How to Disable Pinning On Windows 11 Taskbar

What happens when you are done?

The icons on your Taskbar 🖥️ stay exactly where they are. Existing pinned items remain, but users cannot add new ones or remove current ones.

The change is easy to reverse. Each method below ends with a note on how to undo it. If you plan to edit the registry, create a restore point first so you have a way back if something goes wrong.

Using Group Policy Editor (Pro/Enterprise)

Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise users can disable Taskbar pinning by opening the Local Group Policy Editor with gpedit.msc and changing one policy setting. This stops you and other users from adding new apps to the Taskbar 🖥️ or changing existing pinned shortcuts, so the Taskbar stays locked the way you set it.

This method does not work on Windows 11 Home. Home does not include the Local Group Policy Editor, so typing the command there will do nothing useful. If you run Home, skip to the Registry Editor method below.

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor by pressing the Windows key, typing gpedit.msc, and pressing Enter. If a User Account Control prompt appears, click Yes. The Local Group Policy Editor window should now be open.

2. 

3. In the menu on the left, click through these folders: User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar. When you reach the last folder, its settings appear in the right-hand list.
4. Look for the setting named "Do not allow pinning programs to the Taskbar" in the right-hand list. Double-click it. The list can be long, so click the Setting column header to sort it by name if you have trouble finding it.

5. 

6. In the new window that appears, select Enabled. The other choices in that window are Not Configured and Disabled.
7. Click OK to save your changes and close the window. The setting list should now show the policy as Enabled.

8. 

To undo this, open the same setting again and choose Not Configured, then click OK. If the pin options do not come back right away, sign out and sign back in, or restart the PC.

Using Registry Editor (Home Edition)

Windows 11 Home users can disable Taskbar pinning by opening the Registry Editor with regedit and creating a new DWORD value inside the Explorer key. This works on Home editions where the Group Policy Editor is missing, and it gives the same result as the policy above. Pro and Enterprise users can use it too.

Change only the key and value named below, and consider creating a restore point before you start.

1. Press Windows + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission. The Registry Editor window opens.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer. If the Explorer key does not exist, right-click the Windows folder, select New › Key, and name it Explorer. The new key should appear under Windows and be selected.
3. Right-click an empty area in the right pane, then select New › DWORD (32-bit) Value. A new entry appears in the list with its name ready to edit.
4. Name it NoPinningToTaskbar and press Enter.
5. Double-click it and set the Value data to 1. Click OK. The new value should now show that number in the Data column.
6. Restart your computer, or restart Windows Explorer via Task Manager. To do the second, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, find Windows Explorer on the Processes tab, right-click it, and select Restart. The Taskbar goes blank for a moment and then comes back with the change applied.

To undo this, go back to the same key and delete the value you created, or set its Value data to 0. Then restart Windows Explorer or the PC again.

Automation with PowerShell

You can apply this setting using a simple command instead of clicking through a editor. This is handy if you need to set up more than one PC. Note: This process requires admin privileges.

To open an elevated window, press the Windows key, type Command Prompt, right-click the result, and select Run as administrator. Click Yes if User Account Control asks. Then run the command shown below. If you see an "Access is denied" message, the window was not opened as administrator.

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer" -Name "NoPinningToTaskbar" -Value 1 -PropertyType DWORD -Force

Summary

Locking your Taskbar is a good way to keep your desktop organized and prevent unwanted changes. Use the Group Policy Editor if you have Pro or Enterprise, or the Registry Editor if you run Home. Either way, you get a consistent Taskbar for every user of the PC. If you ever need to pin or unpin an app again, reverse the setting with the undo steps above.