The “Never merge” taskbar option is one of the “legacy” features that wasn’t included in the modern (some might say “distorted”) taskbar in Windows 11. This option allows you to ungroup programs and enable tabs, giving the taskbar a more appealing old-school, pre-Windows 7 look . Many Windows 11 users are missing the ability to split apps, so Microsoft is finally working to bring back this much-needed feature.
Taskbar item labels (as well as ungrouped items) are indeed on their way to Windows 11 ✨
— Albacore (@thebookisclosed) April 19, 2023
Here's a demo of the current state of the feature, definitely further along than last time we looked at it
Fiddled with a few settings in the video so you can see how it reacts pic.twitter.com/7A7H0MWpJV
If you’re looking to enable the updated taskbar on your computer running development builds of Windows 11, you’ve got bad news: Albacore says there’s “no way to do that yet.” So we’ll have to sit and wait for an announcement from Microsoft or a newer version with a dedicated feature ID. You can also opt for third-party customization tools that replace the default taskbar and Start menu with updated alternatives and features missing in unmodified versions of Windows 11.
