How to Hide the Taskbar in Windows 10

See the taskbar only when you need it

A woman hiding behind a closed laptop.

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by Scott Orgera
Scott Orgera has been a tech journalist since 2007. He has 25+ years' experience as a programmer and QA leader and several Microsoft certifications.
Updated March 21, 2019

Located on the bottom, top, left or right-hand sides of the screen, the Windows taskbar contains a number of very useful items including shortcuts to your favorite applications, an integrated search field, the Start Menu button, an icon that displays available Wi-Fi networks and much more. While it certainly comes in handy, there are times where you may want to hide the taskbar and take back some of that valuable on-screen real estate for something else like a game or video.

How to Hide the Windows 10 Taskbar

  1. Right-click on any blank space within your taskbar, preferably on the far-right hand side of your application shortcuts.

  2. A pop-up menu should be displayed, containing several configurable options. Select the one labeled Taskbar settings.

    A screenshot of the Windows 10 Taskbar menu.

  3. The Taskbar Settings interface will appear, overlaying your desktop. Click on the button accompanying the following option so that it switches from Off to On: Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode. You can also do the same for the option labeled Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode, if you tend to utilize Windows in that mode as well.

    A screenshot of the Windows 10 Taskbar Settings interface.

  4. Click on the 'X' located in the upper right-hand corner to close the Settings window.

While hidden, the taskbar can still be accessed by simply moving your mouse cursor to its corresponding location on the screen (left, right, top or bottom). It should appear automatically at this point.