I'd like to disable taskbar transparency in Windows 8 desktop. On Win7 disabling Aero was a hack to accomplish this goal, but this post from how-to-geek to disable Aero in Win7 & Vista no longer works in Windows 8. Is there another way to disable taskbar transparency in Windows 8 desktop?
Edit: On Win8 Aero was removed but the taskbar is transparent (the desktop background picture is slightly visible 'behind' the taskbar). When I'm using the taskbar to switch programs I don't like seeing artifacts 'bleeding-through', I find it distracting.
Windows 8 (Opaque Taskbar)
This doesn't actually fully work. Windows that are moved to slide under the taskbar are still visible. This bothers me every time I see it, so I'll continue to seek a complete fix (to turn off transparency for the desktop taskbar in Windows 8).
I have the same problem on Windows 8 Pro.MY SOLUTION: I re-edited my wallpaper image in paint and matched it with a screenshot to add a section of white to sit behind the taskbar. Problem is still present, but is no longer visible.
With help of this simple and lightweight application you will be able to make your taskbar Opaque in any time you want it. It does not stay in memory and does not consume your PC's resources. Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8 has special options to run at Windows startup and restore Taskbar transparency.
Most annoying thing in Windows 8's appearance, beside Metro and Charms Bar of Desktop, is transparent Taskbar. It does not fit the opaque window frames and looks ugly.I decide to fix it.Last night my friend Tihiy, the author of StartIsBack solution, has shared with me the way to disable tasbkar transparency via DWM API. So I have created Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8. Latest version is 2.7, see the change log below.With v2.5 I decide to provide x64 version, for those who have removed x86 .NET components in x64 OS.With help of this simple and lightweight application you will be able to make your taskbar Opaque in any time you want it. Also it can optionally run in the background or it can run once and then exit without taking memory. You can close it after you have disabled the transparency.
v2.0The new command line option: opaquetaskbar.exe /resident allows you to keep taskbar opaque even if theme or Aero color was changed.In resident mode Opaque Taskbar for Windows 8 will stay in memory and will show a tray icon with context menu. Use that menu or just double click on the tray icon to toggle the transparency. Also, "startup" checkbox will ask you if you want to keep the application in memory after startup.
Right Click Start [icon]in the Start Menu Style tabClick Advanced button options (note: once you click this it stays in Advanced mode)in the Windows 8.1 Settings tabCheck Disable taskbar transparency
Compared to its predecessors, the Windows 8 UI has received a major overhaul. The famous Aero Glass effect has been discontinued and replaced with a more simpler interface. Instead of rounded corners, the windows are now squared and the title bars and other borders are not transparent anymore. Some people have welcomed these changes while others are still in love with Aero. If you are of the former type, you might find one thing a bit annoying. While everything else has been changed to be opaque, the taskbar in Desktop mode still retains its transparency. Now using a tool called Opaque Taskbar, you can easily change the transparency of the taskbar and make it opaque to match the rest of the UI.
By default, the taskbar is transparent and you can see parts of windows through it if they are behind it. This is in line with the UI of Windows 7 but since the new theme has been designed to appear solid and opaque, it seems a bit out of place in Windows 8.
Even though there are quite a lot of previously unavailable UI personalization options in Windows 8, the option to adjust or change transparency has been removed with Aero Glass. Opaque Taskbar provides you with the option in the form of a one-click tool to let you easily toggle the taskbar transparency. Just launch the app, click the Disable Taskbar Transparency button, and the setting wil be instantly applied.
Once disabled, you can turn the transparency back on by clicking the Enable Taskbar Transparency button. Unfortunately, your setting will not last upon computer restart, as Windows will automatically make the taskbar transparent again. Though the application offers you to automatically disable transparency every time Windows starts.
By default, the taskbar on Windows 10 is a little transparent and changes with the color that you select. It already looks pretty slick, but you can achieve an even cooler effect by increasing its transparency. Sadly, there is no built-in way to make your taskbar completely transparent.
TranslucentTB is an user-developed tool that can be used to transform your taskbar into a totally transparent (or translucent) bar. Aside from Windows 10, this tool will also work with Windows 8 and Windows 7.
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Translucent Box on the Screen in Windows 11? Try these Fixes
.no-icon:beforedisplay:none; By Kevin ArrowsMay 14, 2022 4 minutes readKevin is a certified Network Engineer "@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","dateCreated":"2018-05-29T01:19:35-05:00","datePublished":"2018-05-29T01:19:35-05:00","dateModified":"2022-05-14T04:00:14-05:00","headline":"How to Make Taskbar Translucent or Fully Transparent in Windows 10","keywords":[],"url":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/how-to-make-taskbar-translucent-or-fully-transparent-in-windows-10\/","description":"By default, the taskbar on Windows 10 is a little transparent and changes with the color that you select. It already looks pretty slick, but you can achieve\u00a0an even cooler effect by increasing its tra","articleSection":"Microsoft Windows","articleBody":"By default, the taskbar on Windows 10 is a little transparent and changes with the color that you select. It already looks pretty slick, but you can achieve\u00a0an even cooler effect by increasing its transparency. Sadly, there is no built-in way to make your taskbar completely transparent.\r\nThe built-in way\r\nWindows 10 does include an option to add or remove taskbar transparency, but the effect is almost unnoticeable. Here's a quick guide to disable (or enable) the default transparency setting for the taskbar (and a couple of other elements):\r\n\r\n \tPress Windows key + R to open up a Run box. Then, type or paste \"ms-settings:personalization\" and hit Enter to open the Personalization menu.\r\n\r\n \tIn the Personalization menu, select Colors from the menu on the left-hand side.\r\n \tIn the Colors menu, scroll down to the More options menu and enable the toggle associated with Transparency effects.\r\n\r\n\r\nAs you can see, this built-in option only adds a slight degree of transparency which is unfortunate since a lot of users are left looking for a full transparency effect. Depending on the image that you're using as a background, the difference might not even be noticeable.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIf you're looking for a way to make your taskbar transparent or translucent, you'll be pleased to hear that there's a number of third-party tools and registry hacks that will help you achieve this effect. Sure, every method involves a certain degree of tweaking, but it's nothing too technical.\r\n\r\nRELATED: How to Change the Color of your Taskbar\r\n\r\nKeep in mind that whatever method you end up using, it's important to set a background image that actually allows you to spot the differences. Setting images that are mostly composed of bright pictures are usually better.\r\n\r\nNote: Since all the workarounds featured below are using different approaches, the visual effect might differ from method to method. Feel free to try them all for yourself or check out the screenshots taken by us in order to decide which method is closer to what you have in mind.\r\nMethod 1: Enhancing the taskbar transparency with a registry hack\r\nThis method involves using Registry Editor to change the value of\u00a0UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency.\u00a0As opposed to the built-in way to achieve taskbar transparency, this hidden option will make the effect a lot more obvious. It's still not total transparency, but it's certainly better than the built-in option - which sparks questions on why this option wasn't implemented in the Settings interface.\r\n\r\nHere's a quick guide to enhancing the taskbar transparency via Registry\u00a0Editor:\r\n\r\n \tPress Windows key + R to open up a Run box. Then, type \"regedit\" and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.\r\n\r\n \tIn Registry Editor, use the left-hand side pane to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \\ SOFTWARE \\ Microsoft \\ Windows \\ CurrentVersion \\ Explorer \\ Advanced.\r\n \tWith the Advanced folder selected, right-click on the right- hand side panel and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name the newly created entry\u00a0UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency.\r\n\r\n \tDouble-click on\u00a0UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency,\u00a0set the Base to Hexadecimal and the Value Data to 1.\r\n\r\n \tAfter you hit OK, you can safely close Registry Editor.\r\n \tThe changes aren't visible just yet. To complete the process we'll need to change some settings in the Personalize menu. To do this, open a Run box (Windows key + R), type\u00a0\"ms-settings:personalization\"\u00a0and hit Enter.\r\n\r\n \tIn the Personalization menu, select Colors from the left-hand menu,\u00a0scroll down to More Options,\u00a0enable Transparency effects and make sure that the boxes associated with Start, taskbar, and action center and Title bars are also checked.\r\nNote: If the options are already enabled, disable and re-enable them again.\r\n \tFinally, reboot your device to see the changes. As you can see, the transparency is a little higher, but some people might still consider this effect insufficient.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIf you want even more transparency, move down to Method 2 or Method 3.\r\nMethod 2: Making the taskbar fully transparent using TranslucentTB\r\nTranslucentTB is an user-developed tool that can be used to transform your taskbar into a totally transparent (or translucent) bar. Aside from Windows 10, this tool will also work with Windows 8 and Windows 7.\r\n\r\nNote: Keep in mind that while we tested the tool yourself and found no issues with it, indie third-party tools like these are not properly tested and might not work properly on every build.\r\n\r\nHere's a quick guide to using TranslucentTB to make your taskbar fully transparent:\r\n\r\n \tVisit this link (here) and download the TranslucentTB zip file. Once the archive has been downloaded successfully, use an extraction tool like WinZip or WinRar to extract its contents somewhere convenable.\r\n\r\n \tNavigate to the location where you extracted the contents of the archive and double click on TranslucentTB.exe. Immediately after you open it, you should notice that your taskbar has hanged to a translucent state.\r\n\r\n \tThe default state is translucent, but you can change it to a totally translucent state by going into your notification tray and right-clicking on the TranslucentTB icon. If you set it to clear, it will transform your taskbar into a totally transparent one.\r\nNote: Keep in mind that if you leave it like this, you'll have to open TranslucentTB everytime you start your computer in order to achieve a transparent or translucent effect. If you want the aesthetic change to become permanent, right-click on the TranslucentTB in the notification tray and click on Open at Boot.\r\n\r\n\r\nIf you're looking for a different option to make your taskbar transparent or translucent, move down to Method 3.\r\nMethod 3:\u00a0Making the taskbar fully transparent with TaskbarTools\r\nTaskbarTools is yet another user-developed tool that has surfaced on Reddit. Even if it's heavily inspired by TranslucentTB, this application is written in C# and does a few things even better.\r\n\r\nHere's a quick guide to using TaskbarTools to make your taskbar transparent or translucent:\r\n\r\n \tVisit this link (here) and download the ZIP archive associated with the latest released version.\r\n\r\n \tUse WinZip, WinRar or a similar decompression tool to extract the contents of the archive in an accessible folder.\r\n \tNavigate to the location of the extracted TaskbarTool files and double-click on taskbartool.exe.\r\n \tAfter a short waiting period, you should see a window pop-up associated with Taskbar Tools. You can then begin playing with the different accent states and see which option is closer to what you have in mind. You can combine the Accent State with different Gradient Colors to create some pretty interesting effects.\r\nNote: If you like the functionality of TaskbarTools and would like your settings to remain saved, hit the Options button and make sure that the checkboxes associated with Start Minimized, Apply Settings When Started and Start with Windows are enabled.\r\n\r\n","publisher":"@id":"#Publisher","@type":"Organization","name":"Appuals.com","logo":"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/apuals_new_logo_B-1.png","publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/about\/#go-to-editorial-guidelines","sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/appuals","https:\/\/twitter.com\/appuals","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/appuals\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCR--2QnA0vYBfqsmSI3pQ9g","https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/appuals"],"author":"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Arrows","url":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/author\/admin\/","description":"Kevin is a dynamic and self-motivated information technology professional, with a Thorough knowledge of all facets pertaining to network infrastructure design, implementation and administration. Superior record of delivering simultaneous large-scale mission critical projects on time and under budget.","jobTitle":"Network Engineer","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/kevin-arrows-228294216\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/appuals?lang=en"],"knowsAbout":["Cisco, Windows, Microsoft, AWS, Azure, VMWare"],"alumniOf":"@type":"Organization","Name":"Brunel University","mainEntityOfPage":"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/appuals.com\/how-to-make-taskbar-translucent-or-fully-transparent-in-windows-10\/","breadcrumb":"@id":"#Breadcrumb","image":"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/cdn.appuals.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/personalization-menu.jpg","width":1200,"height":227 Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Reddit Share via Email Print ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kevin ArrowsNetwork Engineer (LAN/WAN) Email Twitter LinkedIn Kevin is a dynamic and self-motivated information technology professional, with a Thorough knowledge of all facets pertaining to network infrastructure design, implementation and administration. 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