Tiny footprint mode with Task Manager ? No tabs or title bar in Task manager ?

This entry was posted in Software Tips and tagged Tiny Foorprint Mode on by

Every so often I will see task manager running on a machine but without a window title or tabs on it. Most people think that something has happen – like a low memory situation on their machine but in fact this is a feature of task manager. Clicking on the left or right edges of the window will hide the menu bar and tabs. Repeating the clicking will restore the task manager.

So why is the feature here ? Well its been there for many many years and different versions of Windows but surprising this pretty pointless feature is there in Windows 7 !!!! I suspect many people will have spent time and effort trying to resolve this without realising its the behaviour Microsoft actually designed.

Well according to Microsoft

When you start Task Manager, the menu bar and tabs may not be visible

This behavior can occur if Task Manager is running in Tiny Footprint mode.
When you double-click the empty space in the border around the tabs, Task Manager switches to this mode.

 

To work around this behavior, perform the following steps:
  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. Type taskmgr.exe.
  3. Hold down CTRL+ALT+SHIFT at the same time, and while holding them down press ENTER.