Taskbar Groups vs Taskbar Hide

Taskbar Groups is a free Windows utility for organizing shortcuts into groups on the taskbar. Groups can contain .exe and .lnk shortcuts, folders, Windows Store apps, and Steam games or software. Users can choose group colors and opacity, pick an icon, edit shortcut names, and set how many shortcuts appear on each row. Optional launch settings include working directories and arguments; Ctrl+Enter can launch all shortcuts in a group, while number keys 1–0 launch shortcuts in positions one through ten. The utility stores group and shortcut icons in each group’s local configuration folder and can regenerate the cache when the group is saved again. A release note lists support for multiple monitors, vertical and top taskbars, and hidden taskbars. Setup involves downloading the latest release ZIP, unpacking it, and running TaskbarGroups.exe. The project is MIT-licensed. Group names are limited to 49 characters and cannot contain special characters; shortcut entry names are limited to 27 characters. A moved shortcut may stop launching until the group is edited again.

Taskbar Hide is a free application for Windows 10 and 11 that hides and shows the taskbar. It provides a system tray icon and menu, as well as a command-line interface with start, show, hide, toggle, stop, help, and autostart commands. The app prevents multiple instances from running. Its project describes the executable as approximately 600 KB, self-contained, and built with static CRT linking. Downloads are available for Windows x64 and ARM64 as an MSI installer or a portable ZIP. The ZIP can be extracted and run without installation; the MSI configures PATH for command-line access. Autostart commands add or remove an entry in the current user's Windows Run registry key. The project says it is compatible with YASB and other custom status bars using the Shell_TrayWnd class name. One operational detail: CLI commands to show, hide, or stop the app require its GUI to be running. The repository is published under the MIT license.