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

Windows 11 includes a feature that lets you see “Jump Lists”—the menus that appear when you right-click an app—simply by hovering your mouse over an icon on your taskbar. This works for apps that are pinned or inactive.

Why use this? It saves time by letting you see recent files or common tasks in your apps without needing to click.

What happens when done? Your taskbar will either show these helpful menus automatically when you hover, or it will stop showing them, depending on your choice.

Starting with Windows 11 build 22635.4000 (Beta), Windows added this hover feature to make navigation faster.

Using the Settings App

1. Open the Windows Settings app by clicking the Start menu or pressing the Windows key + I on your keyboard to launch the Settings app.
2. Click on Personalization in the left menu.

3. Click on the Taskbar tile on the right side of the screen.

4. Expand the Taskbar behaviors section.
5. Toggle the Show hover cards for inactive and pinned taskbar apps switch to On or Off.

You can close the settings window when you are finished.

Using the Windows Registry Editor (Admin Privileges Required)

Note: This method requires administrator access to your computer. Be careful, as changing registry settings can affect system behavior.

1. Open the Windows Registry by searching for it in the Start menu.
2. Navigate to the following path:

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

3. In the right pane, look for JumplistOnHover.
4. If you do not see it, right-click a blank space, select New, then DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it JumplistOnHover.
5. Double-click JumplistOnHover and set the value to 1 to turn it on or 0 to turn it off.

6. Save your changes and restart your computer for them to take effect.

Summary

You can control the hover card feature on your Windows 11 taskbar through the standard Settings menu or by editing the Windows Registry. This feature is designed to make accessing app menus faster by simply hovering your mouse over an icon instead of right-clicking.