Start11: taskbar autohide fails in Windows 11 with multiple monitors

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I'm running Start11 1.47 with an Object Desktop subscription, on Windows 11 Pro 22H2 build 22621.2134 running on a Lenovo ThinkPad P16 Gen2, with two 4K external monitors — a Dell U4320QE as the primary monitor and a Dell U4320Q as the secondary; the lid is closed, so the laptop's own screen is not in use.

I'm used to running with the taskbar always visible. But I found that when I did that with Start11, Win 11's built-in window resizing and positioning would lose me the bottom 100px or so of each window — it would be covered up by the taskbar. So I hit on autohiding as a solution. That worked great. A little annoying, e.g., I could no longer see the clock, but tolerable.

What's happening now is that the taskbar autohides properly on the secondary monitor every time but not on the primary. On the primary, the taskbar is always visible, and always cutting off an essential portion of my windows. Something I did brought it back for a day but it's gone again.

(As I'm composing this bug report, the primary monitor chose to autohide. Move the mouse over it, it comes back up. But it stays up, where the secondary monitor hides within a second after I move the mouse out of the taskbar region.)

In Win11, Personalization > Taskbar, I've set Automatically hide the taskbar.

In Start11, Multiple monitor settings of:

Show taskbar buttons on: Taskbar where window is open
Taskbar buttons should be combined on secondary monitors: Never

How would you like your taskbar configured? Left aligned

 

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6,037 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. I have forward your problem/question to Stardock Support Team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your feedback and patience.

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Here's a screencap. The left is the primary monitor, whose taskbar won't autohide. The right side is from the secondary monitor, which does autohide.

 

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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

From what I know, Start11 taskbar autohide don't work properly on Windows 11 system. Not sure it work in your situation. Since you have one more monitor connected permanently to your system, even you close the lid, the connection still there. However it is best to wait for Support or Dev to respond to your issue.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting lubkin, reply 2

Here's a screencap. The left is the primary monitor, whose taskbar won't autohide. The right side is from the secondary monitor, which does autohide.

 


End of lubkin's quote

Start11 does not offer the autohide itself, this is a feature of Windows 11.

When in autohide mode you cannot have a custom height for the taskbar either but it should work fine.

If it is not hiding that would typically be something the OS is in control of rather than Start11.

If you disable the enhanced taskbar feature setting in Start11 does the problem continue?

The issue with windows going under the taskbar when not in autohide mode is also not normal.  This would point to something else interacting with Start11.  Are you using any other products which might alter the taskbar or provide a different one on a secondary display (like DisplayFusion or Ultramon)?

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

I don't use a custom height for the taskbar. I know autohide is part of Win11. I am not using any other products that affect the taskbar—just Win11 itself and Start11; this is a new system, with no other third-party software that hooks into the OS beyond ordinary adding right-click menu items.

I did try disabling Start11 taskbar functionality and restarting Explorer. That restored expected Win11 behavior—both displays autohide. Then I re-enabled Start11 taskbar functionality; autohide still works for both displays. For now. 

We'll see if this temporarily fixes the problem. And if it breaks again, will that procedure re-fix it for a while.

But my best gauge, as someone who worked 10 years inside the operating system groups for four different OSes, and has a few decades of GUI work, in the course of 45 years of professional programming, is that this is a bug in Start11.

If you'd like me to try anything to see if we can force the bug to manifest, or to try out a fix, let me know.

BTW, there's another possible work-around for me, that many end users won't have—Dell Display Manager 2.1 (DDM), which is pretty similar to Win11 window snapping. But ISTM it's better to stick with straight Win11 unless you know that Start11 works more reliably with DDM.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Correction! I do have Microsoft PowerToys 0.71.0 installed too but the only features that are enabled have nothing to do with the display—like Keyboard Manager.