How to highlight active instance of a program when hovering over combined taskbar button?

Jrn 25 Reputation points
2026-10-03T19:51:38.76+00:00

Description of problem:

When I have many windows/instances of a specific program open, they are combined on the taskbar (which I love), but when I hover over the taskbar icon, I can't see which window/instance is open and active.

In Windows 10, I had customized my color settings so that the active window/instance of the application was highlighted in a brighter shade of my accent color, and then had chosen an accent color to maximize that contrast difference. I can't seem to figure out how to do that in Windows 11. I've searched the forums here, but I don't think I've found the exact same issue.

I have Windows 11 Enterprise, Version 25H2.

Example screenshot showing what I want:

All names have been redacted from this screenshot for privacy. In this screenshot, I have manually added highlighting to show what this feature looked like in Windows 10. In reality, all windows/instances of Word in the list are the exact same color and I can't tell which one in the list is open without looking for the file name.User's image

Use case:

I'm a teacher and like to grade my class's work simultaneously, one question at a time. For example, I grade question 1 for all students, then I grade question 2 for all students, etc. This speeds my work while maximizing grading consistency. I often have 20+ instances of Microsoft Word open at the same time, and I need to be able to switch from one Word window to the next without skipping any. Not looking for and reading the file name allows me to work faster and grade my students' work much more quickly, as well as with greater anonymity/consistency.

Not a good option:

  • Registry edits, because of IT department restrictions
  • 3rd party Windows customization software, because of IT department restrictions
  • Grading from the browser using Office 365 with each student's work in its own tab, because I use comments to give detailed feedback and Word 365 does not have as many comment features as the desktop version
  • Rolling back to Windows 10 or switching to Linux, because the content that I teach requires Microsoft Windows 11.

Failed attempts to solve the problem:

I have attempted these fixes without success:

  • In Settings --> Accessibility --> Contrast themes, choosing a contrast theme.
  • In Settings --> Personalization --> Colors, setting Choose your Mode to Custom and
    • Changing settings for "Choose your default Windows mode"
    • Changing settings for "Choose your default app mode"
    • Toggling "Transparency effects"
    • Changing the accent color to Manual, then trying several accent colors
    • Toggling "Show accent color on Start and taskbar"
    • Toggling "Show accent color on title bars and window borders"
  • In Settings --> Personalization --> Taskbar -->Taskbar behaviors, changing settings for:
    • Toggling "Show flashing on taskbar apps"
    • Toggling "Show badges on taskbar apps"
    • Changing the settings for "Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels"
    • Changing the settings for "Show smaller taskbar buttons"

Your help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Windows for business | Windows 365 Business
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Daphne Huynh (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 1,735 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-10-05T02:48:53.77+00:00

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed explanation, including the screenshot and the context behind your grading workflow.

Based on the information currently public available in Microsoft documentation, Windows 11 does not provide a supported setting that highlights the active window within the hover list of a combined taskbar button using the Windows accent color. While Windows allows customization of accent colors for the Start menu, taskbar, title bars, and window borders, these settings do not affect the appearance of individual entries in the combined taskbar flyout. Likewise, options such as Show flashing on taskbar apps and Show badges on taskbar apps serve different purposes and do not identify the currently active window within a grouped application.

As a result, the behavior shown in your Windows 10 example is not currently exposed through a supported Windows 11 setting. The closest built-in alternative is to set Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels to Never, which displays each document as a separate taskbar button. However, I understand that this may not be practical when working with 20 or more open documents.

Since Microsoft Q&A is a public discussion forum, we do not have access to product engineering details, feature roadmaps, or undocumented design decisions that would explain whether this behavior was intentionally removed or whether it may be considered for future updates.

If this functionality is important to your workflow, I would recommend one of the following:

  • Submit feedback through Feedback Hub (Win + F) under Desktop Environment -> Taskbar, including your screenshot and use case. This allows the Windows engineering team to review the suggestion directly. Microsoft actively monitors Feedback Hub submissions and uses them to help prioritize future improvements.
  • If your organization requires a definitive statement regarding product behavior or supportability, please open a Microsoft Support ticket through your organization's support channel. A support engineer can investigate further and, if necessary, engage the appropriate product team for clarification.

I hope this helps clarify the current behavior in Windows 11.
Once again, thank you for sharing such a well-documented use case, as scenarios like yours provide valuable feedback for future product improvements.

References:

Customize the Taskbar in Windows | Microsoft Support

Personalize your Colors in Windows | Microsoft Support

Make it easier to focus on tasks | Microsoft Support

Customize the Taskbar in Windows | Microsoft Support

Navigate and explore the Windows taskbar | Microsoft Support

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