, try this yourself:
Open two file explorer windows.
You should see two buttons on the taskbar, each saying the name of the folder you have open in them.

Nope. Only the one.

Now open another application if you don't have one already.
Attempt to drag one of the explorer buttons to the other side of the other application.
You cannot - both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.

--


Eric Stevens

There are two classes of people. Those who divide people into
two classes and those who don't. I belong to the second class.

Eric Stevens wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:37:11 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:24:17 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
How do I stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?
Now I don't mean when they actually get hidden and you have to click
"explorer" or "chrome" to see them all.
I mean the slightly less annoying "feature" that if I have two windows
belonging to one application, it insists on putting them next to each
other. If I drag one along the taskbar, it pulls the other alongside it.
If I'm understanding you correctly, you are describing 'combine taskbar
buttons'.

R click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings
in that window, there's a Taskbar section which contains Combine taskbar
buttons which default says Always; there are 3 options of which one is
'Never'.
I already changed that to never, and it had no effect.

To make sure we're talking about the same thing, try this yourself:
Open two file explorer windows.
You should see two buttons on the taskbar, each saying the name of the folder you have open in them.

Nope. Only the one.

Now open another application if you don't have one already.
Attempt to drag one of the explorer buttons to the other side of the other application.
You cannot - both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.


When you change the setting to "Never", you have to unlock the
Taskbar first.

1) Unlock Taskbar
2) Change to Never
3) Lock Taskbar

Then, test.

https://i.postimg.cc/5tGhWMPZ/what-a-mess.gif

And I don't see a registry entry to stop them from sitting
side by side. When you open two File Manager windows temporally
separated, it still puts them shoulder to shoulder.

Opening Notepad, File Explorer, Notepad, File Explorer

Taskbar = File Explorer,File Explorer ... Notepad,Notepad

And the labels are showing as well, which takes up space.

Paul

On Sun, 06 Oct 2019 02:46:27 +0100, Char Jackson wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:12:47 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

How do I stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?
Now I don't mean when they actually get hidden and you have to click "explorer" or "chrome" to see them all.
I mean the slightly less annoying "feature" that if I have two windows belonging to one application, it insists on putting them next to each other. If I drag one along the taskbar, it pulls the other alongside it.

That's just how it is. You can't change it.

Every version of windows has less and less configurability. ****ing communism.

On Sun, 06 Oct 2019 10:47:53 +0100, Paul wrote:

Eric Stevens wrote:
On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:37:11 +0100, "Commander Kinsey"
wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 19:24:17 +0100, Mike Easter wrote:

Commander Kinsey wrote:
How do I stop Windows 10 grouping taskbar buttons?
Now I don't mean when they actually get hidden and you have to click
"explorer" or "chrome" to see them all.
I mean the slightly less annoying "feature" that if I have two windows
belonging to one application, it insists on putting them next to each
other. If I drag one along the taskbar, it pulls the other alongside it.
If I'm understanding you correctly, you are describing 'combine taskbar
buttons'.

R click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings
in that window, there's a Taskbar section which contains Combine taskbar
buttons which default says Always; there are 3 options of which one is
'Never'.
I already changed that to never, and it had no effect.

To make sure we're talking about the same thing, try this yourself:
Open two file explorer windows.
You should see two buttons on the taskbar, each saying the name of the folder you have open in them.

Nope. Only the one.

Now open another application if you don't have one already.
Attempt to drag one of the explorer buttons to the other side of the other application.
You cannot - both explorer buttons are stuck side by side.


When you change the setting to "Never", you have to unlock the
Taskbar first.

1) Unlock Taskbar
2) Change to Never
3) Lock Taskbar

Then, test.

https://i.postimg.cc/5tGhWMPZ/what-a-mess.gif

And I don't see a registry entry to stop them from sitting
side by side. When you open two File Manager windows temporally
separated, it still puts them shoulder to shoulder.

Opening Notepad, File Explorer, Notepad, File Explorer

Taskbar = File Explorer,File Explorer ... Notepad,Notepad

And the labels are showing as well, which takes up space.

Mine fit fine, because I don't litter my taskbar with icons to launch stuff like you do. That's what the start menu is for. My taskbar has the start button, a few applications that are running, a huge gap, then the tray icons and clock. Why mix running programs with non running programs? Very confusing, and rather like the way Apple does it. I can get 8 running programs along with the text so I know what document is open, before it has to reduce the size or use a second layer. 19" monitor at 1600*1200.

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 21:59:24 +0100, in alt.comp.os.windows-10, Commander
Kinsey wrote:

On Sat, 05 Oct 2019 20:55:05 +0100, Zaghadka wrote:


Pah! (Which I believe is a word made up by and only ever used by Rowan
Atkinson). Everything should be customizable!

I think they think it *is*. Clearly, they have the Black Adder designing
their UI.

I think it's a lack of imagination on Microsoft's part. It's not the
first time, TBS.

--
Zag

No one ever said on their deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I had
spent more time alone with my computer.' ~Dan(i) Bunten