A lightweight (uses a few MB of RAM and almost no CPU) utility that makes the Windows taskbar translucent/transparent on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
TranslucentTB is a lightweight utility designed to enhance the appearance of your Windows taskbar by making it translucent or transparent on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Key Features:
Advanced color picker with alpha support and live preview for customizing the taskbar's transparency and tint.
Multiple taskbar states, including Normal, Opaque, Clear, Blur, and Acrylic, each with customizable colors.
Dynamic modes that adapt the taskbar appearance based on window states (e.g., visible or maximized windows) and user actions (e.g., opening the Start menu or Task View).
Compatibility with popular tools like RoundedTB and ExplorerPatcher for a cohesive customization experience.
Audience & Benefit:
Ideal for Windows users seeking to personalize their desktop without sacrificing performance. TranslucentTB offers seamless integration, low resource usage (a few MB of RAM and minimal CPU load), and intuitive customization options to enhance your workflow and visual experience.
The utility can be installed via winget for easy setup.
README
TranslucentTB
A lightweight (uses a few MB of RAM and almost no CPU) utility that makes the Windows taskbar translucent/transparent on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Features
Advanced color picker supporting alpha and live preview to change the taskbar's color.
Taskbar states (choose one - color can be customized on every state except Normal):
Normal: Regular Windows style. (as if TranslucentTB was not running)
Opaque: Tinted taskbar, without transparency.
Clear: Tinted taskbar.
Blur: Will make the taskbar slightly blurred. Windows 10 and Windows 11 build 22000 only.
Acrylic: Will give the taskbar an appearance similar to Microsoft's Fluent Design guidelines.
Dynamic modes (these can be used together and each of them provides a taskbar state and color you can customize):
Visible window: Will change the taskbar to a different appearance if a window is currently open on the desktop.
Maximized window: Will change the taskbar to a different appearance if a window is currently maximised.
Start opened: Will change the taskbar appearance when the start menu is opened.
Search opened: Will change the taskbar appearance when the search menu (previously Cortana) is open.
You can download the program for free from the Microsoft Store and take advantage of its features like background auto-updates.
Alternatively, you can download TranslucentTB.appinstallervia the releases tab and open it to install the app.
A portable version of the app is also available on GitHub releases as TranslucentTB.zip, but this version only works on Windows 11.
If you want to get the latest bleeding edge build, you can grab it over at the Azure Pipelines page. Note that these builds may not work, or include features that are partially complete. Use at your own risk.
Add to Startup
To add TranslucentTB to startup, check the "Open at boot" entry in the TranslucentTB tray icon's context menu. If you are having issues or the entry in the context menu is grayed out, try applying the following registry changes:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"EnableFullTrustStartupTasks"=dword:00000002
"EnableUwpStartupTasks"=dword:00000002
"SupportFullTrustStartupTasks"=dword:00000001
"SupportUwpStartupTasks"=dword:00000001
Portable versions can be added to startup by creating a shortcut to the executable in %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.
Donations and contributions
We have a Liberapay! Don't hesitate to donate if you appreciate TranslucentTB and would like to support our work.
Some antiviruses are over eager, so they might flag this program as malicious. IT IS NOT! Over 10M users have downloaded this program safely. The source is open, you can compile it yourself, and we welcome any and all security reviews.
Thanks
TranslucentTB is a team effort! It is the result of the collective efforts of many people:
