I use this Windows 11 app to make my PC taskbar tr...

Aside from the Start Menu, the taskbar is arguably the most iconic user interface element of Microsoft’s Windows operating system. First introduced to the OS in Windows 95, the taskbar is a thin strip of interface shell that houses currently running applications, important system status information, the time, and, of course, the all-important Start Button.

Microsoft has evolved and adapted the Windows Taskbar several times throughout the ages. Over time, it has gained a ton of additional features, as well as new aesthetic coats of paint to coincide with various new Windows releases. Today, despite lacking some much-requested options (like the ability to resize and reposition it), the modern Windows 11 taskbar is a well-refined and greatly appreciated component of the overarching system.

What if you want, however, to make the taskbar on your own Windows 11 computer just a little less prominent? Out of the box, Microsoft doesn’t provide the ability to make the taskbar transparent, despite it being an easy way to modernize any desktop PC environment. Thankfully, a brilliant third-party utility from the Microsoft Store is more than up for the task, and it’s an entirely free and open-source bit of software.

Also available on GitHub, TranslucentTB is one of my all-time favorite Windows utilities. It works across both Windows 11 and the soon-to-be-discontinued Windows 10, it takes up only a few MB of system RAM, and it follows native UX guidelines for a modern and pleasing end-user experience. I’m a big fan of how easy the app makes it to swap between taskbar blur styles, and the transparent option is perfectly implemented without a single graphical glitch to speak of.

How to make your Windows 11 taskbar transparent

All it takes is a single app from the Microsoft Store

To set your Windows 11 PC up with a transparent taskbar design, follow these steps:

1. Locate and launch the Microsoft Store application from your PC’s Start Menu.
2. In the search box near the top of the screen, type in ‘TranslucentTB’ and then hit the enter key.
3. On the TranslucentTB app page, tap on Get App.
4. Once downloaded and installed, tap or click on the TranslucentTB app icon from within the Start Menu.
5. From here, a small TranslucentTB icon will appear in your System Tray — tap or click on the icon and then navigate to Desktop > Clear.

In addition to the Clear design style, which makes your taskbar completely transparent, there are other customization options available to play around with as well. You can cycle through several types of taskbar blur designs, including Opaque and Acrylic options. There are other more advanced settings available to fiddle around with, as well as a quick toggle to open the app (and therefore the customized taskbar style) immediately at startup.

Personally, I love the lightweight nature of TranslucentTB. It focuses on providing a solution to a single problem, and implements its tweaks with competence. Its open-source nature is great for source code transparency, it takes almost no toll on system resources, and it’s super easy to toggle on or off without feeling like a stapled-on solution. I also love the end-result from an aesthetic perspective: a clear taskbar is a modern taskbar, and I’d love to see Microsoft itself implement a native transparent taskbar option at some point in a future Windows Update.

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