Show or hide Snapped windows when you hover over Taskbar apps

Windows 11 has a new feature, called Snap windows. The Snap windows feature is good for managing multiple tasks on a computer. When you hover your mouse cursor over the Maximize button in an opened window, you will see all available snap options. You can select any of the snap options to align all your opened apps on a single screen. After aligning the apps by using the Snap Windows feature, when you press the Alt + Tab key to switch between apps, Windows 11 also displays a separate window of the snapped layouts on the Alt + Tab screen. If you do not want a separate snapped layout window on the Alt + Tab screen, you can disable it. In this article, we will show you how to show or hide Snapped windows when you hover Taskbar apps or Task View or when you press Alt+Tab in Windows 11.

Show or hide Snapped windows when you hover Taskbar apps or Task View

You can show or hide Snapped windows when you hover Taskbar apps or Task View or when you press Alt+Tab by using any of the following options:

Via Windows 11 Settings
Via Registry Editor

Let’s see all of these methods one by one.

1] Show or hide Snapped windows when you hover Taskbar apps or Task View via Windows 11 Settings

First, talk about the easy way. You can show or hide Snapped Windows when you hover Taskbar apps or Task View via Windows 11 Settings by following the instructions mentioned below:

Open Windows 11 Settings.
Select the System from the left side.
Now, scroll down and click on the Multitasking tab on the right side.
Click on the Snap windows tab to expand it.
Uncheck the “Show my snapped windows when I hover over taskbar apps, in Task View, and when I press Alt+Tab” option.

After following the above steps, you will no longer see a separate window for the snapped layouts when you press the Alt + Tab and click on Task View.

2] Show or hide Snapped windows when you hover Taskbar apps or Task View via Registry Editor

This method involves modification in the Windows Registry. Therefore, follow the steps written below carefully. Windows Registry is a database of Windows settings. Hence, any mistake while modifying Registry values or keys can lead to serious errors in your system. Before you proceed, it is recommended to create a System Restore Point and backup Registry.

System Restore is a tool that helps you protect and repair your computer software. If any problem occurs, you can restore your computer to the previous working state using the System Restore tool.

Open the Registry Editor. Copy the following path, paste it into the address bar of the Registry Editor, and press Enter.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Make sure that the Advanced key is selected on the left side. Now, look for the EnableTaskGroups value on the right side. If the value is not there, you have to create it manually. To do so, follow the steps written below:

Select the Advanced key from the left side.
Right-click in the empty space on the right side and go to “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.”
Give the name EnableTaskGroups to the newly created Value.

Now, right-click on the EnableTaskGroups Value and select Modify. Enter 0 in its Value data and click OK. Now, restart Windows Explorer for the changes to take effect. The following instructions will help you with that:

Open the Task Manager.
Select the Processes tab.
Scroll down and locate Windows Explorer.
Right-click on Windows Explorer and select Restart.

This will hide the Snapped Windows when you hover Taskbar apps or Task View. If restarting Windows Explorer does not work, restart your computer.

If you want to show the Snapped Windows when you hover Taskbar apps or Task View again, change the Value data to 1 and click OK. After that restart Windows Explorer or restart your computer.

Read: How to use Snap Bar in Windows 11.

How do I change the Taskbar hover preview?

To change the Taskbar hover preview timing, you can open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced, Then, create a REG_DWORD value named ExtendedUIHoverTime. After that, double-click on it and enter a value data as per the time you want.

How do I show the Taskbar when I hover over it?

When you hide Taskbar, it remains hidden until you hover your mouse cursor over it. The option to hide Taskbar is available in Windows 11/10 Settings. You can enable it if you want Taskbar to become visible only when you hover your mouse cursor over it.