Microsoft has already addressed plenty of complaints about Windows 11"s taskbar and Start menu, including the ability to disable the Recommended section. However, there is still one annoying quirk that has been nagging me and other multi-monitor users for many years: the inability to open the notification center on any display other than the primary.
Taskbars on secondary displays in Windows 11 do not display the tray area. Instead, they only show the non-clickable current time and date. As such, if you want to open the notification center, you have to move the cursor to the main display, which is an extra chore if you have two or three displays. Microsoft is now addressing that by letting you open the notification center and the calendar flyout by clicking the taskbar clock on any monitor.
The updated taskbar is currently rolling out to Dev and Beta Channels. Here is what Microsoft said in the release notes:
To address your feedback, we are extending the functionality of Notification Center to secondary monitors. This means you will be able to see your calendar on any of your monitors as well as the option to show a bigger clock with seconds above calendar. You will be able to open Notification Center on any monitor by clicking the date and time in the system tray of your taskbar.
If you are running the latest build but do not have this update yet, you can use the ViVeTool app to force-enable it. Here is how to do that:
- Download ViVeTool from GitHub and unpack the files in a convenient and easy-to-find folder.
- Launch Command Prompt as Administrator and go to the ViVeTool folder using the CD command.
- Type vivetool /enable /id:38762814 and press Enter.
- Restart your computer.
Credit for the ID goes to @phantomofearth on X