SolaceSoftware

How to get a dock on Windows 11 (built-in taskbar first)

SolaceSoftware — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 18:13:34 GMT

Windows 11 already has a bar for your apps at the bottom of the screen: the taskbar. You can change where its icons sit, which apps stay on it and when it shows, without installing anything. Here's how, built-in Windows settings first.

1. Center or left-align the taskbar icons

Right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings.
Expand Taskbar behaviors.
Next to Taskbar alignment, choose center or left.

The taskbar is centered by default in Windows 11. You can align the icons to the center or to the left. There's no setting to move the taskbar to the top or to a side of the screen; it stays at the bottom.

2. Pin the apps you use most

In the search box on the taskbar, type the app's name. Right-click it, then select Pin to taskbar.
If the app is already open, right-click its taskbar icon, then select Pin to taskbar.
To remove one, right-click the pinned icon and select Unpin from taskbar.
To change the order, drag an icon to a new spot.

Running apps show a line under their icon, and the app you're using is highlighted in your Windows accent color. Right-click an app's icon to open its jump list, a shortcut to recent files and common tasks.

3. Hide the taskbar until you need it

Right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings.
Expand Taskbar behaviors.
Check Automatically hide the taskbar.

To bring the taskbar back, move your mouse to the bottom edge of the screen, or touch it.

4. Clear out the clutter

Right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings.
Under Taskbar items, use the Search dropdown to show a search box, an icon with a label, just an icon, or nothing.
Switch Task view and Widgets on or off.
Under Other system tray icons, choose which icons can appear in the system tray.

5. Using more than one monitor?

Under Taskbar behaviors in Taskbar settings, check or uncheck Show my taskbar on all displays.

Want icons that grow as your cursor passes?

The settings above change where your icons sit and when the taskbar shows. They don't include icons that grow as your cursor passes. If you'd like a dock-style launcher with that effect, you can add one.

Disclosure: we (SolaceSoftware) make and sell Solace Dock.

That's what our Solace Dock is for. It's optional: the steps above are all you need to tidy up your taskbar.

Icons grow as your cursor passes, smoothly.
Hover a running app to see live previews of its windows. A dot under an icon shows it's running.
Drag apps, files and folders onto the dock to pin them.
A built-in clock and system status, plus optional widgets: calendar, now playing and system load.
Pick your theme, icon size, magnification and monitor.
No account and no telemetry, and no administrator rights needed.

Limits: you need 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11 with the Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime, which is built into Windows 11. It installs for your Windows user only, with no administrator rights needed, and the download is about 4 MB. It doesn't start with Windows until you turn that on, and you can remove it in Settings > Apps > Solace Dock. The app isn't code-signed yet, so on first launch Windows may show "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.

Try it free for 14 days, with every feature. After that it's $4.59 once. No subscription and no automatic renewal.

Try our Solace Dock free for 14 days

Quick answer

Icon position: right-click the taskbar > Taskbar settings > Taskbar behaviors > Taskbar alignment: center or left. The taskbar stays at the bottom.
Keep apps handy: right-click an app > Pin to taskbar, then drag to reorder.
Hide it: Taskbar behaviors > Automatically hide the taskbar, then move to the bottom edge to show it.
Less clutter: Taskbar items and Other system tray icons in Taskbar settings.
Icons that grow under your cursor, with live window previews: our Solace Dock, free for 14 days, then $4.59 once.

C: drive full? Find duplicate photos first

SolaceSoftware — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 23:53:13 GMT

When Windows says your C: drive is nearly full, the quick wins are built in and free. First clear what Windows itself marks as junk, then look at your own files, starting with photos. Photos are a common home for duplicates: the same picture imported twice, or saved again at a smaller size. Here's the order that works, built-in Windows steps first.

1. Check how full the drive is

Go to Start > Settings > System > Storage. The capacity bar turns red when Windows considers the drive low on space.

2. Use Cleanup recommendations

On the same page, select Cleanup recommendations.
Go through each category: Temporary files, Large or unused files, Files synced to the cloud and Unused apps. Windows suggests items and shows how much space you'll save.
Tick what you don't need, then select Clean up for each section.

If you upgraded Windows in the last 10 days, your previous version of Windows can show up here too. Deleting it frees space, but you can't go back to the old version afterwards.

3. Turn on Storage Sense

Go to Start > Settings > System > Storage and set Storage Sense to On. It clears temporary files and items that have sat in the Recycle Bin for a while. Select Storage Sense to choose how often it runs (under Run Storage Sense) and how long files stay in the Recycle Bin. It only touches your Downloads folder and cloud files if you set it to. Storage Sense works on the system drive, which is usually C:.

4. Find the big files and photos yourself

Personal files often take more space than anything Windows can clean up.

Open File Explorer from the taskbar.
Under This PC, open Pictures. Videos, Music and Downloads are the other folders that usually hold the biggest files.
Select View > Details, then right-click an empty spot and choose Sort by > Size. The largest files move to the top.
To spot obvious copies, sort by Name instead. Copies like "photo (1).jpg" land next to the original.
Delete what you don't need, or move photos you want to keep but rarely open to a USB drive or SD card.

5. Empty the Recycle Bin

Deleted files go to the Recycle Bin first and still use space there. Empty it once you're sure you don't need them back, or let Storage Sense clear old items for you.

Want an easier way to find duplicates?

Sorting by name only catches copies with similar names. Windows doesn't include a tool that compares files to find true duplicates, so a copy with a different name, or the same photo saved at a smaller size, is easy to miss in a big Pictures folder.

Disclosure: we (SolaceSoftware) make and sell Solace Sweep. This guide first appeared on our shop's guides page.

That's the job our Solace Sweep is built for:

Groups duplicate files in the folders you pick, such as Pictures or an old phone backup.
A similar-images scan for near-copies. In our test it found 6 duplicate files in 5 groups, and the similar-images scan caught a resized copy.
Also finds oversized files, empty items and temporary data, grouped for review.
Nothing changes until you choose a file action. You review the grouped results first.
Reference paths protect the copy you want to keep, for example your main photo library.
Runs on your own Windows PC, without uploading your files.

Limits: scan results can be incomplete or contain false matches, so look at each group before you act, and keep a backup of photos you care about. Some file actions can't be undone, so prefer sending files to the Recycle Bin, and keep scans out of system and program folders. Some optional video and image features may need additional codecs. It needs Windows 10 or newer, 64-bit. The app isn't code-signed yet, so on first launch Windows may show "Windows protected your PC". Click More info, then Run anyway.

It's $36.75 once, with no subscription and no automatic renewal. There's no trial, so read the limits above before you buy.

See our Solace Sweep: $36.75 once

Quick answer

Free and built in: Settings > System > Storage > Cleanup recommendations, then turn on Storage Sense.
Find big photo folders: File Explorer > Pictures > View > Details, then Sort by > Size (or by Name to spot obvious copies).
Don't forget: empty the Recycle Bin after you delete.
For true duplicates and resized copies across many folders: our Solace Sweep, $36.75 once.

What we learned shipping a Windows cursor changer: one API flag, one missing cleanup, and a backup-first design

SolaceSoftware — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:55:08 GMT

Update, Oct 19, 2026: Solace Cursors 1.0.2 adds a sixth pack, Spooky.

We're SolaceSoftware, a small shop that makes Windows desktop apps. This post is about Solace Cursors, a paid app ($2.75 one-time, with a free 14-day trial) that swaps the whole Windows cursor set for one of five animated packs. Most of this post is about the Windows side, which surprised us more than once.

How Windows stores your cursors

Your cursor scheme is per-user. It lives in HKCU\Control Panel\Cursors, with one value per cursor role. There are 17 roles: Arrow, Help, AppStarting, Wait, Crosshair, IBeam, NWPen, No, SizeNS, SizeWE, SizeNWSE, SizeNESW, SizeAll, UpArrow, Hand, Pin and Person. There's also CursorBaseSize for the size. Changing cursors means writing all of those, then asking Windows to reload them with SystemParametersInfoW(SPI_SETCURSORS, ...). Because it's all under HKCU, the app installs per-user and never needs admin rights.

Lesson 1: back up before the first change

Before the app writes anything, it saves your current values. "Restore my cursors" writes them back, and only then deletes the saved copy. Uninstalling runs the same restore. In our test on a real Windows 11 PC, the registry after Restore was byte-identical to before.

Lesson 2: a FALSE return isn't always a failure

On Windows 11 we called SPI_SETCURSORS with SPIF_UPDATEINIFILE. It returned FALSE even though the cursors visibly reloaded. In our tests, flag values 0 and 2 returned success, while 1 and 3 returned FALSE. The registry is already written by then, so we now pass only SPIF_SENDCHANGE. We also split the outcomes: if the registry write fails, that's an error, but if the reload fails, the change is saved and we show "Sign out and back in to see all changes" instead of a scary error.

Lesson 3: test your uninstaller against a real profile

Our first release left two things behind after uninstalling: its own settings key and a local app-data folder. Version 1.0.1 removes both after uninstalling and skips that step during updates. Our PC smoke test now checks the Run, Uninstall and app keys, plus the desktop and Start menu, byte for byte before and after.

Smaller things

The size slider snaps to 32, 48, 64, 96 and 128 px.
Click sparkles and the cursor trail are off by default, and they pause while a full-screen game or video is in front.
The build is unsigned for now, so the product page warns about SmartScreen and publishes the ZIP's SHA-256.

If you've fought SystemParametersInfo return values yourself, I'd like to hear which flags behaved for you.

Disclosure: Solace Cursors is our paid app. Trial and details: https://solacesoftware.smilingface.cloud/products/solace-cursors?utm\_source=hashnode&utm\_medium=post&utm\_campaign=solace-cursors&utm\_content=dt1