Although drag and drop support to pin icons on the Taskbar is almost gone from Windows 11, you can still pin or unpin icons to the Taskbar. However, if you want to unpin all taskbar icons at once in Windows 11 or Windows 10, here is how you can do that. For that, you do not need to use third-party apps since a simple .bat file can do the job for you.
It is possible to pin almost any app to the Taskbar in Windows 11. For example, if you use Microsoft Edge, the Mail app, or anything else frequently, you can pin it to the Taskbar. Instead of finding it in the Start Menu, you can click on the Taskbar icon to open the app quickly. Let’s assume that you have added tons of icons to the Taskbar, which has created a mess. Now you want to remove them all and add new icons as per the requirements.
In such situations, you have two options. First, you can unpin those icons manually one at a time. Second, you can follow this guide to remove all Taskbar icons at once. If you want to save some valuable time, the second method must be appealing for you.
How to unpin all Taskbar icons at once in Windows 11/10
To unpin all Taskbar icons at once in Windows 11/10, follow these steps:
- Search for Notepad and open the app on your computer.
- Paste the following text in the Notepad.
- Click on the File menu.
- Select the Save As option.
- Select a location where you want to save the file.
- Enter a name with .bat file extension.
- Select All Files from the Save as type menu.
- Click the Save button.
- Double-click on the BAT file.
To learn more about these steps, continue reading.
At first, you need to open the Notepad on your computer. For that, you can find it in the Start Menu or use the Taskbar search box to find the app. After that, paste the following text:
DEL /F /S /Q /A "%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\*" REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband /F taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe & start explorer
The first line helps you delete the TaskBar folder from the File Explorer. The second line lets you delete the Registry key named Taskband, which is visible in the HKCU. The third line lets you restart the File Explorer or Windows Explorer process.
Next, click on the File menu and select the Save As option.
Then, select a path where you want to save the file, enter a name with .bat file extension, select All Files from the Save as type drop-down list and click the Save button.
Once the BAT file is saved on your computer, double-click on it to run those above-mentioned commands. After restarting the Windows Explorer process, you cannot find any pinned icons. In other words, the Taskbar icons will be reset automatically.
How do I unpin all icons from the Taskbar?
To unpin all icons from the Taskbar in Windows 11 or Windows 10, you must follow the aforementioned guide. It is required to create a BAT file with three commands. One is to delete the entry from File Explorer, and another is to delete the key from the Registry Editor. The last one is to restart the Windows Explorer process.
Why can’t I unpin from Taskbar in Windows 11?
Although it is not a usual issue, you may encounter it sometimes. There could be several reasons why you can’t unpin icons from Taskbar in Windows 11. However, you can follow the guide to get rid of this issue. You may need to restart the explorer.exe process using Task Manager, uninstall the app, remove the program using Start Menu, etc.
That’s all! Hope this guide will help you.
