How to Add Media Controls to Taskbar in Windows

Need quick access to media controls like play, pause, next, and rewind? Here’s a simple way to add media controls to the taskbar in Windows.

If you read my articles, you might know that I’m a big fan of the taskbar. There is so much you can do with it. For example, you can add bandwidth monitor, show CPU and GPU temperatures, add quick launch toolbar, etc. Simply put, the taskbar is a highly versatile place with a wide range of functionality. As such, why not add media controls like play and pause buttons to the taskbar? If you are wondering the same thing, you can do it pretty easily.

Any media player has its own dedicated media control options to control what is being played. In fact, Windows offers you media controls right in the taskbar thumbnail. If the media player supports universal controls, you can even control it via media keys on your keyboard or other universal media controls. Generally, these options are sufficient for most people. However, if you don’t like using keyboard shortcuts or opening background applications just to play or pause a song, you can add media controls directly to the taskbar. That way, the media controls will always be just a click away.

Let me show you how.

Add Media Controls to Taskbar

Though Windows has no built-in options to add controls like play, pause, next, and rewind to the taskbar, you can do it with a simple, lightweight, and free application called Taskplay. As the name suggests, the application acts as a universal media controller and lets you do basic actions. So, follow the below steps to add play, pause buttons to the taskbar.

1. First, go to the official Github page and download Taskplay. After downloading, execute the exe file and follow the wizard to install the application.

2. After installing the application, launch it from the Start menu’s “Recently added” section or by searching for “Taskplay“.

3. As soon as you launch the application, it will add three controls to the taskbar. They are Rewind, Play/Pause, and Next buttons. By default, Windows may try to hide these new controls in the overflow section. So, if you cannot see the controls, click on the little “Up” arrow icon on the taskbar.

5. Since we want easy access to the media controls, drag those icons to the taskbar. Once you do that, Windows will remember that position and shows them accordingly.

From now on, whenever you want to play/pause or next/rewind, click on the respective icon. For example, if you want to play or pause a song or video, just click on the “play/pause” (►) icon.

Start Taskplay with Windows

To make things easier, you can start the Taskplay application with Windows. This makes sure that you don’t have to launch the application manually and have the media controls from the very beginning.

To do that, right-click on any Taskplay icon on the taskbar and select the “Settings” option.