How to Backup the Taskbar in Windows 8 and Windows 10

Having your taskbar backed up in Windows 8 or Windows 10 can help you out whenever you want to reinstall your Windows operating system or perhaps upgrade to a newer version of Windows. Having this backup of your taskbar will allow you to restore the apps you had in the previous version of Windows or in the previous copy just by doing a few easy steps.

So before you go and reinstall your operating system either if it is a Windows 8 or a Windows 10 operating system I would suggest you follow the tutorial posted a few rows below and make a backup copy of your taskbar to use it later when you will need it.

Note: When you place the backup of the taskbar to a new Windows operating system be sure to have all the apps you had in the previous version that were pinned to taskbar, if not you can go install them again for our Windows store.

Tutorial: backup taskbar in Windows 8 and Windows 10

1. Press and hold the button “Windows” and the button “R”.
2. A run window should appear where you will have to type in there “regedit” without quotes.
3. Hit “Enter” on the keyboard after you typed the word above.
4. A “Registry Editor” window should pop up on the screen.
5. On the left side in that window you will need to left click on “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” folder.
6. Now in the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” folder you will need to left click on “Software”.
7. In the “Software” folder need to left click on “Microsoft”.
8. In the “Microsoft” folder left click on the “Windows” folder.
9. In the “Windows” folder you need to left click on “CurrentVersion” folder.
10. Now in the “CurrentVersion” folder left click on the “Explorer” folder.
11. In the “Explorer” folder left click on the “Taskbar” folder.
12. You will need to right click on the “Taskbar” folder you have on the left .
13. From the menu presented you will need to left click on the “Export” feature.
14. Now you will need to name the file.
    Note: you can choose any name you want.
15. Save the “.reg” file to an external USB stick or an external hard drive for backup because you will need it later.
16. Now after you saved the export of the taskbar to your desktop you will need to press and hold again the button “Windows” and the button “R”.
17. After the “Run” window pops up you need to type in there the next command without the quotes:
    “%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar”
18. After you typed the command above press the “Enter” button on the keyboard.
19. You will now have in front of you the folder taskbar with all the apps you had pinned to it.
20. Now comes the most important part of this tutorial, you will need to copy all of the shortcuts from the folder above to an external drive so that whenever you reinstall Windows you can restore this backup taskbar to the system.
21. In order to restore your backup taskbar in Windows after you reinstall it you will need to press and hold the button “Windows” and the button “R” to open the “Run” window.
22. In the “Run” window type the command posted below but without the quotes:
    “%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar”
23. In the folder that opened up you will need to copy the backup shortcuts you made a couple of steps above.
24. Now press and hold the button “Windows” and the button “R”.
25. Write “regedit” in the “Run” window.
26. Press “Enter” on the keyboard.
27. Now after the “Registry Editor” is opened leave it there and to the following steps.
28. Right click in the taskbar on an open space.
29. Select from there “Task Manager” by left clicking on it.
30. Now in the Task Manager window under the “Processes” tab you will need the close the “explorer.exe” by left clicking on it and then left click on the “End Process” button you have in the lower right side of the Task Manager window.
31. Select the “Registry Editor” window and left click on the “File” menu presented in the upper left side of the “Registry Editor” window.
32. Select from the “File” menu the option to “Import” by left clicking on it.
33. Now you will need to go and import the “.reg” file you made a couple of steps above from the USB stick or the external hard drive.
34. After you import it you can go again on the “Task Manager” window and left click on the “File” feature presented in the upper left side of the window.
35. Left click on the “Run new task” feature.
36. Write in the run box “explorer”.
37. Press the “Enter” button on the keyboard.
    Note: This will open your explorer.exe, the process you ended in the steps above.

So by doing all these steps you managed to make a backup copy of your taskbar and also install it in your new Windows operating system. Also for any other questions on this subject you can write us below in the comments section and we will help you as soon as possible.

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