After almost three years, Microsoft has finally added the " Never Combine " taskbar button back to Windows, which is still not working properly.
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The taskbar item combination feature in Windows 10 allows you to display an icon for each open application in Windows, even if it's multiple instances of the same application. For example, if you have ten Notepad files or a few browser windows open, the feature will allow you to see an icon on the taskbar for each open window instead of combining them into one icon.
For many, the removal of this feature made upgrading to Windows 11 impossible, as switching between the myriad of open windows became a nightmare.
This frustration is reflected in the Windows 11 Feedback Hub, where a suggestion to never mix app icons and display labels has received 17,527 upvotes, making it the 10th feature . Today, those users who have been holding off on upgrading to Windows 11 because of this missing feature may finally be able to move forward with it.
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This is because Microsoft finally released the “Never Combine” feature as part of the recently released Windows 11 22H2 Moment 4 update
Once installed, Windows 11 users can now access a new setting called “Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels” in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar that allows you to unbind icons for multiple instances of running apps. This means you can now unpin icons on the taskbar.
However, the addition of this feature is still inferior to Windows 10, as, unlike the previous version of Windows, it continues to display the Windows titles next to the icon, taking up a lot of space.
It's strange that Microsoft can't get this feature done after three years, as it's one of the most highly anticipated features. A simple toggle could have been added to disable the display of Windows titles, or Microsoft could have replicated the Windows 10 feature that many have been asking for.
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Unfortunately, this may be a deal breaker for users waiting to upgrade, as the Windows title icons take up too much space to make this feature usable.
