How to toggle the auto-hide status of the Windows taskbar

Solution 1:

Here is an AutoHotKey script to make Win+b into a hotkey that toggles the taskbar auto-hide setting:

VarSetCapacity(APPBARDATA, A_PtrSize=4 ? 36:48)

#b::
   NumPut(DllCall("Shell32\SHAppBarMessage", "UInt", 4 ; ABM_GETSTATE
                                           , "Ptr", &APPBARDATA
                                           , "Int")
 ? 2:1, APPBARDATA, A_PtrSize=4 ? 32:40) ; 2 - ABS_ALWAYSONTOP, 1 - ABS_AUTOHIDE
 , DllCall("Shell32\SHAppBarMessage", "UInt", 10 ; ABM_SETSTATE
                                    , "Ptr", &APPBARDATA)
   KeyWait, % A_ThisHotkey
   Return

If you wish to use a different key or key combination than Win+b, change the #b before the double colons in line 3 to whatever hotkey you want (using the syntax in the AutoHotKey documentation).

Solution 2:

I found a program called "Taskbar Control" thats lets you set a Taskbar Autohide toggle key.

http://www.thefreewindows.com/3252/hide-completely-the-windows-taskbar-using-a-hotkey-and-unhide-it-with-taskbar-control/

Note: Make sure you download "Taskbar AutoHide Control" version if you want your current window to auto-fill the space.

Solution 3:

Try this little program that I found a while ago. 'Tis amazing. It toggles the taskbar shown or hidden with Alt-T, and you can set it to start up with windows as well.

http://www.aviassin.com/taskbareliminator

It's called Taskbar Eliminator and it works for both Win7 and Win 8