How to Fix The Taskbar Icons Missing in Windows 10/11

Last updated on February 9th, 2024 at 01:01 pm

There are many changes in Windows 11; one of the most notable changes is to the Taskbar. This element does come with new features, however, and it is no different from other elements. A large number of users have reported missing Windows Taskbar icons error.

However, a large number of users are finding that the taskbar icons don’t appear on their Windows 10/11 computers. In case Windows Taskbar icons missing, sometimes it get resolved by just restart crucial Windows processes. But, in case it won’t helps, we have some fixes. So, let’s check out what you need to do in order to resolve this issue.

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Why are the Taskbar icons missing in Windows 10/11 PC?

The following reasons may explain why you aren’t able to find icons on your Taskbar:

On your PC, you are in tablet mode.
There is a problem with Windows’ Icon Cache.
Display drivers are outdated.
It seems that you have corrupted system files.
There is an error caused by a recent update.

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How to Fix The Taskbar Icons Missing in Windows 10/11

Here are some fixes that will and have the potential to resolve if you are facing an issue with the Taskbar on your Windows 10/11 PC:

Fix 1: Restart Your PC

Whenever you encounter a software-related problem, restarting your computer is the first step to take. If you restart your computer, the taskbar settings will be reset, and the icons will reappear.

Fix 2: Delete Taskbar Icons

In Windows 11 PCs, deleting the Taskbar icons using a batch file will also fix the Taskbar icons missing. Here is how to do it.

On your computer, open Notepad and paste the entire command below. Basically, it removes the Taskbar icons and deletes associated Registry entries. After that, it automatically restarts Windows Explorer.
DEL /F /S /Q /A “%AppData%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\*” REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband /F taskkill /f /im explorer.exe start explorer.exe
On Notepad, click on File in the top menu and then Save as.
Afterward, using the Save as Type drop-down menu, choose All Files. To illustrate, I used the file name – Taskbar. After that, add .bat to the file name to make it a batch file. Then click Save.
Go to the folder where you saved the batch file. Then right-click it and choose Run as administrator.
It should take a few seconds for the Taskbar icons to appear on your Windows 11 PC after you open the Command Prompt. However, in case the issue persists, try restarting the PC.

Fix 3: Restart Windows Explorer

In Windows Explorer, the Taskbar is one of the interfaces that help you interact with the OS. It may act strangely or not display any icons if you restart its process. Nevertheless, you will have to restart Windows Explorer since it is integrated into it.

Initially, on your keyboard, press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys simultaneously.
Open the Task Manager window.
Afterward, find Windows Explorer in the list of processes.
If you right-click it, you will see a drop-down menu.
Then select Restart.
By doing this, Windows Explorer should restart, and the Taskbar issue should be resolved.
Now, check if the taskbar icons appear.

If you are experiencing the icons not showing on your Taskbar, you can temporarily fix the issue by restarting the File Explorer service via the Task Manager.

Fix 4: Delete IconCache from Your Computer

It may also be a good idea to delete the IconCache folder from your computer to solve the Windows 10/11 Taskbar icons missing problem.

Initially, to open the Run dialog, press the Windows key and R together.
To continue, type %localappdata% in the box and click OK.
After that, the Roaming folder will be opened.
In the address bar, click Appdata to open that folder.
You will then need to open the Local folder.
In the menu bar, click View and check Hidden items.
In this folder, find and delete the IconCache.db item.

Once this has been done, your computer will delete the IconCache file. If the Windows 11 Taskbar icons are invisible, close the File Explorer window, then restart your computer.

Fix 5: Quit Tablet Mode

You’re bound to lose all of your taskbar icons if you have been using your Windows PC in tablet mode. It is usually not possible to access the Taskbar while using a tablet. Therefore, you should turn it off on Windows 11 using these steps:

Initially, to open Settings, press the Windows key and I key together.
Then select System > Display.
Tap on the Display Orientation.
Now, if the Display is set in Portrait mode, then change it to Landscape.

However, in case you have a Windows 10 PC and facing the missing taskbar icons issue, then to come out of the tablet mode, you must perform these steps:

Initially, to open Settings, press the Windows key and I key together.
Then select System.
Go to the Tablet Mode.
Click on the Use Desktop mode option under the When I Sign In section.

Fix 6: Restart Windows Components

Your PC may experience numerous problems related to other Windows components, among them disappearing Taskbar icons. Here are the steps for restarting Windows components to fix the Taskbar icons missing issue on Windows PC quickly:

Open the Security options menu by pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys. Select Task Manager.
Afterward, in the Task Manager window, click the details tab, as shown below.
Select the ShellExperienceHost process from the details tab. Select the End task option.
Upon receiving a confirmation dialog, click End process. In addition to SearchIndexer, SearchHost, and RuntimeBroker, you should follow the same steps to end them as well.
To begin a new task, click Run new task.
Select the Create new task dialog, type SearchIndexer.exe, and then click OK.

Likewise, kill the previously killed ShellExperienceHost, SearchHost, and RunTimeBroker processes. It is possible that Windows has already restarted a particular task if you receive an error when launching one. If the icons appear on the Taskbar after you restart all four services, then the problem has been resolved. If this did not solve the Taskbar icons missing on the Windows 10/11 problem, move on to the next one.

Fix 7: Perform a Clean Boot

Usually, you need to uninstall a third-party program, causing problems after you restart your computer. In order to resolve software conflicts caused by previous login sessions, a clean boot should be performed.

To access Windows Run Command, press Win+R and enter msconfig.
You will see a pop-up window for System Configuration.
Go to the Services tab in System Configuration.
Make sure Hide all Microsoft Services is checked.
To disable all non-Microsoft services, click Disable all.
If you click Apply > OK, the PC will restart cleanly.

Fix 8: Uninstall Any Recent Windows Updates

The Taskbar icons missing issue may occur after a recent Windows update, so we recommend uninstalling it and seeing if it fixes the problem. To assist you, please follow the guide below.

Using Win+I to open Settings, then click Windows Update.
Click the Update History button.
Then click Uninstall Updates.
Afterward, you will see a list of updates that have recently been installed on your system. To find the latest version, check their dates. The same can be uninstalled by clicking Uninstall.
To confirm your choice, click Uninstall again.

Fix 9: Reinstall the Windows Taskbar

To resolve the problem of missing Taskbar icons in Windows 10/11 PC, you can reinstall Taskbar. It is not possible to uninstall the application directly, but a PowerShell cmdlet can be used to uninstall it.

Initially, in the Windows search box, type PowerShell and choose the best match.
Right-click it and choose Run as administrator.
To reinstall all Windows default applications, type the following command. Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

Once the reinstallation process is complete, restart your computer and check whether the issue with missing Taskbar icons on Windows 10/11 has been resolved.

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So, that’s all we have for you on how to fix the Windows 10/11 Taskbar icons missing error. It’s our hope that the fixes mentioned above helped you. For more info regarding this icon error, comment below and let us know.

How to Fix The Taskbar Icons Missing in Windows 10/11

Why are the Taskbar icons missing in Windows 10/11 PC?