Disable or Hide Windows 7 FolderBand (AKA Organize Bar)

Modify your ShellStyle.dll file found under: to Auto-Hide or disable completely this FolderBand (which I call the Organize bar). This forum outlines the steps needed to perform this change.
  1. Download and install Restorator 2007
  2. Open “C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Aero\Shell\NormalColor\ShellStyle.dll” with Restorator.exe
  3. Expand UIFILE and click on “1”
  4. Change the mode to Edit mode [F6]
  5. CTRL+F to find “FolderBand”
  6. Locate the line that reads:
  7. To disable or remove the bar, add this below the line above:
  8. To auto-hide the bar, add this instead*:
  9. Save the DLL file.
  10. You may have to take ownership of the NormalColor folder and/or ShellStyle.dll file to add Full Control permissions for your local account.
  11. Kill explorer and start it back up
  12. FolderBand Organize bar should be gone or hidden.
If this is too much work, I’ve attached the DLLs to disable and auto-hide the FolderBand. So you don’t have to compile the modified DLL yourself! Just extract and rename the files, kill explorer and start it back up.
*I’ve found strange things happen when you choose to auto-hide the bar. When you hover over that small area at the top of the window, and if your mouse isn’t hovering over one of the valid icons/menus of that bar, the bar will open and close itself over and over, causing the screen to jump. I just “disable” the bar.

4 comments

  1. Hey, thanks for the tip!
    Actually, sometimes I do find this bar useful, but what really annoys my about it is its colour – it really burns my eyes! I would like to change it into gray… would you know how to do it?
    Thanks again

  2. Hello Christorpher!

    Thank you for the awesome guide and the modified shellfile, it works perfectly well and I finally got rid of that damn toolbar!

    On a side node, I had to do some research to find out how to delete/change the original file because it is protected, so you have to “take over” the file first.

    Thanks alot and have a nice day!

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