How do I keep the icons on the left of the taskbar to stay where they are?

Anonymous
2011-04-12T11:56:38+00:00

I have little icons for Outlook, Firefox, and Word on the left side of my taskbar and I want them to stay all the way to left, even when I have one or more of the programs open-- like it used to in earlier versions.  For example, if I have Outlook and some word docs open, those little icons disappear and the Firefox icon will be floating in between the two sets of open programs.  I even have my taskbar locked.  How do I fix this?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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@CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2011-04-21T13:57:45+00:00

In your description, the icons do stay where they are.  For example, your first picture has Outlook as the first icon.  Then in the next picture, Outlook is open, but it has not moved.

So you actually do want it to move, or you want a duplicate to show up over to the right, while the original icon stays to the left?

Sorry, but neither of these are possible.  The icons will always stay where they are.  This way Outlook is always #1 (or wherever you put it).

This gives you some great benefits.  For example:

  • Outlook will always be the first icon, running or not.  Makes it easier to find, because it's always in the same place.
  • There is no duplication.  You don't have to have 1 button to start Outlook, then another button that is Outlook once it's started.  Less crowding on the Taskbar with no duplicate icons.
  • You only have 1 place to look if you want to start Outlook, switch to it if it's already running, or look for the little envelope icon that shows up when you have new mail (it shows up on top of the Outlook icon now, if you have large icons enabled so there is room)
  • You can use keyboard shortcuts.  Pressing Windows+1 will start (or switch to) the first button on the taskbar. In your case, this is Outlook.  If Outlook moved over after you clicked it, your number shortcuts would change randomly.

In short, the icons will always stay where you put them. If you put Outlook as the first icon, it will always be the first icon, even after you click it.

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  1. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2011-04-20T18:58:35+00:00

    The icons should not be able to move on their own.  Do you see them moving, or is perhaps someone else using the computer and moving them?  Or maybe some other program is moving them.  Do you see any pattern of when they get moved?

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  2. @CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2011-04-20T18:57:47+00:00

    Locking the taskbar doesn't affect icon positions on the taskbar: it only locks the size and location of the taskbar itself.

    Even with the icons locked the user can drag-and-drop the icons into any order they want.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-04-20T17:41:22+00:00

    Hello Kmm439,

    Thanks for your post.  Could you please include a screen shot of the behavior you wish to change so that we have a better understanding of what exactly may be causing this problem?

    Cheers

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