10 Fixes For Windows 10 Taskbar Not Working

It sometimes happens that the taskbar on our Windows 10 laptop suddenly stops working, or the taskbar freezes, which makes it impossible to bring the cursor to it.

Microsoft constantly releases new updates for Windows, including exciting new features for the taskbar, which sometimes turn out to be faulty and give the Windows 10 taskbar not working error.

• 1. Too Much Clutter on the Taskbar
• 2. Restart Windows Explorer Process
• 3. Check for Driver and Windows Updates
• 4. Perform computer scan using System File Checker
• 5. Re-registering your Taskbar via PowerShell
• 6. Uninstall the Latest Graphics Drivers
• 7. Disable Startup Items
• 8. Enable Application Identity Service
• 9. Windows 10 Taskbar Not Hiding
• 10. Try System Restore or Create a New User Account

Fix 1. Too Much Clutter on the Taskbar

We often keep items in the taskbar that we have no use for that take up valuable room, thereby cluttering the taskbar.

Thankfully, Microsoft Windows 10 allows us to remove or hide any taskbar icon if we don’t use them. For instance, the search icon, search box, Cortana, and task view are a few unnecessary items that can be easily accessed using shortcut keys.

Similarly, you can also disable Show People on the taskbar option if you don’t use it. If you don’t own a touchscreen laptop, you can go ahead and hide the Show Windows Ink Workspace button and Show touch keyboard button.

Hide Search icon and Search box

You can use the Win key on your keyboard to search for any applications.

Step 1. Right-click on the taskbar.

Step 2. Go to the Search tab and expand.

Step 3. Check the Hidden option to hide the search icon and search box.

Hide Cortana

Cortana is a deemphasized feature of Windows 10, and you can hide it.

Step 1. Right-click on the taskbar.

Step 2. Click on the “Show Cortana button” option to uncheck and hide Cortana.

Hide task view

You can use Win + Tab keys on your keyboard to access the task view.

Step 1. Right-click on the taskbar.

Step 2. Click on the “Show Task View button” option to uncheck and hide the task view.

Fix 2. Restart Windows Explorer Process

By restarting the explorer.exe process, Windows, you can fix the taskbar. By resuming this process, the File Explorer app, taskbar, and Start menu get renewed and clear up any minor hiccups stopping the taskbar.

Step 1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys together on the keyboard to launch task manager window.

Step 2. If you don’t see ongoing tasks, click on the More Details button.

Step 3. Inside the Processes tab, locate Windows Explorer process.

Step 4. Select Windows Explorer and right-click on it, and click on the Restart option to relaunch Windows Explorer.

Fix 3. Check for Windows Updates

To fix most of the problems on your system, updating the Driver and Windows Operating System is essential.

Update Windows

Step 1. Press the Windows key and search for the Settings application.

Step 2. Open the app and navigate to the Update & Security menu.

Step 3. Click on the Windows Update menu in the left sidebar menu.

Step 4. Click on the Check for Updates button. For any new updates available, Windows will search and display them. Download and install the updates.

Step 5. Restart your PC after the update is completed.

Fix 4. Perform Computer Scan using System File Checker

The Windows 10 taskbar may malfunction or freeze because of some corrupt or missing system files in the windows computer. Using the SFC tool, Windows can automatically find and fix these system files.

Step 1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys, and open the task manager window.

Step 2. Select the File menu and click on the Run new task option

Step 3. Type cmd in the dialog box and check the Create this task with administrative privileges option.

Step 4. In the command prompt utility, type the following command:

SFC /scannow

Step 5. Press enter and wait for Windows to complete the scan.

Alternatively, you can also run the following command in the PowerShell window to check the system image files using Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM).

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

Step 6. Restart your system.

Fix 5. Re-registering your Taskbar via PowerShell

Follow these steps to re-register the Windows 10 taskbar using the Windows PowerShell command to fix the frozen taskbar issues.

Step 1. Using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys, open task manager window.

Step 2. Select the File menu and click on the Run new task option

Step 3. Type cmd in the dialog box and check the Create this task with administrative privileges option.

Step 4. Inside the open command prompt window, type the command to re-register:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml”}

Step 5. Close command prompt once the process completes and navigate to the Local folder inside the AppData folder. Follow this path: C: -> Users -> <username> -> AppData -> Local.

Step 6. Locate the TileDataLayer folder and delete the folder. Alternatively, you can disable the tile data model server.

Fix 6. Uninstall the Latest Graphics Drivers

Incompatible or problematic graphics and display drivers are sometimes the cause of taskbar issues. You can fix this by uninstalling the latest graphics drivers.

Step 1. Press Win + X keys to open a menu on your left side of the screen.

Step 2. Locate Device Manager from the menu. Alternatively, you can press M or the character underlined in the Device Manager written in the menu.

Step 3. Navigate to the Display adapters and right-click on the graphics card in your system.

Step 4. Click on the Properties menu.

Step 5. Click on the Roll Back Driver option.

Step 6. Select why you want to roll back in the Driver Package rollback window and click on the Yes button.

Fix 7. Disable Startup items

When your PC boots, specific programs are automatically booted and run in the background since startup.

Some of these programs have background running permission as part of their installation, and hence most users are unaware of them.

Step 1. Using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys, open the task manager window.

Step 2. Click on the Startup menu.

Step 3. Right-click on the programs for which status is Enabled and disable them.

Note: DO NOT DISABLE ALL. Some of these programs are required for your Windows 10 PC to boot up smoothly and hence do not disable them. Understand which applications you want to disable from startup and disable applications with Medium to High impact on your OS.

Fix 8. Enable Application Identity Service

Application Identity Service is an essential and sometimes enabling tool that can fix the Windows taskbar issues.

Step 1. Press Win + R keys to launch the run dialog box.

Step 2. Type services.MSc in the box and press Enter.

Step 3. In the services window, locate the Application Identity service and right-click on it.

Step 4. Click on the Start option and restart your system.

Fix 9. Windows 10 Taskbar Not Hiding

It looks cool to have the taskbar hide automatically, but it’s annoying if this feature doesn’t work correctly. Restarting Windows Explorer would probably have fixed this error, but if it didn’t, then you can try this fix.

It is probably best if you re-enable the auto-hide feature of the taskbar from the Settings app. Inside the Settings app, go to the Personalization menu and click on the Taskbar option from the sidebar. Click on the Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode toggle and enable it again.

Even though you have the auto-hide enabled, the auto-hiding of the taskbar might not work. It is usually affected when an app requires your attention. In standard scenarios, the app requiring attention will be a glowing app icon in the taskbar.

But it’s not always the case. It could be possible that there are no alerts or error messages. Instead, there is a popup or a notification on your browser that is disrupting the auto-hide feature.

The apps in the System tray could also be demanding your attention. You can try disabling notifications for some of the apps that aren’t important.

Step 1. Press the Win key and start typing Settings to open the Settings app.

Step 2. Open the System menu and navigate to the Notifications & actions option.

Step 3. Disable notifications for all the apps that you don’t need.

Fix 10. Try System Restore

If none of the above fixes worked for you, you need to restore the system to the point when the taskbar was working correctly. It will fix most of the Windows issues. Make sure to back up the files to protect against data loss.

Note: This fix will work only if you have previously created a restore point. If you haven’t, then skip this fix.

Step 1. Press the Win key and start typing Create a restore point to open the System Properties dialog box.

Step 2. Inside the System Protection tab, click on the System Restore button to initiate a restore.

Step 3. Follow the on-screen instructions, click on the Next button in the system restore window, and choose the restore point.

Step 4. Click Next.

Conclusion

We hope the above fixes were able to help you fix the taskbar, not working problems. You can also make other fixes, such as updating the Windows Store apps that might prevent the taskbar from functioning smoothly.

Frequently Asked Questions