Has your Windows taskbar disappeared? Don’t panic. It’s common for the taskbar to malfunction, such as missing icons or the taskbar not responding. Try these solutions to help you restore your taskbar.
Content
- Restart Windows Explorer
- Disable Taskbar Auto-Hide
- Resize Taskbar
- Fix Display Scaling
- Change Screen Resolution
- Reset Taskbar Configurations
- Check Projection Settings
- Update or Roll Back Graphics Drivers
- Use a Third-Party Taskbar Tool
- Fix Corrupted System Files
- Reset/Restore Windows
Restart Windows Explorer
If the taskbar disappeared after a freeze or glitch, it’s typically just a temporary Windows Explorer issue that can be fixed with a restart.
Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open the task manager. Either search for “windows explorer” in the search bar, or manually look for it in the Processes tab. Right-click it, and select Restart.
The explorer will vanish and appear again. Hopefully, the taskbar will appear as well. If not, try restarting Windows.
Disable Taskbar Auto-Hide
Auto-hide is a taskbar feature that makes the taskbar disappear if you are not hovering your mouse over it. If the taskbar comes back when you hover the mouse on its location, then it disappeared due to the auto-hide feature. Follow the steps below to disable it:
Open Windows Settings, go to Personalization -> Taskbar.
Open the Taskbar behaviors section, and uncheck the checkbox next to the Automatically hide the taskbar option.
Resize Taskbar
If you are on Windows 10, you might have unlocked the taskbar and hid it accidentally (depending on your display). When unlocked, the taskbar can be resized and repositioned as required.
Move your mouse cursor to the very bottom, where the upper outline of the taskbar should be showing. Click and hold on it, then move it upwards to bring out the taskbar icons.
Lock the taskbar to avoid accidentally repositioning it in the future by right-clicking it, then enable the Lock the taskbar option.
Fix Display Scaling
You can configure how Windows displays the image based on your screen resolution and the physical size of the display. If it’s incorrectly configured, it can lead to the missing taskbar issue.
In Windows Settings, go to System -> Display -> Advanced display, and click on Display adapter properties for Display #.
Move to the Graphics Control Panel tab, and select Maintain Display Scaling next to the Scaling option.
Tip: if you are using a custom resolution that is causing the taskbar to disappear (for instance, to increase FOV in games), select Scale Full Screen in the Scaling option. The display may get stretched a bit, but you will be able to see everything.
Change Screen Resolution
The taskbar can also disappear due to screen resolution problems when using an incorrect or non-native resolution. Choose the screen resolution recommended by Windows, as it can detect your display and offer the best one.
In Windows Settings, go to System -> Display. Change the Display resolution to the one that has (Recommended) next to it.
Click on Keep changes if this fixes the problem.
Reset Taskbar Configurations
Windows keeps a record of any changes made to the taskbar, but you can delete it to completely reset all configurations related to the taskbar. You’ll have to use the Windows Registry, so make sure you back up the Registry beforehand.
Search for “registry” in Windows search, and open the Registry Editor. Move to the below location:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3
Right-click on the StuckRects3 key, and select Delete to remove it. Restart the PC or Windows Explorer, as we did above so that Windows will create a new taskbar settings file with default settings.
Check Projection Settings
Projection settings are used to manage your display on multiple monitors or projectors. Sometimes an incorrect configuration can cause issues with the main display, making the taskbar appear to have disappeared.
To make sure projection settings aren’t the culprit, press Windows + P, and select PC screen only. Your screen will go dark, then reappear, along with the taskbar.
Update or Roll Back Graphics Drivers
The taskbar may also disappear due to a graphical glitch caused by incorrect/outdated graphics card drivers. Try updating your graphics driver, or roll back to the old one if you have recently updated the drivers.
Update Graphics Card Drivers
The easiest way to update drivers is to use a third-party driver update tool. These tools can automatically detect outdated drivers and install the latest ones for your device. However, you can also download the manufacturer’s software that usually installs the latest driver for graphics cards. The following are examples of graphics card software:
AMD Radeon Software (Adrenalin Edition)
NVIDIA GeForce Experience
Intel Graphics Command Center
Roll Back Graphics Card Drivers
If the issue started after you updated drivers, you should be able to easily roll back. Search for “device manager” in Windows search, then open the Device Manager.
Under the Display adapters section, right-click on your graphics card, and select Properties.
Move to the Driver tab, and click on Roll Back Driver. Windows will ask why you are rolling back. Provide an answer, and the previous driver will be installed.
If you have updated the driver using a third-party app, most will offer the feature to roll back the driver.
Use a Third-Party Taskbar Tool
Although there aren’t any third-party tools that directly fix taskbar-related issues, you can replace the taskbar with a custom one. Either keep using the taskbar, or uninstall the third-party taskbar, which could restore the old one.
StartAllBack is a powerful tool for this purpose. It can help you completely change the look of your taskbar and Start menu, such as moving or resizing it. Once the app has applied the custom taskbar, uninstall it to bring back the default one. Make sure you allow the uninstaller to delete settings and license data when asked.
Fix Corrupted System Files
If the above fixes have failed, your taskbar may have disappeared or become unusable, due to corrupted system files. Thankfully, you can fix corrupted system files using SFC (System File Checker) and DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) tools.
In Windows Command Prompt, run the sfc /scannow command. It will try to fix system files and will let you know if it fixed anything.
If it doesn’t work, run the DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth command to fix the Windows image, then run the SFC scan again. You may want to read this complete guide on how to fix corrupted system files in Windows.
Reset/Restore Windows
As a last resort, you can reset or restore Windows to start over. If the issue appeared recently, a restore to a previous state will be enough. Otherwise, a full reset of settings and apps will be needed.
Restore Windows
This process will restore Windows to its previous state in time. Choose a time when you didn’t have the taskbar disappearing issues (if available).
Press Windows + R, and type rstrui.exe in the Run dialog to open System Restore.
Select a restore point before the issue appeared, and follow the steps to restore the PC to that point in time.
Reset Windows
The reset process will not delete your personal data, but it will delete all third-party apps and settings. Follow these steps to use it:
In Windows Settings, go to System -> Recovery, and click on Reset PC. Select the Keep my files option, and follow the steps to reset the PC. Check out this complete guide on how to safely reset your PC for more details.
Apart from these solutions, make sure you have Windows up to date, as many of the fixes are shipped in these updates. Also, if it happened after a Windows update, read on to learn how to deal with problematic updates.
Image credit: All images and screenshots by Karrar Haider.
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Karrar Haider –
Contributor
Karrar is drenched in technology and always fiddles with new tech opportunities. He has a bad habit of calling technology “Killer”, and doesn’t feel bad about spending too much time in front of the PC. If he is not writing about technology, you will find him spending quality time with his little family.
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