Windows 11: Microsoft may plan to remove another important taskbar feature

The original version of Windows 11 is being used by millions of users around the world, and while many new design features are being tried out in the new operating system, taskbar limitations and other missing features have drawn criticism from users and Microsoft critics.

Currently, it is not possible to drag and drop files onto application icons on the taskbar, a feature that was available in previous versions of the desktop operating system. Drag and drop from the taskbar is a convenient way to multitask and open certain files within an application without having to navigate to a directory.

Microsoft has confirmed its intention to restore taskbar drag and drop functionality with Sun Valley 2 aka version 22H2. While drag-and-drop functionality is indeed back, it turns out that Microsoft is now planning to remove another taskbar feature as part of its efforts to optimize the OS for tablets.

For those who don’t know, Microsoft recently started testing a tablet-optimized taskbar that has two states: collapsed and expanded. The plan is to reduce clutter (temporarily remove some functionality from the taskbar) when the system detects your device as a "tablet" so that the taskbar can be easily used via touch.

However, there's a catch - Microsoft has also removed some features from the desktop version of the taskbar to optimize it for tablets. In Build 22572 or newer, it is no longer possible to reorder or drag and drop icons in the system tray.

As you probably know, the system tray is the pop-up window with the "^" icon on the taskbar that contains applications running in the background, such as Teams and Slack. System Tray reduces taskbar clutter and helps users manage background Windows applications easily.

While the system tray itself doesn't go anywhere, Microsoft no longer supports dragging icons in or between system trays.

Users initially thought this was a bug and that the company would fix it in the future, but newer versions suggest this was an intentional change in favor of tablet optimization.

During our tests, we observed that it was simply impossible to select and move icons in the system tray. Fortunately, we can still manage these icons using the Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > System Tray section.

This unwanted change is currently set to ship with Windows 11 version 22H2.

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