Making your Windows taskbar transparent is a pretty cool thing to do. It looks great, and it's one of the few ways you can personalize your taskbar.

Some resources about this topic require you to install different software to accomplish it. But in this tutorial we'll see how to make the taskbar completely transparent without any installations.

How to Make your Windows Taskbar Transparent

Step 1 - Use the Run command to open the Registry Editor program

The Run command allows you to open various programs on your PC by typing their name. The program we will be using is called Registry Editor.

To use the Run command, you can use the shortcut Win + R (Windows button + R) or you can right click on the Windows icon and click on "Run".

run-command

Step 2 - Type regedit

After clicking on Run, a window should pop up where you can type in the name of a program you would like to open. Type "regedit" and press OK. This will open the Registry Editor.

regedit

After clicking OK, the window below should pop up:

registry

Step 3 - Navigate through folders

The first folder to expand is the HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder. Scroll down and expand the SOFTWARE folder.

After that, locate the Microsoft folder and expand it as well. Next, scroll all the way down and expand the Windows folder.

In the Windows folder, expand the CurrentVersion folder followed by expanding the Explorer folder. Lastly, click on the Advanced folder.

If you found the steps above confusing, then you can use this path as a guide:

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Pasting the path above and hitting enter should automatically bring you to our current location.

paths

Step 4 - Create a new file

Right click and hover above the "New" option.

Then click on DWORD (32-bit) Value:

new

After clicking on DWORD (32-bit) Value, you will see a space where you are supposed to type in the new file. Name the file TaskbarAcrylicOpacity. After you have created the file, double click on it and set the value data input to 0 (zero) and click OK.

value-data

Step 5 - Enable transparency effects

Go to Desktop and right click. Click on personalize.

Click on the "Colors" tab, and toggle Transparency effects to On:

personalize

After this, you should have a transparent taskbar.

If the last step does not work for you, then go on with next steps.

Step 6 - Restart Windows Explorer using Task Manager

Before opening task manager, make sure that your File Explorer is already running. Then follow these steps:

  • Right click on taskbar.
  • Click on Task Manager.
  • Right click on File Explorer under Apps.
  • Click on Restart
restart

After completing the last step, you should have a completely transparent taskbar.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we made our taskbar transparent without installing any software in Windows 10. I hope this works for you.

Thank you for reading!