Multiple Instance Programs Showing Separately on Taskbar ???

[BuckSkin]

With no input from me (that I knew about anyway), just out of the blue, when I would open a second (or more) instance of a program, it would have a separate independent icon/button on the taskbar, instead of being stacked under a single button.

Whatever was going on did not affect the behavior of Explorer or Notepad windows, as their behavior remained normal.

I really liked this new behavior of my multiple instance programs having taskbar separate buttons, as it really made it easier to select the instance I wanted.

With the separate buttons, I could organize them in the order of my choosing, thus making quick selection of the window I wanted a whole lot easier.

Alas, I had reason to Restart; and now, everything is back to normal and I no longer have the independent buttons.

Is it possible to purposefully create this separate button behavior WITHOUT having separate buttons for all the Explorer and Notepad windows ?


>>> EDIT: I tried the options in Right-click-Taskbar>Properties and those options are an all-or-nothing affair.

Also, with everything displaying on the taskbar, I cannot rearrange the buttons in the order I want; if one moves, they all move.

 

[BuckSkin]

I tried the options in Right-click-Taskbar>Properties and those options are an all-or-nothing affair.

Also, with everything displaying on the taskbar, I cannot rearrange the buttons in the order I want; if one moves, they all move.

Surely, if the behavior I wanted could happen just out of the blue, it can be recreated on purpose.

 

[iko22]

For IE, go into Internet Options, select General Tab, and select Change how webpages are displayed in tabs.
In the Pop-up menu, uncheck Show previews for individual tabs in the taskbar. Click OK then click Apply, and restart IE - does that provide the taskbar effect you seek?

 

[BuckSkin]

For IE, go into Internet Options, select General Tab, and select Change how webpages are displayed in tabs.
In the Pop-up menu, uncheck Show previews for individual tabs in the taskbar. Click OK then click Apply, and restart IE - does that provide the taskbar effect you seek?

Thanks for the suggestion but that didn't provide what I was hoping for.

If it hadn't just somehow did it all of it's own accord, I would not have known it was possible, but I sure did like it as long as it lasted (until I had to Restart and it went away).

It is hard to explain; but, each program instance acted as if it were completely independent of it's mates on the taskbar; they did not have to be side-by-side; and, mousing over the button displayed only that instance and not all instances.

Like I already said earlier --- if it could do it accidentally on it's own, it must be possible to purposefully create the behavior.

 

[iko22]

Oh okay, I thought you had setup taskbar buttons earlier.

If you were to setup taskbar buttons first, then apply the IE trick I mentioned, I think that will do what you requested.

To setup the taskbar buttons, right-click blank space in taskbar area, select Taskbar Settings from pop-up menu, and under Taskbar buttons select Never combine.

For the IE trick, see post #3.