Taskbar Unhide Zoner

Taskbar Unhide Zoner is a lightweight Windows tray utility that helps you keep taskbar auto-hide on (for cleaner desktop and reduced OLED burn-in risk), while making taskbar reveal intentional through a configurable sensitivity zone.

What it does

• Runs in the Windows notification area (tray), no main window.
• Left-click and right-click tray interactions use the same context-menu behavior.
• Reveals the taskbar when your cursor enters a configured zone and stays there for a dwell time.
• Supports edge zones (top/bottom/left/right) and a custom hot-zone rectangle.
• Selecting any zone from the menu opens an overlay to define that zone (Esc cancels).
• At runtime, both edge and hot-zone are detected as a single persisted rectangle (same detection path, different capture UX).
• Supports quick toggles from tray menu (enable/disable, startup, delay preset, trigger assist, zone selection).
• Uses no cursor hijacking in normal app behavior (no pointer nudging).

Requirements

• Windows 10 or Windows 11
• Taskbar auto-hide enabled (required for runtime behavior)
• .NET 8 Desktop Runtime (installer includes a framework-dependent app)

Install

1. Download the latest installer from Releases:
   • Latest release
2. Run TaskbarUnhideZoner-Setup.exe and launch the app when setup completes.

How to use

1. Launch app and find its tray icon.
2. Left-click or right-click the icon to open the menu.
3. Configure:
   • Trigger Delay (Quick, Default, Long; shows Custom (from config) for non-preset values)
   • Trigger Assist (Off, Low, Medium, Strong; shows Custom (from config) for non-preset values)
   • Select zone:
     • Top/Bottom/Left/Right opens an overlay and lets you click thickness for a full-width/full-height edge zone
     • Hot Zone opens a freeform rectangle draw overlay
4. Keep Enable Taskbar Unhide Zoner checked.

Preset behavior

• Trigger Delay: Quick, Default, Long
• Trigger Assist: Off, Low, Medium, Strong
• If config values do not exactly match presets, the menu shows Custom (from config) as active.
• Choosing a preset immediately applies it and replaces custom values for that setting.

Runtime apply behavior

• Menu changes apply immediately during runtime.
• Zone re-selection (Select zone) reinitializes detection immediately.
• Manual config edits are loaded on next app start.

Notes about auto-hide

• If Windows taskbar auto-hide is off, the app suspends monitoring.
• In that state, the enable item is grayed out and shows a message indicating auto-hide is off.
• Re-enable auto-hide in Windows settings, then reopen tray menu or wait for periodic refresh.
• If a previous app run crashed after temporarily turning auto-hide off, the next startup attempts a one-time restore.

Already running behavior

• If you launch the app again while it is already running, the existing tray instance shows a notification.

Configuration file

Config path:

• %LocalAppData%\TaskbarUnhideZoner\config.json

You can edit this file directly while the app is not running. Main fields:

• Enabled
• StartWithWindows
• TriggerDelayMs
• DelayPresets (QuickMs, DefaultMs, LongMs)
• Zone (Mode, ActiveZone)
• Trigger (CooldownMs, Assist)
• Trigger.Assist (Enabled, MinDelayPercent, CurveExponent)
• Fullscreen (SuspendWhenFullscreenAppActive)
• AutohideStatePollSeconds

Troubleshooting

• No unhide behavior:
  • Verify taskbar auto-hide is enabled in Windows settings.
  • Confirm app tray menu shows enabled state.
  • Try Quick delay preset.
• Hot zone seems wrong:
  • Re-select Select zone -> Select Hot Zone... to redraw.
  • Check Zone.ActiveZone values in config.
• Edge zone seems too thin/thick:
  • Re-select the edge (Select zone -> Select Top/Bottom/Left/Right Edge...) and click a new thickness in the overlay.
• Trigger feels too eager or too strict:
  • Try a different Trigger Assist preset.
  • Low keeps the hot area narrow near edge/center; Strong ramps faster across the zone.
• App seems inactive in fullscreen apps:
  • This is expected when fullscreen suspension is enabled.

Logs:

• %LocalAppData%\TaskbarUnhideZoner\taskbar-unhide-zoner.log

Technical notes

• Build/release and developer workflows are documented in docs/TECHNICAL.md.
• Release execution checklist is in RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md.