Make Windows 10 Transparent

How to Make the Windows 10 Taskbar More Transparent

The taskbar in Windows 10 is highly configurable, and Windows 10 already includes an option in its personalization settings to make the taskbar transparent. But, with a little Registry magic, you can enable a setting that gives the taskbar an even higher level of transparency.

Make the Windows 10 Taskbar More Transparent by Editing the Registry

To make your Windows 10 taskbar more transparent, you just need to make an adjustment to one setting in the Windows Registry.

Standard warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty simple hack and as long as you stick to the instructions, you shouldn’t have any problems. That said, if you’ve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes.

Open the Registry Editor by hitting Start and typing “regedit.” Press Enter to open Registry Editor and give it permission to make changes to your PC.



In the Registry Editor, use the left sidebar to navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced



Next, you’re going to create a new value inside the Advanced subkey. Right-click the Advanced subkey and choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new value UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency .



Now, double-click the new UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency value in the right pane to open its properties page. In the “Value data” box, change the value to 1 and then click OK.



After making the change, you can close the Registry Editor. To have the change take effect, you can either restart your computer or you can open up the Color tab on your Personalization settings (Windows+I > Personalization > Color) and toggle off and back on any of the settings in the “Choose a color” section.



Below, you can see a comparison of the regular transparency setting and the high transparency setting you’ve just configured in the Registry.



If you want to turn the high transparency setting back off, just go back into the Registry and either set the UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency value to 0 or delete the value altogether. You’ll then need to restart Windows or toggle one of the color settings again to force the change.

Download Our One-Click Registry Hacks

If you don’t feel like diving into the Registry yourself, we’ve created a couple of registry hacks you can use. The “Enable High Taskbar Transparency” hack creates the UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency value and sets it to 1. The “Restore Default Taskbar Transparency” hack sets the value back to 0. Both hacks are included in the following ZIP file. Double-click the one you want to use and click through the prompts. When you’ve applied the hack you want, restart your computer or toggle one of the color settings to force the change.

Taskbar Transparency Hacks

These hacks are really just the Explorer subkey, stripped down to the UseOLEDTaskbarTransparency value we talked about in the previous section and then exported to a .REG file. Running either of the hacks sets that value to the appropriate number.  And if you enjoy fiddling with the Registry, it’s worth taking the time to learn how to make your own Registry hacks.

And that’s it. If you prefer a higher level of transparency on your Windows 10 taskbar, this fairly simple Registry hack is all you need.

By How to Geek