If you want to prevent users in your organization to make any changes to taskbar settings on a windows 10 device then you can use the steps in this blog post to enable a policy called “Lock all taskbar settings (User)” from Intune admin center.
Please note that Lock all taskbar settings (User) setting is not supported on Windows 11 devices. If you are targeting Windows 11 devices then you can use “Prevent changes to Taskbar and Start Menu Settings (User)” setting.
After you apply this policy, Taskbar settings option will be greyed out for the targeted users. Along with that other taskbar options will be disabled for the users. Users will not be able to make changes to below settings:
- Lock the taskbar
- Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode
- Use small taskbar buttons
- Use Peek to preview the desktop when you move your mouse to the Show desktop button at the end of the taskbar
- Replace Command Prompt with Windows Powershell in the menu when I right-click the start button or press Windows logo key + X
- Show badges on taskbar buttons
- Taskbar location on screen
- Combine taskbar buttons
Below screenshot is taken after applying Lock all taskbar settings (User) policy. To check and confirm navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.
As you can see in below screenshot. After you right-click on the taskbar, Taskbar settings, lock the taskbar and other taskbar related settings will be greyed out.
At the end of the blog post, I have also provided steps to create a registry entry on a Windows 10 device which can be also be used to disable Taskbar settings.
Steps to disable taskbar settings on Windows 10 using Intune
You can create a device configuration profile from Intune admin center and target Windows 10 devices to disable taskbar settings configuration option for end users. Please follow below steps for this:
- Login on Microsoft Intune admin center
- Click on Devices > Configuration profiles
- Click on + Create profile
- Platform: Windows 10 and later
- Profile type: Settings Catalog
Basics
Provide a Name and Description of the Policy to Identify it on Microsoft Intune admin center.
- Name: Prevent taskbar settings change by users
- Description: This policy will prevent users to make any changes to taskbar settings on Windows 10.
Configuration settings
Click on + Add settings and then search for “Lock all taskbar settings” in the settings picker. You will find a setting called Lock all taskbar settings (User) under Administrative Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar category. Select it to add it under Configuration settings.
This policy setting allows you to lock all taskbar settings. If you enable this policy setting, the user cannot access the taskbar control panel. The user is also unable to resize, move or rearrange toolbars on their taskbar. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, the user will be able to set any taskbar setting that is not prevented by another policy setting.
Source: Microsoft
As shown in below screenshot, You can toggle the switch to Enabled state which will make sure that the taskbar settings are disabled on Windows 10 devices. You can see that (User) is mentioned in the setting name, which means its a user based policy.
Assignments
Create an Azure AD Security group which contains users or devices where this device configuration profile needs to be deployed. If you prefer a more controlled deployment to specific devices only, then make sure to target only devices via Azure AD group. Once your testing is successful and you want to deploy this script on all Organization devices, you can click on + Add all devices.
I have added an Azure AD group called Cloudinfra Windows devices which contains windows 10 and windows 11 devices.
Review + Create
On Review + Create tab, review the device configuration profile details and click on Create. As soon as you click on create button, The device configuration profile deployment process to disable taskbar settings will start.
Intune Policy Refresh Cycle
The Device will Sync / Check in to start Device configuration profile deployment. It may take some time for the process to start. Therefore, if you are testing it on a test device, you can force initiate Intune refresh cycle on the device which will speed up the download and configuration process. You can also use Powershell to force initiate Intune refresh cycle.
Also, you can restart the device first which also starts the device check-in process. Manual sync is not mandatory on user’s devices as the device check-in process happens automatically. But if you are testing this setting on a test device then this can speed up your testing and can save some time.
Monitoring of Device Configuration profile
You can check the status of device configuration profile from Intune admin center by following below steps:
- Login on Microsoft Intune admin center
- Click on Devices > Configuration profiles
- Click on the Device configuration profile and on the top of the page you find quick view of Success, Failure, Conflict, Not Applicable and In Progress status.
- Click on View report to find more details about the status of Device configuration profile.
End user Experience
Let’s check the Experience on a End user device after this policy has been applied. Below screenshot is taken after applying this policy settings. To check and confirm navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar.
As you can see in below screenshot. After you right-click on the taskbar, Taskbar settings, local the taskbar and other taskbar related settings will be greyed out.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
How to disable changes to Taskbar settings using Registry
If you are trying to find an alternative method to disable taskbar settings on a Windows 10 devices then you can use registry editor as well. I will show you how to disable taskbar settings by creating registry entries.
Disable taskbar settings on Windows 10 device using Registry editor
To disable taskbar settings on Windows 10 device, please follow below steps:
- Press Windows key + R together to open Run dialog box
- Type regedit and press enter to open Windows registry editor. Alternatively you can Go to Start and search for Registry Editor and click on it to open.
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer and Create DWORD (32-bit) registry entry called TaskbarLockAll and set its value to 1 to disable taskbar settings on Windows 10 device (As shown in below screenshot).
- Restart your Windows 10 device so that this change could take effect.
After rebooting the device, Right-click on the taskbar and confirm if Taskbar settings option is greyed out.
Conclusion
In this blog post, we have seen different ways to disable taskbar settings option on Windows 10 devices. More specifically we have discussed on the Intune policy which can disable it on all organization devices. Another option to disable taskbar settings is to create a powershell script which will target the registry keys we discussed in this blog post.