How to Add Groovy Effects to Windows 10’s Taskbar

Windows 10 hardly has any taskbar effect customization settings beyond changing colors. If you’re looking for a way to add groovy effects to the taskbar, the RainbowTaskbar and NiceTaskbar apps will probably appeal.

Both of these apps enable you to apply unique effects to the taskbar with more flexible color settings. So, here is how you can customize Windows 10’s taskbar with Rainbow Taskbar and NiceTaskbar.

How to Apply Taskbar Effects With RainbowTaskbar

RainbowTaskbar is software that enables you to add transitional fading gradients or solid color effects to your taskbar. You can also select to add curved edges, images, text, and shapes to the taskbar with that software.

This is how you can add a multicolored rainbow taskbar effect with RainbowTaskbar:

1. Open this Rainbow Taskbar download page.
2. Then click the rnbtsk-x64.exe download link there.
3. Double-click the rnbtsk-x64 file to run Rainbow Taskbar (no installation is required for this software).
4. Right-click the RainbowTaskbar system tray icon and select Presets > Rainbow.

   

Selecting the Rainbow color preset will apply a beautiful and dynamic multicolored gradient effect to the taskbar. That preset consists of eight fading color gradients that change every one millisecond. It’s also configured with a minor transparency effect (80 percent underlay opacity). You can view that preset’s settings by right-clicking the Rainbow Taskbar system tray icon and selecting Open.

Now try setting up a new preset from scratch. As an example, set up a transparent taskbar with a static yellow-to-red gradient effect as follows:

1. First, select the Rainbow preset option and open the RainbowTaskbar window from the software’s context menu.
2. Select all the Rainbow preset settings and click Remove to delete them.
3. Next, click the Add button.

   

4. Select the Transparency/Style setting.
5. Click Transparency style on the Change drop-down menu.
6. Select the Transparent option on the to drop-down menu.

   

7. Click Add to select Color.
8. Select Gradient on the drop-down menu.

   

9. Click the left color box to choose a yellow color.
10. Then click the right color box to select a red color box.

    

11. Press the Add button to select Transparency/Style again.
12. Select Underlay Opacity on the Change drop-down menu.

    

13. Set the bar slider to about 66 percent. Dragging the bar slider further left makes the taskbar more transparent.
14. Click the To preset button.
15. Input a name for the new preset and click OK.

    

16. Then select Apply and Save to set the preset.

Now you’ve created a transparent taskbar effect with yellow and red gradient colors, like the one shown directly below. The taskbar is yellow on the left and red on the right side. Unlike the Rainbow preset, it’s a static gradient that doesn’t change. You can set that preset anytime by right-clicking RainbowTaskbar’s system tray icon and selecting it on the Presets submenu.

Note that you must always set a taskbar style when creating new presets. You can select either a Blurred or Transparent style on the to drop-down menu. Blurred is an alternative blurry transparency style.

How to Create a Windows Taskbar With Changing Colors

To create a taskbar preset effect with changing colors, add multiple colors to it; then select either the Fading solid or Fading gradient option and choose the colors you want. Drag the slider on the Hold time bar further right to set a time in milliseconds for each color to remain on the taskbar.

For example, a value of 1,000 milliseconds will set each color to hold for one second before changing to another in the preset.

Or you can set the taskbar to change color randomly every few seconds. You can do that by selecting the Fading solid and Randomize options. Then set the Hold time option to something like 2,000 milliseconds for the taskbar’s color to randomly change every two seconds.

You can also add curved borders to the left and right sides of the taskbar. To do so, click Add > Border radius. Then drag the bar slider further right to increase the curve applied to the taskbar’s border.

Rainbow Taskbar must be running for a taskbar preset to be applied. To set the program to start with Windows, click the Settings tab and select Run at system startup. Click Save to apply the newly selected startup option.

There are all kinds of variables for customizing the taskbar with RainbowTaskbar. You’ll need to play around with that app’s settings more to fully see what you can do with it. Check out the documentation on the Rainbow Taskbar site for further details about how to utilize this software.

How to Apply Taskbar Effects with NiceTaskbar

NiceTaskbar is a slightly simpler taskbar customization app than RainbowTaskbar. You can select to apply five different taskbar effects with this software. It also packs in some extra settings for centralizing taskbar icons and adding seconds to the system tray clock. This is how you can apply taskbar effects with NiceTaskbar:

1. Open this NiceTaskbar page on the Microsoft Store website.
2. Click the Get in Store app option on the NiceTaskbar page and select Open Microsoft Store.
3. Next, click Get to install NiceTaskbar.
4. Click Open to run NiceTaskbar. Then double-click the NiceTaskbar system tray icon to view the app’s window.
5. Select an Opaque, Clear, Blur, Fluent, or Good Luck effect option.

   

6. Click Color to set a taskbar color for the effect.
7. Toggle on the Start on system startup option.

The effect options are more like settings for applying taskbar transparency in different ways. Selecting Opaque applies a non-transparent solid color effect. Clicking Fluent applies total transparency to the taskbar.

Clear and Blur are the most interesting effect options to go for. Selecting Blur applies a blurred transparency effect. If you prefer clearer transparency, click the Clear option. Dragging the bar’s slider will increase and decrease the transparency level for both those effect options.

NiceTaskbar’s Center buttons setting adds centralized icons to Windows 10’s taskbar. Turn on the Center buttons option to move icons to the center of the taskbar. However, the non-pinned icons, such as the Start menu, will remain on the left.

Enabling the Clock show seconds setting adds seconds to the system tray clock. You’ll also need to restart Windows for that setting to take effect. The alternative methods for configuring the system tray clock to show seconds in Windows 10 are to manually modify the registry yourself or execute a PowerShell command.

Spruce Up the Windows 10 Taskbar With Rainbow Taskbar and NiceTaskbar

Rainbow Taskbar and NiceTaskbar are nifty taskbar customization apps. You can apply dazzling transitional fading gradients and solid color effects with RainbowTaskbar. NiceTaskbar is a good app for adding transparency and blur effects to the taskbar. So, both apps provide new effect settings for sprucing up the Windows 10 taskbar.