Managing the Windows 7 Taskbar Icons

Released in 2009, Windows 7 is the latest version of Microsoft's popular operating system, the first upgrade since Windows Vista approximately three years earlier.

One of the Windows 7 features that has drawn the most user attention is its revamped taskbar. (A "taskbar" is an onscreen toolbar that displays the active applications, from which you select the one you want to expand or minimize.)

The default position for the taskbar is at the bottom of the screen, and that's where most users leave it, but Windows 7 allows you to reposition it if you choose. Right click on the taskbar and choose "Properties." There you'll find a "Taskbar location on screen" dropdown menu that allows you to place the taskbar at the top, left, or right of the screen instead.

Users of previous versions of Windows are familiar with the "Quick Launch" area at the left end of the taskbar, from where applications can be launched by clicking their icon. That's gone, but in a sense the whole Windows 7 taskbar can function like the old "Quick Launch."

That's because you can now set up the taskbar to contain icons not only for your currently running applications, but also any others you choose to place there, all ordered however you please.

Which applications do you use the most, and would you find most convenient to be able to launch by simply clicking on an icon at the bottom of your screen? Your e-mail program? Word? Excel? Your preferred Web browser? Any of those that are not already affixed to the taskbar can be easily placed there for the future. Just right-click them on your desktop or your list of programs, and choose to add them.

Of course whenever you open an application, a corresponding icon will be added to the taskbar, but that disappears when you close out of the application. Right-clicking and adding it keeps the icon on the taskbar regardless of whether the application is running.

All these taskbar icons, both the ones whose corresponding applications are running and those that are not, can be rearranged at will. Just drag and drop them to move them where you want.

You'll also notice a nice feature called Aero Peek. If you have multiple windows open for the same application (say, four Word documents) and you have them under one icon on your taskbar, when you hover over it you can see miniature thumbnail versions of each of the four. But what's new is if you roll over one of the thumbnails, you make that one larger and bring it to the forefront, so you can get a better look at it.

Another way to get at multiple items under the same icon is to right-click it or click it and swipe upward. This will open a pop-up menu that lists each of the open windows associated with that application.

There's a lot you can do with the new taskbar, and how precisely to set it up is of course a matter of personal preference. Maybe use some trial and error to come up with what fits your style best.

Here's merely one suggested way to approach managing your taskbar icons:

1. Determine which applications you open pretty much every time you turn on your computer. Perhaps your e-mail program, or your preferred Web browser, or your My Documents folder. Have these be the first permanent icons on the left. Put them in a certain order and leave them that way, so it becomes second nature that you always know where they are. (Like you wouldn't want to be constantly changing the position of the keys on your keyboard, or the numbers on your phone.)

2. Next, determine which applications you use less often than that, yet still often enough that you want to be able to get to them immediately from the taskbar whenever you need them, instead of going to your desktop or hunting around in your programs for them. Place these next to the ones you've already positioned at the extreme left.

Two possibilities here: One, you can order them approximately according to the frequency with which you use them. Two, you can group them according to similarities. For example, if there are six icons you're arranging in this section, and three are for programs you use a lot for your video editing, make sure those three are together.

However you decide to order these, again try to stick with it so you always know where they are without having to think about it consciously.

3. That covers the icons you dock permanently on your taskbar. Beyond that, there are the icons that are created temporarily as you happen to open and close other applications. One decision you'll need to make-and this could be relevant for some of your permanent icons as well-is whether you'll want to set your taskbar to group all windows of the same application under one icon, or split them up. For example, if you have three Excel spreadsheets open, do you want them under one icon, where you can then hover over the icon to see their thumbnails, or do you want three different icons? I generally find it easier to work with separate icons for each one, but it's just a matter of what is intuitive for you.

4. As you open applications and the icons accumulate, remember you can re-order them however you please. So for instance, if you have an Excel spreadsheet open with information that you're constantly checking as you write a Word document, drag and drop these next to each other if they're not already, so you can more readily switch back and forth.

The new Windows 7 taskbar gives you more flexibility to experiment with different arrangements and see what works for you.