How to Enable List on Windows 11 or 10 Taskbar instead of Thumbnail?

When you’re using your computer and have a program running, you might notice its thumbnail on the taskbar. If you hover over the thumbnail, you will see the preview of the same program you’re running. Now, if multiple windows are open for the same program, it will show various previews whenever you’re hovering over the thumbnail. It means that Windows will have single or multiple previews on your taskbar depending upon the number of Windows you open for a particular program. It happens irrespective of the version of Windows (11 or 10) you use.

However, when the number of open windows reaches the threshold, the taskbar shows open windows in a list instead of thumbnails.

This threshold limit varies and depends upon the screen resolution and DPI scaling. We have listed the various threshold limits based on these parameters:-

• 800×600 = 8 open windows
• 1024×768 = 10 open windows
• 1920×1080 = 16 open windows

Now that you know the threshold limits, you can adjust them according to how you wish, and this risewindows article will help you achieve just that. You will also learn to turn on the list on the Windows 11 or 10 taskbars instead of a thumbnail.

How to Always Show List instead of Thumbnails on Windows 11 or 10 Taskbar?

Use the following steps if you always want to see a list instead of thumbnails on the Windows 11 or 10 taskbar:-

Step 1: Firstly, Open Registry Editor.

Step 2: Then, in the left sidebar of Registry Editor, browse:-

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband

Step 3: Go to New > DWORD (32-bit) Value by right-clicking on the Task band key.

Step 4: Name the newly created REG_DWORD as NumThumbnails.

Step 5: Open the NumThumbnails REG_DWORD and set its “Value data” to 0.

Step 6: Click on the OK button.

Step 7: Reboot your system or restart File Explorer to apply the changes.

After completing all the above steps, you will find that Windows will show the thumbnail of the program that you’ve opened for a single window. However, if you have multiple windows open, it will now show you a list of those thumbnails.

Also, you can restore the default behavior or Taskbar Thumbnails by deleting the NumThumbnails REG_DWORD.

How to Disable Thumbnail Preview on Windows 11 or 10 Taskbar?

To enable or disable Taskbar Thumbnail Preview on Windows 11 or 10 using Local Group Policy Editor, do these steps:-

Step 1: To begin, open Local Group Policy Editor.

Step 2: After that, navigate the following from the left sidebar of the Local Group Policy Editor window:-

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar

Step 3: Open the policy name Turn off Taskbar Thumbnails to open its settings. You will find it on the opposite side of the “Start Menu and Taskbar” folder.

Step 4: Once you do that, Select Enabled.

Step 5: Now, click on the Apply button.

Step 6. Further, click on the OK button.

Step 7: Finally, reboot your computer as the final step and apply the changes.

If you want to reverse the changes, you need to repeat the above steps and in step 4 above, click on the Not Configured option.

That’s it.

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