TranslucentTB alternative for a transparent Windows 11 taskbar
TranslucentTB is the name most people find first when they want a transparent taskbar on Windows 11. It makes the Windows taskbar clear, blurred or tinted. Glassline takes the idea all the way: a menu bar at the top and a dock at the bottom, made of glass that takes the colour of your wallpaper, with Search, Control Center, your calendar and the weather built in, ready the moment it is installed.
What TranslucentTB does
TranslucentTB is a free, open-source app under the GPL-3.0 licence, made by a group of volunteer developers and published on the Microsoft Store and on GitHub. It changes how the Windows taskbar looks, in one of five states:
- Normal, the taskbar as Windows draws it.
- Opaque, Clear, Blur and Acrylic, each in a colour and strength you pick.
It can give the taskbar another look when a window is visible, when a window is maximized, and while Start, Search or Task View is open. Its latest version, 2026.2, came out on 31 August 2026.
Is TranslucentTB safe?
TranslucentTB's source code is public on GitHub, and its releases have been signed with Azure Code Signing since version 2024.1. Its own page says that some antivirus programs are over eager and may flag it, and that its code is open for anyone to review.
To restyle the taskbar, it works inside Explorer, the Windows program that draws the taskbar: its release notes speak of its Explorer hooks and of Windows' XAML diagnostics, which it uses to reach the taskbar's parts.
Glassline works another way. It runs as its own app, installed and updated by the Microsoft Store, and loads no code into Explorer or any other program.
What happens when Windows updates
Because TranslucentTB styles the Windows taskbar itself, a Windows update that changes the taskbar can need a TranslucentTB update. Its changelog shows it: version 2024.1 fixed Start, Search and Task View on newer Windows 11 builds, and 2024.3 fixed Search again. Since 28 October 2026, users on GitHub report that its look no longer applies on the newest Windows 11 preview builds (26220 and 26340), and that report is still open.
Glassline draws its own menu bar and dock, so a change inside the Windows taskbar does not reach them. Its updates come from the Microsoft Store by themselves.
Transparent taskbar and dock in Glassline
The menu bar and the dock are glass from the first moment, tinted by your wallpaper. In Settings, under Appearance, Glass sets how much of what is behind shows through the menu bar, the dock, panels and menus: Recommended, Medium, or Glassy for the most transparent of the three. You can also give the bar and the dock a clear or a solid background, and tint the dock like the menu bar. Reduce transparency, on the Accessibility page, makes the glass almost solid.
When a window is maximized, the menu bar takes its colour, so the app seems to reach the top edge, and the dock slides away to give it the room. Quit or uninstall Glassline and the Windows taskbar and Start menu are back exactly as they were.
Glassline next to TranslucentTB
| Glassline | TranslucentTB | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Its own app: a menu bar and a dock that take the place of the taskbar. Nothing is loaded into Explorer or other programs | Works inside Explorer to restyle the Windows taskbar |
| Glass | Built in, in three levels: Recommended, Medium and Glassy, tinted by your wallpaper | Opaque, Clear, Blur or Acrylic, in a colour you pick |
| With a maximized window | The menu bar takes the window's colour and the dock slides away | Its own look for a visible or maximized window |
| Bar at the top | Menu bar with the app in front and a panel of its windows, volume and recent files | The Windows taskbar stays where it is |
| Dock | Magnification, stacks for folders, unread counts, progress on icons, running dots | The Windows taskbar's own icons |
| Search | Search on the Windows key: apps, files, settings, web addresses, sums, and instant file search with Everything | Windows Search |
| After a Windows update | The menu bar and dock are Glassline's own, so changes inside the taskbar do not reach them | Can need an update of its own |
| Price | Free for 7 days on the Microsoft Store, then one purchase with every update free | Free |
Every way to a transparent taskbar
Windows 11 has a Transparency effects switch of its own, and apps such as Windhawk restyle the taskbar too. Our guide walks through each of them, step by step: how to make the taskbar transparent in Windows 11. For Windhawk and its styler mods, see Glassline as a Windhawk alternative.
Try it right now
The home page is a working Glassline: move over its dock, click its menu bar, open Search and Control Center. What you see there is what you get on your desktop.
Free for 7 days. No subscription, no account, no ads, and every update is free.
More comparisons
Glassline as a StartAllBack alternative, Glassline as a Windhawk alternative, Glassline as a Seelen UI alternative, Glassline as a MyDockFinder alternative, Glassline as a Winstep Nexus alternative, and Glassline next to the other taskbar alternatives for Windows 11. To get the Windows taskbar back at any time, see Support.
TranslucentTB and Windhawk belong to their own developers and have no connection to Glassline. What this page says about TranslucentTB was checked against its GitHub page, its releases and issues, and its Microsoft Store listing on 5 November 2026.