In this post, I will demonstrate how to configure taskbar small button behavior using group policy. A new group policy setting introduced in the Windows 11 2025 Update (25H2) allows you to customize the behavior of small taskbar buttons for Windows users.
Windows 11 offers several options for customizing the taskbar for its users. The good news is that organizations can manage Windows 11 taskbar customizations through Intune or Group Policy, ensuring users adhere to these settings and cannot modify them manually.
The GPO “Configure Taskbar Small Button Behavior” that is included in taskbar.admx allows you to manage the behavior of small taskbar buttons for your organization’s users. When it comes to displaying smaller taskbar buttons, Windows defaults to the “When the taskbar is full” behavior, but you can configure it to other options using group policy.
Import the ADMX templates for Windows 11 25H2
To use the Configure Taskbar Small Button Behavior GPO, you will have to first download the ADMX templates for Windows 11, 25H2. The guide covers the steps for importing the templates into the central store. If you have already imported the templates for 25H2, proceed to creating the GPO.
Create a GPO to Configure Taskbar Small Button Behavior
To create a new GPO, you can either log in to a domain controller or a member server installed with GPMC. You can also install the GPMC on Windows 11 and configure the group policies.
Use the following steps to create a group policy to configure behavior of small taskbar buttons for Windows devices.
- Launch Server Manager from the Start menu and select Tools > Group Policy Management Console.
- In the Group Policy Management console, expand the domain, right-click Group Policy Objects and select New.
- Enter the name for the group policy, such as “configure taskbar small buttons behavior” and click OK.
In the Group Policy Management Editor, navigate to User Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar. Locate and edit the policy setting “Configure Taskbar Small Button Behavior” and select Enabled.
Next, choose one of the following options to determine how you want the smaller taskbar buttons to be displayed:
- Always: When selected, the taskbar always uses small buttons for display.
- When taskbar is full: The taskbar dynamically switches between small buttons and standard button sizes based on available space. This is the default option chosen by Windows 11.
- Never: If you want the taskbar to never use small buttons, select this setting. Instead of small buttons, the standard sized button will be used.
Once the above options are configured, users cannot change the “Show smaller taskbar buttons” option in the Settings UI. Once you have enabled the policy and selected the desired option, click Apply and OK.
Close the GPMC editor. After creating the GPO, you must link it to an OU if you haven’t already. You can also link it to the domain, but doing so will apply the policy settings applicable to every computer and user in the domain, so it is not advised.
To link the above GPO to an OU, right-click the OU and select Link an existing GPO.
From the list of group policy objects, select the “Configure behavior of small taskbar buttons” GPO and press OK.
Update Group Policies
You can update the group policy on the client computers to speed up your testing. There are multiple ways to perform the group policy update on remote computers. On a test client machine, you can manually perform the group policy update by running the gpupdate /force command.
End User Experience
Once the group policy settings are successfully refreshed on the targeted devices, sign in to a Windows device and right-click taskbar and select Taskbar Settings. Expand the Taskbar Behavior section, locate the “Show smaller taskbar buttons” setting, and ensure it is configured according to the option defined in the GPO. Users are restricted from changing the behavior of smaller taskbar buttons.
