The TranslucentTB tray menu, item by item

The whole menu at a glance

Some items only exist on certain setups. Choose yours to see exactly what appears:

And the real menu, captured in our Windows test on Windows build 26100:

The seven state submenus

The first block of the menu has one submenu per taskbar state: Desktop, Visible window, Maximized window, Start opened, Search opened, Task View opened and Battery saver. Each one edits the matching block in settings.json. Which state is shown when is explained in Dynamic modes.

Two submenus can be missing entirely:

• Battery saver only appears on a PC with a battery (the flyout binds it to SystemHasBattery). On a desktop PC you can still set it in settings.json, it just never triggers.
• Blur is hidden on Windows 11 21H2 builds before 22000.282 and on the early 22H2 taskbar that still used two XAML islands. On those systems TranslucentTB converts any blur in your settings to acrylic when it starts. It is shown on Windows 10 and on the Windows 11 XAML taskbar. Details in Appearance modes.

The color picker

Accent Color opens a separate color picker window for that state. It has a color spectrum, sliders, a hex field and an alpha (transparency) control. While the picker is open, the taskbar previews the color live, so you see the result on your real wallpaper before you commit.

• Confirm with the check button, or cancel to throw the change away.
• If you close the window with unsaved changes, it asks: Do you want to save changes to the color? with Yes, No and Cancel.
• The pin button in its title bar (Always on top) keeps it above other windows while you compare against an app.

The picker writes the color as #RRGGBBAA, with alpha last. Alpha has no effect with Opaque (always 100%) or Normal (color ignored).

The Advanced submenu

The reset hotkey: Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F1

Version 2026.2 added this as a global hotkey (pull request #1306). TranslucentTB registers it with Windows' RegisterHotKey when it starts, with auto-repeat suppressed, so holding the keys triggers it once. Use it when the taskbar is stuck in the wrong look, for example:

• the taskbar stays opaque after you closed a maximized window;
• transparency is lost after sleep, lock or a display change;
• a second monitor's taskbar stopped following its state.

If another app already owns Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F1, registration fails and TranslucentTB only logs a warning (Unable to register global hotkey for dynamic state reset). The menu item still works. In older versions, there is no hotkey: use the menu item or start TranslucentTB again (see below).

ttb.exe and starting it twice

The Store, winget and App Installer versions register an app execution alias called ttb.exe (declared in the package manifest). It starts TranslucentTB.exe, so you can launch it from Run (Win+R), Command Prompt, PowerShell or a script:

PS> ttb

The alias takes no options. The portable zip has no alias; run TranslucentTB.exe from its folder instead. If ttb is "not recognized", check Settings › Apps › Advanced app settings › App execution aliases and make sure TranslucentTB's entry is on.

TranslucentTB runs as a single instance (it holds a named mutex). When you start it while it is already running, the new copy exits right away and tells the running one, which then:

1. brings the welcome window to the front, if it is still open; otherwise
2. shows the notification TranslucentTB is already running! Right-click on the tray icon to access it. and resets its dynamic state, exactly like the hotkey.

So running ttb again is a handy reset on any version. When Windows itself starts TranslucentTB at sign-in through its startup task and a copy is already running, the notification is suppressed.

Open at boot, Tips and tricks, Exit

• Open at boot toggles the Windows startup task. It only exists in the Store and App Installer versions, and it is grayed out when a policy controls startup apps. See Open at boot, including the fix for a grayed-out toggle.
• Tips and tricks opens the official tips page on TranslucentTB.github.io.
• Exit saves settings.json (unless saving is disabled) and quits. Your taskbar returns to Windows' default look.

There is no About item in 2026.2: it exists in the source but is commented out of the menu.

Old-style or new-style menu

The menu is a XAML flyout that follows Windows' light or dark theme. On builds where XAML menus misbehave, TranslucentTB draws the same items as a classic Win32 menu instead. In 2026.2 the XAML menu is used on Windows 10 22H2 (build 19045) and later, including Windows 11, and on Windows 10 2004 to 21H2 once update KB5007253 is installed (revision 1387 or later). Older builds get the classic menu.

To force one or the other, add "use_xaml_context_menu": true or false to settings.json. Leave the key out to let TranslucentTB decide.

If the tray icon is missing

1. Check the hidden icons

   Click the ^ arrow in the notification area. To keep the icon visible, turn TranslucentTB on under Settings › Personalization › Taskbar › Other system tray icons (Windows 11).

2. Check that it is running

   Look for TranslucentTB.exe in Task Manager. If it is not there, start it from the Start menu or run ttb.

3. Check hide_tray

   settings.json supports "hide_tray": true, which removes the icon completely. Open %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\28017CharlesMilette.TranslucentTB_v826wp6bftszj\RoamingState\settings.jsonCopy in Notepad (portable: settings.json next to the .exe), set it to false or delete the line, and save. The icon comes back without a restart.

On the very first run the icon stays hidden until you click Continue in the welcome window.

FAQ

Something wrong or out of date? Email hello@translucenttb.dev and we will fix it.