How to enable or disable “Show hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps” in Windows 11

This article explains how to turn on or off “Show hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps” in Windows 11.

The Windows taskbar lets users launch and switch between open programs quickly, spanning the bottom of the screen. It includes the Start button, shortcuts to often-used applications, system icons, and a notification area.

Starting with Windows 11 build 22635.4000 (Beta), a new feature was added showing jump lists when you hover your mouse cursor over apps on the taskbar that have jump lists and are inactive.

Jump Lists are available when you right-click on an app on the taskbar or Start Menu that supports having a jump list.

With this new feature, you won’t need to right-click on an app to make the Jump Lists available. Simply hover over an app to show the list.

Show or hide hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps

As mentioned, users can enable or disable the “Show hover cards for inactive and pinned apps” on the taskbar in Windows.

Here’s how to do it.

First, open the Windows Settings app.

You can do that by clicking on the Start menu and selecting Settings. Or press the keyboard shortcut (Windows key + I) to launch the Settings app.

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.

You can close the Settings app when you are done.

Turn on or off hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps using the Windows Registry Editor

Another way to enable or disable the hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps is to use the Windows Registry editor.

First, open the Windows Registry and navigate to the folder key path below.

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Next, double-click these two (REG_DWORD) “JumplistOnHover” names on the Advanced key’s right pane to open it.

Then, enter a value 1 for both to turn on the hover cards for inactive and pinned apps on the taskbar.

Enter 0 to turn it off.

If you do not see the “JumplistOnHover” item, right-click a blank area and create a new DWORD (32-bit) registry item.

Then, enter 1 or 0 to enable or disable it.

Save your changes and restart your computer.

That should do it!

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.