When you perform a right-click on the program, you see several options, including “Pin to taskbar.” If that application is already pinned to the taskbar, you will see the “Unpin from taskbar” option instead. Windows users Pin programs to their taskbar so that they can open their favorite program easily from the taskbar next time. Because by default taskbar always remains visible. Similarly, when an app is no more required on the taskbar, users can unpin them.
However, if you don’t want users to remove pinned apps from the taskbar or pin new programs to the taskbar, it is possible to disable or hide the “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” option from right-click context menu in Windows 11 or 10.
There are at least two methods through which you can show or hide “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” from Context Menu in Windows 11 or 10. These are the following:-
- Using Group Policy
- Through Registry Editor
Topics Covered
How to Show or Hide “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” from Context Menu in Windows 11/10 using Group Policy?
To add or remove “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” from Context Menu using Local Group Policy Editor, do the following:-
Step 1. First, open the Local Group Policy Editor window.
Quick Reminder: If you are using Windows 11 Home edition, you’ll need to enable gpedit.msc.
Step 2. When the Local Group Policy Editor window appears on your computer, navigate to the following path from the left sidebar:-
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar
Step 3. Double-click the “Do not allow pinning programs to the Taskbar” policy to change its setting on the right sidebar.
Step 4. Select the
Step 5. Click
Step 6. Click
Step 7. Sign out from your account or restart your computer.
Once you complete the above steps, the “Pin to taskbar” option is removed from the right-click context menu. Also, when you right-click any pinned apps on the taskbar, the “Unpin from taskbar” option will not appear anymore.
To show “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” options in the Windows 11 context menu, repeat the above steps and in step 4, select
How to Add or Remove “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” from Context Menu in Windows 11 through Registry Editor?
Using Windows Registry Editor, you can also show or hide the “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” from Windows 11 context menu. For that, do the following:-
Step 1. Open Registry Editor.
Step 2. When Registry Editor opens, steer for the following key in the left sidebar:-
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Step 3. Then, right-click the Windows folder and select
Step 4. Name the new key as
Step 5. Now, right-click on the newly created Explorer folder and choose
Step 6. Name the new DWORD as
Step 7. Click
Step 8. Restart your computer to apply the changes.
Once you complete the above steps, “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” context menu items will not appear on your Windows 11 PC.
To undo the changes, navigate to the following key in the Registry Editor:-
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
On the right-sidebar of the Explorer key, double-click on
How to Hide “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” from Context Menu in Windows 10 through Registry Editor?
Step 1. Open the Registry Editor.
Step 2. Then, browse to the following key in the left sidebar of the Registry Editor window:-
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
Step 3. After that, right-click on the following subkey under ContextMenuHandlers and select the
{90AA3A4E-1CBA-4233-B8BB-535773D48449}
Step 5. Click the
Finally, reboot your computer to see the changes.
How to Show “Pin to taskbar” and “Unpin from taskbar” from Context Menu in Windows 10 through Registry Editor?
Step 1. Open the Registry Editor.
Step 2. Then, browse to the following key in the left sidebar of the Registry Editor window:-
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
Step 3. Then, right-click on the ContextMenuHandlers folder and select
Step 4. Name the new key as:-
{90AA3A4E-1CBA-4233-B8BB-535773D48449}
Step 5. On the right side, double-click on
Step 6. Click
Reboot your computer to see the changes.
