In a fresh development, you can change its position, size, the buttons displayed, the pinned programs, the appearance of the search box, and much more. The Windows taskbar is a pretty nifty thing, offering a wide range of customization options.

The report highlights that this means the administrator will have to manually restore the taskbar to its default state. That said, you can make some of those settings inaccessible. However, if multiple people use the computer, they might adjust those settings to suit their personal preferences.

The report highlights that both can be done using the Registry or Group Policy. There are two ways to do this: you can freeze the current settings or prevent users from making changes to the taskbar.

According to the latest update, to completely prevent changes to the taskbar using the Registry, type regedit into the search box and click on Registry Editor. Now, navigate to this folder: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Applications\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer . Select Explorer. Right-click in the right-hand pane and choose Recent → DWORD (32-bit) Value. The Group Policy Editor is available in Windows Professional, as well as the Education and Business editions.

Industry observers note that right-click on it, select Modify, enter 1 as the value, and confirm by clicking OK. Name the fresh value TaskbarLockAll.

As part of the ongoing story, foundry.

The report highlights that some options (like the option to automatically hide the taskbar) will be greyed out. You’ll find the same setting in the Group Policy Editor. Type gpedit into the search box and open the editor. Now go to Personalization → Taskbar in Windows Settings.

In a fresh development, select Enabled and confirm by clicking OK. Go to User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Start Menu and Taskbar, and double-click Lock all Taskbar Settings.

The report highlights that right-click in the right-hand pane and select Recent → DWORD (32-bit) Value. To prevent standard users from making changes to the taskbar, open the Registry and navigate (again) to the folder HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Applications\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer .

According to the latest update, in the Group Policy Editor, you’ll find the same setting under User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Start Menu and Taskbar. Name the fresh entry NoSetTaskbar and set the value to 1.

As part of the ongoing story, double-click on Prevent Changes to the Taskbar and Start Menu Settings and set the status to Enabled.