Since its introduction in Windows 95, the taskbar has remained one of the defining user interface characteristics of the Windows operating system. As a one-stop-shop for accessing the Start Menu, open applications, and system tray applets, the taskbar is an incredibly useful software inclusion that I can’t imagine living without.
The taskbar is so genuinely important to my workflow, in fact, that I’ve long dreamed of being able to add a second one to my PC. After all, two is better than one, right? Well, Microsoft itself seems to think so, as it started towing with the idea of adding a second taskbar to Windows 11 back in January of this year.
Fast-forward to today, and Command Palette Dock within PowerToys is a fully actualized software product, effectively doubling up the Windows taskbar in the most useful way possible. Command Palette has always offered an excellent PC search experience, but now it’s on another level with the addition of its Dock feature.
How I added a second taskbar to my PC
First-party Microsoft software to the rescue
To add a second taskbar to Windows 11, simply download and install the free PowerToys application from the Microsoft Store. PowerToys is a first-party effort from the tech giant, offering a variety of advanced tools that supplement the operating system’s out-of-box capabilities.
Once you’ve got PowerToys running on your Windows 11 PC, navigate to System > Command Palette > Settings. This will open up a separate window with dedicated options to configure Command Palette. From here, simply toggle on Enable Dock.
There are plenty of configuration options to sift through within the Command Palette Dock settings panel. These include setting up a keyboard shortcut for Dock navigation, changing the Dock’s on-screen positioning and size, adjusting its theme, and configuring behaviors like auto-hide and always stay on top.
Command Palette Dock is a game changer
My new favorite Microsoft PowerToys feature
There’s a lot to love about Command Palette Dock. Aside from beating the native Windows taskbar to the punch when it comes to resizing and relocating its interface elements, the Dock itself is highly useful across a variety of contexts.
The right-hand side of the Dock features the date and time, which can be clicked or tapped on to open the notification pane and calendar view. To reduce redundancy, I went ahead and disabled the standard taskbar’s date and time view by right-clicking and then navigating to Adjust date and time > unticking Show time and date in the System tray.
To the left of the date and time on the Dock are live tickers for the system’s CPU and Memory (RAM) usage. These are incredibly useful additions, allowing you to quickly keep tabs on your PC’s performance metrics without having to dive into Task Manager proper. Clicking or tapping on these tickers brings up a dedicated mini-interface with more information, again saving you from jumping into full-blown Task Manager.
Of course, Command Palette Dock is quite a flexible piece of software, and it can be configured in a number of additional ways to suit your preference.
On the left-hand side of Command Palette Dock’s interface are shortcuts for Command Palette search itself, as well as a pane that lets you search for software packages directly from WinGet. Command Palette’s search function is far superior to the native Windows Search experience, though this is subject to change as Microsoft is currently testing a redesigned search flow for Windows 11 that looks quite slick.
Of course, Command Palette Dock is quite a flexible piece of software, and it can be configured in a number of additional ways to suit your preference. You can edit the dock by right-clicking on it and selecting Edit Dock, after which you can add new commands from a dedicated flyout interface. You can pin files, apps, and URLs to the Dock, you can add a variety of other performance monitor live tickers to it, and you can install extensions that provide their own ‘bands’ or miniature command widgets, too.
Overall, I’m a big fan of Command Palette Dock, and I love how well it works in tandem with my PC’s standard out-of-box taskbar. The extensibility of the Dock itself means that there are endless customization possibilities, and it’s just plain convenient to be able to monitor live stats, to hop into Command Palette’s search, and to add widgets to its interface. Now that I’ve grown accustomed to having it up and running on my Windows 11 computer, there’s simply no going back — I plan on installing the tool on every new PC I get my hands on without question.
