How to Enable or Disable “Show Hover Cards for Inactive and Pinned Taskbar Apps” in Windows 11
Taskbar hover cards in Windows 11 show a small preview window or quick menu when you place your mouse over an open or pinned app icon. This feature first appeared in build 22635.4000 to let you see recent files and common actions without needing to right-click first.
You can turn this hover behavior on or off depending on your preference.
Open Settings , go to Personalization, then Taskbar, expand Taskbar behaviors, and toggle “Show hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps.” Alternatively, edit the Windows Registry at Computer\🗝️HKEY_CURRENT_USER\
Show or hide hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps
Windows 11 hover cards appear when you place your mouse pointer over an open or pinned icon on the taskbar . You can turn this preview feature on or off through the main Settings app by going to Personalization and then Taskbar settings to control what pops up on your screen.
Here’s how to do it.
Open the Windows Settings app by clicking the Start menu and selecting Settings, or press the Win+I keyboard shortcut.
When the Setting app opens, click the Personalization button on the left.
On the right, select the Taskbar tile to expand it.
Expand the Taskbar behavior tile on the Personalization Taskbar settings pane, and toggle the "Show hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps" On or Off.
Close the Settings app to finish.
Turn on or off hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps using the Windows Registry Editor
Registry Editor (a tool for changing advanced system settings) lets you change Windows 11 hover cards if the standard settings app does not work for you. You need to open the program, find the correct path in the left sidebar, and update the values on the right side.
Open the Windows Registry and navigate to the folder key path below.
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Locate the two REG_DWORD values named "JumplistOnHover" in the right pane of the Advanced key, then open them.
Enter 1 for both to turn on the hover cards for inactive and pinned apps on the taskbar.
Enter 0 to turn it off.
If the 'JumplistOnHover' value is missing, right-click an empty space and create a new DWORD (32-bit) registry item.
Enter 1 or 0 to enable or disable the feature.
Save changes and restart the computer.
That completes the process.
Conclusion:
- Enabling or disabling hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps in Windows 11 can be easily achieved through the Windows Settings app or the Windows Registry Editor.
- The new feature in Windows 11 build 22635.4000 (Beta) provides quicker access to jump lists by allowing users to hover over an app on the taskbar simply.
- Users can personalize their taskbar behavior by toggling the "Show hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps" setting according to their preferences.
- For advanced users, the Windows Registry Editor provides an alternative method to control the display of hover cards with specific REG_DWORD values.
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About the Author
Richard
Tech Writer, IT Professional
Richard is a writer at Geek Rewind who turns complex IT tasks into clear, step-by-step guides. He draws on years of hands-on experience in system administration and enterprise IT operations, focusing on Windows, Linux and WordPress: the problems people actually run into, and the fixes that work. His server and WordPress guides come from systems he runs himself. Richard builds and maintains the platform behind Geek Rewind, from its Ubuntu servers and Nginx configuration to its custom WordPress plugins. Many new tutorials start with readers' questions, and he's always glad to answer them in the comments.
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