About
About this site
retrobar.dev is an independent guide to RetroBar, the open-source classic taskbar for Windows by Sam Johnson (dremin). RetroBar has a short README and an issue tracker, but no website and no manual. We built the reference we wanted: every theme shown on real Windows, every setting explained, every claim checked against the code.
How we work
We check facts against the source code
Every page is checked against a specific RetroBar release, shown at the top of the page (currently 1.22.122). The settings, their defaults and allowed values, the 19 themes and their colours, the 307 theme keys, the 47 languages and the release history are read from that release's source by a script, not copied by hand. When the README and the code disagree, we go with the code and say so.
We run it ourselves
We install the official release on fresh Windows machines on GitHub's hosted runners: Windows 11 (Arm64), Windows Server 2025 and Windows Server 2022. A script installs RetroBar through its real installer, switches through every theme, edge and option, opens the Properties window, tests custom themes and our own scripts, measures memory and CPU, and uninstalls it, taking screenshots all along. Every image labelled “Real screenshot” comes from those runs; the raw logs and data are on the test results page.
Illustrations are labelled
The taskbars drawn on this site (including the one at the bottom of the screen) are illustrations: CSS generated from each theme's XAML file, so the colours, gradients and sizes match. They use a neutral icon instead of the Windows logo. Wherever we say “this is what it looks like”, we show a real screenshot.
We say what we do not know
Our test machines are virtual: no real GPU, a single monitor, and no Windows 7 or 8.1. So we do not publish claims about games, multiple physical screens or old Windows that we have not seen ourselves; those parts are marked as coming from the source code or from reports in RetroBar's issue tracker, with the issue number.
We keep it current
When a new RetroBar release comes out, we regenerate the data from it, re-run the Windows tests and update the version shown on each page.
The tools
The tools on this site run entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste into them, such as a settings.json or a theme file, is sent to us. They produce files and scripts for you to read and use yourself.
How the site is funded
The site has no ads or affiliate links today. If that changes, ads will be clearly separated from the content, and they will never change what we recommend.
Corrections
If you find a mistake, or something changed in a newer release, email hello@retrobar.dev. We fix errors quickly and are glad to be told.
Found something out of date or wrong? Tell us at hello@retrobar.dev and we will fix it.