How to Customize Windows 11 Taskbar Layout with Microsoft Intune

Start by creating your custom taskbar layout XML file. Microsoft provides an automated PowerShell script that makes this process much easier than manual XML coding.

# Install the TaskbarLayoutModification module from PowerShell Gallery
Install-Module -Name TaskbarLayoutModification -Force -Scope CurrentUser

# Import the module
Import-Module TaskbarLayoutModification

# Run the interactive script to generate your XML
New-TaskbarLayoutModification

The script will present interactive menus where you can select from your current taskbar shortcuts and installed programs. It automatically generates the proper XML structure and saves it to a folder called TaskBar_XML in your current directory.

Navigate to the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center to begin creating your taskbar deployment policy.

# Open your browser and navigate to:
https://endpoint.microsoft.com

Sign in with your Intune administrator credentials and navigate to:

• Devices → Configuration profiles

This is where you'll create the policy to deploy your taskbar layout. The Settings Catalog method is now the recommended approach for 2026 as it provides simpler management and immediate policy application on supported Windows 11 builds.

Create a new configuration profile using the Settings Catalog, which is the preferred method for Windows 11 taskbar customization in 2026.

Profile Configuration:
- Name: "Windows 11 Taskbar Layout - Standard"
- Description: "Standardized taskbar layout with corporate applications"
- Platform: "Windows 10 and later"
- Profile type: "Settings catalog"

In the Settings Catalog configuration:

1. Click Add settings
2. Search for "Start" in the settings browser
3. Expand Start → Start Layout
4. Select Start Layout setting
5. Paste your XML content from the TaskbarLayoutModification.xml file into the configuration field

Your XML should follow this structure:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LayoutModificationTemplate xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification" xmlns:defaultlayout="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/FullDefaultLayout" xmlns:start="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/StartLayout" xmlns:taskbar="http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/TaskbarLayout">
  <CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
    <defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
      <taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
        <taskbar:UWA AppUserModelID="Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge" />
        <taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\File Explorer.lnk" />
      </taskbar:TaskbarPinList>
    </defaultlayout:TaskbarLayout>
  </CustomTaskbarLayoutCollection>
</LayoutModificationTemplate>

Assign your taskbar layout policy to the appropriate device groups and configure deployment settings.

In the Assignments section:

1. Click Add group under Included groups
2. Select your target device group (recommend creating a dynamic group for Windows 11 devices)
3. Configure assignment filters if needed for specific device criteria

# Example dynamic group query for Windows 11 devices:
(device.deviceOSType -eq "Windows") and (device.deviceOSVersion -startsWith "10.0.22")

Configure end-user experience settings:

• End user notifications: Select "Hide all toast notifications" to prevent user confusion
• Applicability Rules: Set to apply only to Windows 11 devices
• Scope tags: Apply appropriate scope tags for your organization

Before deploying to your entire organization, test the XML configuration locally to ensure it works as expected.

# Test the XML layout on a local machine
# Copy your XML file to a test location
Copy-Item "C:\Path\To\Your\TaskbarLayoutModification.xml" "C:\Temp\TestLayout.xml"

# Apply the layout for testing (requires admin privileges)
Import-StartLayout -LayoutPath "C:\Temp\TestLayout.xml" -MountPath $env:SystemDrive\

# Alternative method: Copy to Default user profile for new user testing
Copy-Item "C:\Temp\TestLayout.xml" "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\LayoutModification.xml" -Force

Create a test user account to verify the layout applies correctly:

# Create a test user (run as administrator)
net user testuser P@ssw0rd123 /add
net localgroup users testuser /add

# Sign in as the test user to verify taskbar layout

Check that the pinned applications appear correctly and that users can still customize their taskbar if that's your intended behavior.

Deploy your taskbar layout policy and monitor its application across your device fleet.

Complete the policy creation:

1. Click Review + create to finalize your configuration
2. Review all settings one final time
3. Click Create to deploy the policy

Monitor deployment status:

# Navigate in Intune admin center:
# Devices → Monitor → Device configuration
# Select your taskbar layout policy to view deployment status

Check policy application on target devices:

# On a target device, check policy sync status
Get-MpComputerStatus | Select-Object AMServiceEnabled, RealTimeProtectionEnabled

# Force policy sync on a device
Invoke-Command -ScriptBlock {Get-ScheduledTask | Where-Object {$_.TaskName -eq "PushLaunch"} | Start-ScheduledTask}

# Check if the XML file was deployed
Test-Path "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\LayoutModification.xml"

For Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26200.5722 and later, changes apply instantly without requiring users to sign out. For earlier builds, users may need to sign out and back in to see the changes.

As an alternative to the Settings Catalog method, you can package the taskbar layout as a Win32 app for more granular control over deployment timing and detection rules.

Create the deployment package structure:

# Create folder structure
mkdir "C:\Temp\TaskbarLayout"
cd "C:\Temp\TaskbarLayout"

# Copy your XML file
copy "C:\Path\To\TaskbarLayoutModification.xml" "LayoutModification.xml"

Create a deployment script (deploy-taskbar-layout.cmd):

@echo off
echo Deploying Windows 11 Taskbar Layout...

:: Create the target directory if it doesn't exist
if not exist "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell" (
    mkdir "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell"
)

:: Copy the layout file
copy /Y "%~dp0LayoutModification.xml" "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\LayoutModification.xml"

if %errorlevel% equ 0 (
    echo Taskbar layout deployed successfully
    exit /b 0
) else (
    echo Failed to deploy taskbar layout
    exit /b 1
)

Package with the Intune Win32 Content Prep Tool:

# Download the latest Win32 Content Prep Tool from Microsoft GitHub
# Extract to C:\Temp\IntuneWinAppUtil

cd "C:\Temp\IntuneWinAppUtil"
.\IntuneWinAppUtil.exe -c "C:\Temp\TaskbarLayout" -s "deploy-taskbar-layout.cmd" -o "C:\Temp\Output"

This creates a .intunewin package file that you can upload to Intune as a Win32 app with custom detection rules and installation requirements.

Address common issues that may arise during taskbar layout deployment and validate that your configuration is working correctly across your environment.

Issue 1: XML not applying to existing users

# Check if the layout file exists in the Default profile
Test-Path "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\LayoutModification.xml"

# Verify XML content is correct
Get-Content "C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\LayoutModification.xml"

Issue 2: UWP apps not appearing in taskbar

Ensure you're using the correct AppUserModelID for UWP applications:

# Get AppUserModelID for installed UWP apps
Get-AppxPackage | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "*Edge*"} | Select-Object Name, PackageFamilyName

# Example for Microsoft Edge:
# AppUserModelID: "Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge"

Issue 3: Policy not applying immediately

# Force device policy sync
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/deviceManagement/managedDevices/{deviceId}/syncDevice" -Method POST -Headers $headers

# On the device, trigger manual sync
Start-Process "ms-settings:workplace" -Wait

Validation steps:

1. Create a new local user account on a test device
2. Sign in as the new user
3. Verify the taskbar shows your configured pinned applications
4. Test that users can still pin/unpin additional applications (if desired)
5. Check Intune reporting for policy compliance status