How to reenable Show Desktop view in Windows 11

Microsoft released its latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build and it looks like the Windows team is moving around its Copilot icon to be a more intuitive experience, but at the expense of ‘Show Desktop’ functionality.

With the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build 23595 being released to its Dev Channel of testers, the Windows team notes that it’s looking to make “Copilot more clear and easily accessible.”

Windows 11 Insiders in the Dev Channel will now see Microsoft Copilot moved from the left of the Search icon/bar to the far right corner of the Task Bar just before the “Show Desktop” view position.

Sitting the Microsoft Copilot icon in the far right corner also alters the way users interact with the previous “Show Desktop” functionality in Windows. Insiders will now need to venture into the Settings menu to reenable the “Show Desktop” functionality as it is now set to OFF as a default in the new build.

[Copilot in Windows*]

• We are making a change where the Copilot icon is shown on the right side of the system tray on the taskbar to make the entry point to Copilot more clear and easily accessible by being closer to where the Copilot pane opens. As part of this change, we have defaulted the “show the desktop” behavior for the far-right corner of the taskbar to off and this can be re-enabled in the taskbar behaviors section under Settings > Personalization > Taskbar (you can simply right-click on the taskbar to get to this).

Users can access the Show Desktop Settings in two ways with the first being a right-click along an open space on the Task Bar.

Another way is to use the new Start Menu in Windows 11. Most often the Settings Icon is visablly placed somewhere in the Start Menu by default, but can also be added to the bottom of the menu after some configuration.

After getting into the Settings Menu, users will need seek out Personalization

Seek out the Task Bar Settings and select

Under the Task Bar Settings is Task Behavior that will have several options to choose from.

Check the Select the far corner of the taskbar to show which will be unchecked now by default.

Adding the Copilot icon to the far right of the Windows taskbar is a move that feels more intuitive as the dialogue window appears to the right of the screen by default. For users who have their task bar center or left-aligned and then have to scroll across the screen to engage with Copilot may find the repeated task bothersome enough to forego the experience for a quicker browser based experience.

In addition, Microsoft has stated its intentions to bring Copilot to Windows 10 where the Action Center still plays a significant role as a hub for notifications and settings. Adding Copilot to the right side of the task bar in Windows 10 will just make sense.

However, the Show Desktop functionality has been a staple since Windows 95 and is sure to ganrer some feedback if Microsoft eventually moves forward with the change.