Windows 10 will group taskbar icons by default. What if you want a separate icon to appear on the Windows taskbar? This article provides three practical ways to ungroup Windows 10 taskbar icons.

Windows 10 automatically merges the taskbar icons by default. In short, if you open two file explorer windows, they appear as single buttons on the taskbar. When Windows 10 taskbar icons are grouped, you can save a lot of taskbar space.

However, you may prefer to see separate icons and icon names displayed on the Windows taskbar for quick access to programs, files, and system settings. Therefore, here are three effective ways to help you make the Windows 10 taskbar display a single icon.

How to ungroup taskbar icons in Windows 10

Method 1: Use the "Never Merge Taskbar Buttons" function

The easiest and quickest way to ungroup taskbar icons in Windows 10 is to use the Never Merge Taskbar Buttons feature in Windows settings.

First, right-click any blank area on the taskbar and select Taskbar Settings . Alternatively, you can press Windows I key combination and click Personalization > Taskbar to access this page.

Second, in the Merge Taskbar Button section, select Never option from the drop-down menu. You can also select the option when the taskbar is full according to your needs.

The taskbar icon should now be detached and the name of each icon is displayed.

Method 2: Use the Registry Editor to cancel the taskbar icon grouping

If Windows settings cannot be turned on, you can use the Windows registry to ungroup the Windows 10 taskbar icon.

Step 2. In the top address bar, navigate to the following location:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Step 3. In the right panel, right-click any blank area and select New > DWORD (32-bit) value . Then you need to name the newly created value NoTaskGrouping .

Step 4. Double-click NoTaskGrouping . In a new window, set its value data to 1 and click OK .

Step 5. Restart the computer and check that the taskbar icon is detached.

To group the icons in the taskbar again, just delete the NoTaskGrouping DWORD value.

Method 3: Use the local group policy editor to cancel the taskbar icon grouping

The last way to ungroup the Windows 10 taskbar icon is to use the local Group Policy Editor. The specific steps are as follows.

Step 1. Use the Windows Search box to open the local Group Policy Editor. If the search bar loads too long, you can find a solution in this article: How to fix Windows Search bar slow Windows 10/11 .

Step 2. Navigate to the following location:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar

Step 3. In the right panel, scroll down to find and double-click to prevent taskbar items from grouping .

Step 4. In the pop-up window, select the Enabled option and click Apply > OK .

Summarize

In short, this article provides three effective ways to ungroup Windows 10 taskbar icons. You can choose one of your favorites to complete the necessary operations.

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