Can’t find taskbar icons on your Windows desktop? That could be super frustrating. But don’t worry. Certainly you’re not the only one. Luckily, we’ve found the answer for you. Read on and see how to solve your missing taskbar or missing taskbar icons issue.
Try these fixes:
- Unhide the taskbar on your desktop
- Repopulate the taskbar on your desktop
- Restart Windows Explorer in Task Manager
- Update your available drivers
Solution 1: Unhide the taskbar on your desktop
If you don’t see the taskbar on your desktop, probably it’s hide. Follow to unhide your taskbar:
On your keyboard, hold down the Windows logo key, then press R to bring up the Run box.
Type control and press Enter.
Click Taskbar and Navigation when View by Large icons selected. (If you’re using Windows 7, select Taskbar and Start Menu.)
Toggle off Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode and Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode. (If you’re using Windows 7 or 8.1, toggle off Auto-hide the taskbar.)
On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and D together to display your desktop and check if you can see the taskbar.
Solution 2: Repopulate the taskbar on your desktop
Your missing taskbar issue could be also caused by the corrupted Windows image. You can fix it easily using the DISM command to perform a automatic repair.
Here’s how you can do it:
On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key to bring up the Start menu.
Type cmd, then right-click on Command Prompt from the pop-up result. Select Run as administrator.
Type the following command and press Enter.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Once it completes, close the Command Prompt window. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and D together to display your desktop and check if you can see the taskbar.
Solution 3: Restart Windows Explorer in Task Manager
Windows Explorer is responsible for controlling your desktop and taskbar. When your taskbar or taskbar icons is missing, you can restart Windows Explorer in Task Manager.
See how to do it:
On your keyboard, hold down Shift and Ctrl keys together, then press Esc to bring up Task Manager.
Under the Processes tab, right-click on Windows Explorer to select Restart.
Note: If you’re using Windows 7, right-click explorer.exe to select End process, then click File > New task(Run…). Type explorer.exe and press Enter.
On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and D together to display your desktop and check if you can see the taskbar.
Solution 4: Update your available drivers
Updating drivers should always be your go-to option when something goes wrong with your computer or system. Whether you choose to update the device drivers manually, using Windows Update, or you use a trusted third party product, it’s essential that you have the latest correct device drivers for your operating system at all times.
If you’re not comfortable playing with device drivers, we recommend using Driver Easy. It’s a tool that detects, downloads and (if you go Pro) installs any driver updates your computer needs.
To update your drivers with Driver Easy, just click the Scan Now button, then when it lists the drivers you need to update, click Update. The correct drivers will be downloaded, and you can install them – either manually through Windows or all automatically with Driver Easy Pro.
Hopefully this article helps. Feel free to comment below with your own experiences.