1- The taskbar is the blue strip located at the bottom of the desktop that shows the user which programs and pages are currently active and running. (If you've changed the colors on your screen, this may be a different color.)

As you see in this photo, there are 3 main sections to the task bar.

• To the left is the Start Menu Button
• In the center, we see Tabs or Taskbar Buttons of the open programs and files.
• To the right is the System Tray or Notification Area.

2- At the far left of the taskbar we find the Start Menu button. It contains icons and commands that allow us access to programs, settings and documents. Other useful commands include Find, Help, Run, and Shut Down.

3- Just right of the Start Menu Button is an area known as the Quick Launch bar. This is covered in our Intermediate Online Trainings and is not shown in our illustrations here.

What you see above are the TaskBar Buttons or Tabs that indicate the active programs or documents that you currently have open. These are found in the center of the task bar. They are brought to the top of your open applications by left clicking on the tab.

4- At the far right of the taskbar is an area commonly known as the "Sys" (System) Tray or Notification Area. Here you'll find icons for commonly-used utilities such as the system clock and antivirus software.

5- This is what I call the "double decker" Task Bar. For those who are working in multiple windows at one time, creating a double layered task bar simply makes the tabs easier to read. It also reduces the size of the work space in your file or program by that one extra strip space.

6- Even though there are 8 Windows open in this photo, each of the tabs are easy to read.

Here's how to create the Double Decker Task Bar:

• Move the mouse cursor over the top of the task bar until you see a Bi-directional arrow.
• Left click, hold, and drag the arrow upward.

If no bi-directional arrow appears, the taskbar is probably locked.

• Right click in an open space on the taskbar.
• A popup menu box will appear.
• Click on "Lock the Taskbar" to remove the checkmark.

To remove the Double Decker Task Bar effect:

• Move the mouse cursor over the top of the task bar until you see a Bi-directional arrow.
• Left click, hold, and drag the arrow downward.

7- When using the Double Decker Taskbar, the clock in the Sys Tray now also shows the day and date.

8- Let's take a closer look at the system tray which will appear similar to this photo.

By default, the clock appears here and it has been instructed to "hide" the icons of the running utilities.

Applications that you are working with will insert icons in the notification area to indicate the status of an operation. For example, when you've told the computer to print a document, a printer icon will appear in the status area to show that a print job is under way. When the printing completes, the icon disappears again. 

9- To Show Hidden Icons in the System Tray:

Left click on the "Lesser Than" arrow that you see circled in this photo.

11- Left click on the Start Menu Button and a Popup Menu Box similar to the one above will appear. From here, you can access all programs on your computer, control panel, settings, just about everything. These functions are fully covered in both the Intermediate and Advanced Trainings.

12- Right click in an open space on your task bar. Usually you can find one just left of the Sys Tray over by the clock.

In the popup menu that appears click on Properties.

14- In the section under Taskbar Appearance, click in the box to the left of "Group similar taskbar buttons."

Then, Click OK at the bottom.

15- Now, one button shows up for all windows open in that application. Above you see that there are 5 windows active in the application of Internet Explorer.

17- To disable the grouped taskbar buttons, go through the same process and "unclick" the box as you see here. Then click on OK.

19- To easily close a window you are no longer using from the taskbar:

• Right click on the tab title of that document or program
• A popup menu will appear
• Left click on Close
• If you have not saved revisions to the document, it will ask you to save first.

20- When you have multiple windows open at once, and you need to find an icon from your desktop, here's how you instantly clear all the windows. Find an empty space in the task bar, where there are no tabs. Right click in the empty space.

21- The popup menu to the right will appear. Left click on the line that says "Show the Desktop." Instantly, all open windows are minimized and shrunk to the Taskbar.

22- To get all the windows back onto your screen, right click again in an empty space on the task bar. This time in the popup menu, you will see the words "Show Open Windows." Left click on it, and all windows are in front of you again. (Depending on the Version of Windows you're using, the wording may be slightly different.)