Due to its prominence on the screen, the taskbar usually also has a notification area, which uses interactive icons to display real-time information about the state of the computer system and some of the programs active on it. In more recent versions of operating systems, users can also 'pin' programs or files so that they can be accessed quickly, often with a single click. Clicking these icons allow the user to easily switch between programs or windows, with the currently active program or window usually appearing differently from the rest. On this strip are various icons which correspond to the windows open within a program. The specific design and layout of the taskbar varies between individual operating systems, but generally assumes the form of a strip located along one edge of the screen. It typically shows which programs are currently running.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.Bar displayed on an edge of a GUI desktop that is used to launch and monitor running applicationsĪ taskbar is an element of a graphical user interface which has various purposes. Get Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, El Capitan Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform. If you’re still confused, Chapter 2 should help clear things up. (The Windows 8 and 10 taskbars do the same thing.) The bottom line: On the Mac, a single interface element-the Dock-exhibits characteristics of both the Start menu (it lists frequently used programs) and the taskbar (it lists currently open programs and files). As long as that item isn’t actually open at the moment, it disappears from the Dock with a little animated puff of smoke when you release the mouse button.

To remove an icon from the Dock, just drag it away. To add a new icon to the Dock, just drag it there (put programs to the left of the divider line everything else goes on the right). What you may find confusing at first, though, is that the Dock also performs one function of the old Windows Start menu: It provides a “short list” of programs and files that you use often, for easy access. (Sound familiar? It’s just like Alt-Tabbing in Windows.) And if you just tap ⌘-Tab, you bounce back and forth between the two programs you’ve used most recently. You can cycle through the various open programs on your Mac by holding down the ⌘ key and pressing Tab repeatedly.

Mac taskbar