The Dock on the Mac desktop offers a convenient way to access apps and features that you frequently use. A similar capability is offered in Windows OS by the Taskbar. Although you cannot customize the look of it completely, a simple application – TaskbarXI lets you turn your Windows 11 taskbar into a macOS-like dock.
How to turn Windows 11 taskbar into a Dock
Users dissatisfied with the new taskbar and start menu layout in Windows 11 can change it to a mac-OS like dock through a simple freeware tool – TaskbarXI. It focuses on customizing the Taskbar by shrinking it into a compact dock, similar to the one seen on macOS.
- Go to the GitHub page.
- Expand the Assets heading.
- Download the exe file.
- Run the application.
- Check the Dock on the Desktop screen.
- Exit the application.
Just follow the above steps in the same sequence as given above to replicate the Dock appearance on a Windows computer.
How do I make Windows taskbar look like Mac Dock?
The process is really simple. Just visit the Github page.
Scroll down to the Assets heading and click the TaskbarXI.exe file to download the application. If prompted with a warning that downloading the file could be dangerous, ignore the warning.
Now, run the application and the taskbar will get converted into a dock!
Its icon will be added to the System Tray.
Switch to the Desktop screen and check if the Dock is visible at the bottom of the screen. It should be visible to you.
If you would like to undo the changes and revert back to the original layout, click the System Tray icon. Now, when you see the ‘Do you want to exit the application’ notification, hit the ‘Yes’ button.
The action when confirmed will close the application.
Features of Taskbar XI in a nutshell
- Turns the Windows 11 Taskbar into a dock.
- Turns the tray/clock into a dock.
- Supports multiple monitors.
- Supports different DPI scaling.
It’s important to note that the current version is very early and for testing purposes only! The developer assures a GUI will be added later.
Related: Best Desktop Application Launchers for Windows PC.
What are the 3 sections of the Mac Dock?
The dock is central to macOS experience. It’s located at the bottom of the Mac screen and is split into three sections, marked by dividing lines.
- First – Handoff
- Second – dedicated to apps
- Third area – contains documents, folders, and the Trash
How do I change Taskbar style in Windows 11?
You can customize Taskbar in Windows 11 in many ways, like pinning apps and removing the pinned apps, moving the Taskbar icons to the left or the middle, showing or hiding Taskbar items and system tray icons, changing the Taskbar size, etc. If you want to change the Taskbar position, you can also do that. You can set up a vertical Taskbar in Windows 11 with the help of third-party software.
Hope it helps!
Related: How to get macOS Dock on Windows 10.
