Windows doesn’t include that many options to customize the taskbar colors. However, this article aims to change that. Read on to learn more.

With the TaskBow software you can add a multicolored taskbar to Windows 2000, Window XP and Windows 7; Vista and Windows 8 are not listed as supported so TaskBow may or may not work on them. Here’s a link to the TaskBow website from where you can add the software to Windows.

Once downloaded, click on the Run option to launch the software directly after installation. Then the TaskBow software window should open.  Click on Settings, under Color assignment options, to open the window below.

Note that the software adds colors for the following application taskbar icons: Notepad, WinWord, Excel, Outlook, IE and Windows Explorer. When you open Notepad its window is blue as in the shot below.

And the usual square Windows 7 taskbar icon is now rectangular. As the minimized window icons take up more space on the taskbar, that’s not really a great enhancement. Nevertheless, the taskbar windows are much more colorful.

You can add alternative colors to other open software applications. Open a software package such as Google Chrome. Then right-click its minimized window icon on the taskbar, and select the TaskBow option. Click the Add/edit colors option to open the window below.

From the drop-down list select Custom colors. Then select Settings > Color to open the Color window. Select one of the small color boxes, and then click OK to close the window. The color of the software’s taskbar window should now have changed to the one you selected.

Hover over a minimized window with the cursor, and the rest of the taskbar also changes to a matching color as below. You can turn off the TaskBow taskbar tone color by selecting Settings under Common program options. Select the TaskBar Tone tab, and then remove the tick from the Use Taskbar tone color check-box.

Now you can add a rainbow of colors to your taskbars! The TaskBow software also adds a Quick Launch bar panel to the left of the taskbar which includes software shortcuts.