Question

I have a Windows Forms application and I want to add a cool little visual to its thumbnail on the Windows Taskbar.

I know that you can have the thumbnail display a Progress Marquee-style thing, but how do we just change the color of it?

I’m not talking about changing the color of the icon, but the color that’s behind the icon. Is this even possible?

Any code, documentation or anything to get me on the right track will be much appreciated.

Answer 1

You can use the TaskBar APIs available in the Windows API code pack

// This will highlight the icon in red
TaskbarManager.Instance.SetProgressState(TaskbarProgressBarState.Error);
// to highlight the entire icon
TaskbarManager.Instance.SetProgressValue(100,100);

Please note that this API was intended to indicate an error with a progressing operation (file copy, etc..)