Windows 11 Taskbar Band Not Working

Symptom

DU Meter's taskbar band isn't available on Windows 11, or stopped working after a Windows 11 update.

Cause

Windows 11 has no supported way for programs to add a band to the taskbar. DU Meter 8 shipped an experimental workaround that couldn't be resized or clicked, and a February 2023 Windows update (KB5022913) broke it. Later versions of DU Meter no longer include it.

Solution

There is no fix inside DU Meter. You have two options.

Option 1: Restore the Windows 10 taskbar

StartAllBack (paid, with a free trial) and ExplorerPatcher (free, open source) bring back the Windows 10 taskbar, and with it DU Meter's full taskbar band: resizable, clickable and stable.

  1. Install one of them and set the taskbar to the Windows 10 style. This is usually the default after installing.
  2. Right-click the taskbar and clear Lock the taskbar if it's checked.
  3. Right-click an empty area of the taskbar, point to Toolbars, and select DU Meter.
  4. Optionally, lock the taskbar again.

These are independent projects that change Windows in undocumented ways, and a Windows update can break them until they catch up. We can't support them: if one gives you trouble, contact its developers.

Option 2: Use the floating DU Meter window

The main DU Meter window works normally on Windows 11. Place it anywhere on your desktop to see your network traffic in real time.

Common issues