The taskbar on the Windows desktop is very useful, but can sometimes get in the way on small screens. That is why there is a setting in Windows to automatically hide the taskbar. The free SmartTaskbar goes further and makes this taskbar hide itself when you maximize a window.
Step 1: In the system tray
The taskbar on the Windows desktop contains all kinds of useful shortcuts and icons of open programs, along with some special buttons such as the system tray and the Start menu. In the Windows setting Taskbar you can automatically hide this bar. You then bring it up again by hovering the mouse pointer over the area of the taskbar; there are hardly any more system options unless you rely on third-party software. SmartTaskbar is a lightweight program that runs in the background and enables the Windows auto-hide feature for the taskbar whenever a window is maximized. You can get this open source product here. After the installation, you will have a new icon in the system tray of the Windows desktop.
Step 2: Auto and adaptive
With this utility, any maximized window will now take advantage of all available screen space and you will still have access to the taskbar without having to resize the window. By right clicking on the icon you can set the different options. The option Small Buttons makes all icons in the taskbar much smaller. To automatically hide the taskbar when maximized, choose the option Car. In the setting adaptive the shortcuts in the taskbar in a maximized window will shrink. When you exit the maximized view, these icons return to their normal size.
Step 2: Animation
When you double-click the icon in the system tray, you toggle between the setting Show taskbar and Auto-hide taskbar. You can always change a chosen setting while working. There is also an option Animation, which causes the taskbar to smoothly slide into place and disappear. Nice, but if you have a slower PC, such graphic cosmetics do affect the performance of the system.
