Windows 10: Taskbar icons refuse to group

Win10 pro 10240
Classic Start Menu

Until recently the pinned icons and active programs would combine so that there was only one icon per program. Now the pinned icons and active ones are separate -- and filling up space. I checked the taskbar settings and it is set to "always combine, hide labels." Also checked the registry (per <Always, Sometimes, or Never Combine Taskbar Buttons in Windows 10>) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced TaskbarGlomLevel is set to 0. Is there anything (short of System Restore) that can be done?


:)

 

Task bar

Hi Gerald,

Taskbar grouping is used to save the space on your taskbar. To know the difference when taskbar is grouped and if taskbar is not grouped, see image below.

Taskbar buttons grouped.





Taskbar buttons not grouped.





If you want to group the taskbar, follow the steps below:

• Right click on your taskbar.
• Click on Properties.
• Select the Taskbar tab.
• Choose Always combine, hide labels beside Taskbar buttons:.
• Click Apply, and then OK.

To change the order of the icons on the taskbar, drag and drop the icon either to the left or right side.

Let us know if you have any other concerns.

 

Can a Windows 10 PC join a Windows 7 homegroup?

Hi Tyler,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I suggest you run the network troubleshooter and then try to run the Home group troubleshooter and check if it helps.

To run the Network Troubleshooter:

1) Right click on the Network icon on the Taskbar and select Network and sharing center.

2) Click on troubleshoot problems and follow the on screen instructions.

To run the Home group troubleshooter:

1) Right click on the Network icon on the Taskbar and select Network and sharing center.

2) In the left pane select the Home group, click on Home group troubleshooter.

Hope it helps.

Let us know the status of the issue.

Thanks.

 

Have you tried changing the setting "always hide" to another setting, then changing it back? I have noticed over the years especially settings changed through the desktop can be "sticky" or unreliable. I don't know how many times I set virtual memory to my management, then rebooted only to find it set at the default(let Windows manage it.)

The other one like that is the default browser setting. Sometimes it just will not "take" with a browser unless you set it to a browner you do not want as default, then set it back to the one you want.

Don't ask me why but that's been the way of some settings back to Win9x.

 

Sounds more like third party software may be the culprit. Any them changing type programs installed, or other types of utilities?

 

I tried changing to Never Combine, rebooted, changed back & rebooted again. No luck. Also turned off Classic Start Menu but no change. Someday MS will upgrade my system; maybe that will fix it. Meanwhile I 'll live with it.

Thanks, guys.

 

No one else has an issue with this. It is not a bug of Windows 10 that Microsoft does not need to fix. Are you running any kind of third party software that Themes or changes the Start Menu like Classic Shell?

 

His first post shows Classic Shell. He should probably try a few different shells. I have had some weird stuff happen with Classic Shell on Windows 8. Still other people on W8 say it is fine. Whatever works. *Smile

I now use Start Menu 10 Pro on W8 and it seems to behave a bit better.
There is a free version he may try.

 

Looking up Start Menu Pro . . .

 

Same here. I use Start10 on both laptops and have not had any issues. Classic Shell has a deep learning curve for those who do not carefully set it up.

 

Thanks, everyone, for your help. I had occasion to upgrade Chrome as a download and then pinned the icon to the taskbar. It combined! So I tried with a couple of other programs and had mostly good luck. Opera still won't combine, but I'll live. Programs that I have shortcutted to Task Scheduler (to bypass UAC) won't combine because they are not direct shortcuts.

I did look at Start Menu Pro and a few others but I like Classic Shell/Classic start menu.

 

That's would be a rarher bold statement.

I have already reported some rather curious behavior from Chrome

Chrome shortcut pinned to taskbar: open or to the side? - Windows 10 Forums

that somehow prevented it from combining with its own pinned icon. This is not as drastic as what the OP reported, but still a step in a similar direction.

 

If you have your taskbar to the side, that IS a known issue with any version of Windows and software. Chrome will combine fine if the taskbar is at the bottom. Move it elsewhere, you always run into issues. The issue with Chrome has been discussed since 2015 about Google dropping the ball on that one Windows 8 came out.

 

If it is just third party Web Browsers, that is a development issue for the writers who coded that software, not Microsoft. The same problem happens in Linux, especially Ubuntu when you move the Taskbar to a different position from Bottom.