YASB Bar going under the taskbar

[cornusandu]

Windows version

Windows 11

Windows OS build

26100.7171

YASB version installed

YASB Reborn v1.8.5 x64 (stable), YASB-CLI v1.1.4

Describe the bug

I have configured the YASB bar to be right where the taskbar is. At first, everything works fine. But, the second I click on the taskbar, the YASB bar disappears (or, I assume, goes behind the taskbar, making it practically invisible and unclickable).

Relevant log output

I doubt the logs would help since this seems to be more of a Windows issue, but here's a minimal log of just the issue happening:

2025-12-07 14:53:25,223 [INFO] [MainThread] [root/log.py:69]: YASB v1.8.5
2025-12-07 14:53:25,223 [INFO] [Thread-1 (_run_server)] [cli_server/cli_server.py:212]: CLI server started v1.1.4
2025-12-07 14:53:25,223 [INFO] [MainThread] [cli_server/cli_server.py:104]: Log pipe server started
2025-12-07 14:53:25,628 [INFO] [MainThread] [root/bar_manager.py:85]: Starting KomorebiEventListener...
2025-12-07 14:53:25,628 [INFO] [MainThread] [root/bar_manager.py:85]: Starting WindowsNotificationEventListener...
2025-12-07 14:53:25,628 [INFO] [MainThread] [root/watcher.py:54]: Created file watcher for path C:\Users\Bogdan\.config\yasb
2025-12-07 14:53:25,629 [INFO] [Dummy-5] [root/event_listener.py:51]: Created named pipe yasb-b858eac6-d36b-11f0-90ff-0072ee99c0e0
2025-12-07 14:53:25,656 [INFO] [MainThread] [root/update_service.py:404]: Background update checker started
2025-12-07 14:53:25,656 [DEBUG] [MainThread] [qasync._windows._EventPoller/_windows.py:215]: Starting (proactor: <_IocpProactor overlapped#=0 result#=0>)...
2025-12-07 14:53:25,657 [DEBUG] [Dummy-8] [qasync._windows._EventWorker/_windows.py:195]: Thread started
2025-12-07 14:53:25,658 [DEBUG] [MainThread] [systray_widget/systray.py:526]: Loading state from C:\Users\Bogdan\AppData\Local\YASB\systray_state_EKLTDODYSSEYG85SDH1AK500000.json
2025-12-07 14:53:25,663 [DEBUG] [SystrayMonitor] [systray_widget/systray.py:57]: Systray thread is starting...
2025-12-07 14:53:25,724 [DEBUG] [MainThread] [systray_widget/systray.py:277]: Systray thread started
2025-12-07 14:53:25,919 [INFO] [MainThread] [root/api.py:69]: Fetching new weather data at 2025-12-07 14:53:25.919734
2025-12-07 14:53:25,968 [DEBUG] [SystrayMonitor] [systray_widget/systray_monitor.py:242]: Finding real tray hwnd
2025-12-07 14:53:25,968 [DEBUG] [SystrayMonitor] [systray_widget/systray_monitor.py:164]: Adding TaskbandHWND prop to hwnd 786760
2025-12-07 14:53:25,971 [DEBUG] [MainThread] [systray_widget/systray_monitor.py:157]: Sending TaskbarCreated message: 49336

[amnweb]

YASB cannot go over the taskbar, the only solution is to hide the taskbar completely

[cornusandu]

YASB cannot go over the taskbar, the only solution is to hide the taskbar completely

Really? Cause until I actually click on the taskbar, YASB is actually over the taskbar — both visually, and functionally. But then again, that might just be a case of Windows 11 vibecoded weirdness.

[amnweb]

YASB cannot go over the taskbar, the only solution is to hide the taskbar completely

Really? Cause until I actually click on the taskbar, YASB is actually over the taskbar — both visually, and functionally. But then again, that might just be a case of Windows 11 vibecoded weirdness.

It is normal, Windows taskbar has higher privileges and z order and that is something we cannot skip until you completely hide the Windows taskbar

[cornusandu]

YASB cannot go over the taskbar, the only solution is to hide the taskbar completely

Really? Cause until I actually click on the taskbar, YASB is actually over the taskbar — both visually, and functionally. But then again, that might just be a case of Windows 11 vibecoded weirdness.

It is normal, Windows taskbar has higher privileges and z order and that is something we cannot skip until you completely hide the Windows taskbar

Understood. Well, sorry for the trouble.

[cornusandu]

I might have found somewhat of a fix for this.

So, there is an application called "Windhawk" that allows you to make "mods" for Windows that alter the appearence and behavior of certain Window elements. In this case, I used AI to write a mod that tries to place the YASB bar above the taskbar.

// ==WindhawkMod==
// @id              taskbar-yasb-zorder
// @name            Keep YASB Windows Above Taskbar
// @description     Ensures all top-level windows from yasb.exe stay directly above the taskbar, preserving their own stacking order.
// @version         1.0
// @author          You
// @include         explorer.exe
// @architecture    x86-64
// @compilerOptions -luser32 -lkernel32
// ==/WindhawkMod==

#include <windows.h>
#include <vector>
#include <string>

// Interval between rechecks (ms)
static const DWORD kUpdateInterval = 500;

static HWND    g_taskbar = nullptr;
static HANDLE  g_thread  = nullptr;
static bool    g_running = false;

// Return true if hwnd belongs to a process whose executable name is "yasb.exe"
bool IsYasbWindow(HWND hwnd) {
    DWORD pid = 0;
    GetWindowThreadProcessId(hwnd, &pid);
    if (!pid)
        return false;
    HANDLE hProc = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_LIMITED_INFORMATION, FALSE, pid);
    if (!hProc)
        return false;

    WCHAR path[MAX_PATH] = {};
    DWORD size = _countof(path);
    if (!QueryFullProcessImageNameW(hProc, 0, path, &size)) {
        CloseHandle(hProc);
        return false;
    }
    CloseHandle(hProc);

    // extract filename after last backslash
    WCHAR* name = wcsrchr(path, L'\\');
    name = name ? name + 1 : path;
    // compare case-insensitive
    return _wcsicmp(name, L"yasb.exe") == 0;
}

// Worker thread: every kUpdateInterval ms, enumerate all top-level windows,
// pick out those from yasb.exe in current Z-order (EnumWindows is Z-ordered),
// then re-insert them immediately after the taskbar, bottom-to-top.
DWORD WINAPI ZOrderThread(LPVOID) {
    while (g_running) {
        std::vector<HWND> yasb_wnds;

        EnumWindows(
            [](HWND hwnd, LPARAM lParam) -> BOOL {
                auto vec = reinterpret_cast<std::vector<HWND>*>(lParam);
                // only visible top-level, skip cloaked/invisible
                if (IsWindowVisible(hwnd) && IsYasbWindow(hwnd))
                    vec->push_back(hwnd);
                return TRUE;
            },
            (LPARAM)&yasb_wnds);

        // re-insert from bottommost (last in vector) to topmost (first)
        for (auto it = yasb_wnds.rbegin(); it != yasb_wnds.rend(); ++it) {
            SetWindowPos(
                *it,
                g_taskbar,                                // insert just above
                0,0,0,0,
                SWP_NOMOVE | SWP_NOSIZE | SWP_NOACTIVATE
            );
        }

        Sleep(kUpdateInterval);
    }
    return 0;
}

BOOL Wh_ModInit() {
    // find the Windows taskbar
    g_taskbar = FindWindow(L"Shell_TrayWnd", nullptr);
    if (!g_taskbar)
        return FALSE;

    // start worker
    g_running = true;
    g_thread = CreateThread(nullptr, 0, ZOrderThread, nullptr, 0, nullptr);
    return g_thread != nullptr;
}

void Wh_ModUninit() {
    if (g_running) {
        g_running = false;
        if (g_thread) {
            WaitForSingleObject(g_thread, INFINITE);
            CloseHandle(g_thread);
            g_thread = nullptr;
        }
    }
}

This is not a perfect fix, however. But, it does make it very easy to place the YASB bar above the taskbar yourself.
YASB will get put under the taskbar when you click on the windows icon or on the search bar. Once that happens, you can simply select any window (Chrome, Discord, pretty much anything), and the mod will automatically place YASB back above the taskbar.

I don't advise making this mainstream, since it could definitely be improved. However, it does seem to somewhat work (details above), and isn't causing any collateral damange on my PC.

I'm just posting this here in case you (or someone else) might wanna use this.

[cornusandu]

This video may not be very descriptive, but it's a demonstration of the thingy above working: https://youtu.be/U9sqxap8Pp0

[cornusandu]

I might have found somewhat of a fix for this.

So, there is an application called "Windhawk" that allows you to make "mods" for Windows that alter the appearence and behavior of certain Window elements. In this case, I used AI to write a mod that tries to place the YASB bar above the taskbar.

[...]

This is not a perfect fix, however. But, it does make it very easy to place the YASB bar above the taskbar yourself. YASB will get put under the taskbar when you click on the windows icon or on the search bar. Once that happens, you can simply select any window (Chrome, Discord, pretty much anything), and the mod will automatically place YASB back above the taskbar.

I don't advise making this mainstream, since it could definitely be improved. However, it does seem to somewhat work (details above), and isn't causing any collateral damange on my PC.

I'm just posting this here in case you (or someone else) might wanna use this.

I should mention that, if you have a non-transparent taskbar, this will mostly keep YASB above the taskbar (until you select the Windows icon or search bar -- and then when you select another app, YASB appears again).

[Video-Nomad]

SetWindowPos on a timer should work, yes. Just need to be careful to set the correct windows topmost and that's it. SetWindowPos is very cheap when no geometry change is happening so DWM will just put YASB on top and that's it. The mod has 500ms timer but even 50ms should be a breeze for this simple operation. Everything can be cached and updated on WM_TASKBARCREATED event (because original taskbar handle will change).