Microsoft begins rolling out highly anticipated Taskbar feature for Windows 11 power users

Windows 11
(Image credit: Windows Central / Zac Bowden)

It feels like a feature that users have been requesting for years, and it's finally now rolling out with the latest Windows 11 update. Microsoft is adding the ability to open the notification center from the Taskbar on any monitor you like, regardless of if it's set as your primary display.

Believe it or not, but up until now, users with multiple monitors attached to their Windows 11 PC found that attempting to open the notification center via the System Tray on the Taskbar on a display that was not set as your primary one would result in nothing happening.

This was because Microsoft hadn't ensured the Taskbar was functionally identical across displays. Your main monitor was where the Taskbar was fully functional, with additional monitors getting stuck with a more basic one that didn't let you access flyouts like the Notification Center.

Notification Center on second monitor

This is the notification center open on a secondary monitor. (Image credit: Mauro Huculak)

But that's finally changing with update KB5065789, which includes the following changelog note: "The Notification Center functionality is now available on secondary monitors. To open it, select the date and time in the system tray on the taskbar."

This is a highly requested feature that power users have been yearning for since Windows 11 first debuted. It was always strange that the Taskbar wasn't capable of opening the notification center on secondary displays before now, as it meant you needed to mouse all the way back to your main monitor to see any missed notifications.

That's no longer the case, but the Taskbar is still missing some vital features that some users have deemed make or break for the operating system. Features such as the ability to move the Taskbar to the top or sides of the display, as was possible in previous versions of Windows. On Windows 11, it's stuck at the bottom.

With Microsoft slowly addressing all of these power user requests, perhaps the ability to move the Taskbar isn't far behind. We can only hope! For now, what are your thoughts on being able to access the notification center on secondary monitors? Let us know in the comments!

Zac Bowden
Senior Editor

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central and has been with the site since 2016. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows, Surface, and hardware. He's also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.