AutoHide Task Bar Appears under Open Windows (Whether Maximized or Normal) when Mouse Pointer Moved to Left Edge of Screen

Before reporting your issue

• I have confirmed that this issue does not happen when ExplorerPatcher is not installed
• I do not have "register as shell extension" enabled
• I have tried my best to check existing issues

Repro ExplorerPatcher versions

ExplorerPatcher Information:
Version 26100.8457.70.3
Taskbar Style: Windows 10 (Explorer Patcher)
Start Menu Style: Windows 10
Primary Location: Left
Automatically Hide Taskbar: Yes
Register as Shell Extension: No

Repro Windows Versions

Windows Information:
Edition Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit
Version 25H2
OS build 26200.9168
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.344.0

Third-party tweak software installed

WindHawk Information:
Version 1.7.3
Installed Mods:
Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show
animationType: none
showSpeedup: 400
hideSpeedup: 400
showDuration: 400
hideDuration: 200
frameRate: 60
unhideDelay: 1
hideDelay: 1
oldTaskbarOnWin11: 1
edgeDetection: 1

Describe the bug

With the above-described Windows 11, ExplorerPatcher, and WindHawk Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show mod set-up, when I move the mouse pointer to the left edge of the screen, the Task Bar "appears" but either can't be seen at all if there is any active window that is maximized, or can only be seen partly if there is any active window that covers the portion of the screen where the Task Bar should appear. This happens whether or not WindHawk Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show mod is enabled or not, and happened even before I ever installed any WindHawk mod. The WindHawk Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show mod debug logging feature confirms that the Task Bar is being triggered to unhide/show when there is a maximized window.

Expected outcome

The expected outcome of moving the mouse pointer to the left edge of the screen is that the Task Bar appears on top of all active windows.

Actual outcome

Moving the mouse pointer to the left edge of the screen causes the Task Bar to unhide/show, but beneath all other active windows, such that, if there is a maximized window, it cannot be seen at all, and if there is a window that covers some portion of the scree where the Task Bar would otherwise be displayed, on the uncovered part of it is visible.

Additional info

This bug is intermittent.

The Task Bar ceasing to be shown top level often occurs when the computer has been idle for sometime, but also occurs, with no obvious explanation, when the machine is being used and the Task Bar has been appearing normally, but then it suddenly stops doing so.

Sometimes rebooting will fix the problem, but often not. Disabling the Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show mod uninstalling ExplorerPatcher, and then reinstalling ExplorerPatcher and enabling Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show mod has worked to restore the expected behavior.

I was experiencing this faulty Task Bar behavior before I installed the Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show mod, which I thought might fix the problem (when I thought that the AutoHide feature simply wasn't working). After being able to use the Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show mod debug logging feature, though, as noted above, it is clear that the Task Bar is unhiding/showing when the mouse pointer reaches the left edge of the screen, but the Task Bar is covered by active windows.

Can either ExplorerPatcher or the Taskbar Auto-Hide Instant Show mod force the Task Bar to be the topmost window each time it is unhidden/shown?

Crash Dumps

No response

Media

No response

Start by reproducing the taskbar auto-hide behavior with the ExplorerPatcher and Windows versions listed, with and without the WindHawk mod. Trace the unhide/show behavior and window stacking when the pointer reaches the left edge. Done means the taskbar reliably appears above maximized and normal windows, including after idle periods.