How To Fix Taskbar Icons Missing/ Disappearing In Windows 10

How To Fix Taskbar Icons Missing/ Disappearing In Windows 10

Method 1: Restart Your Windows

This may sound a little cliche or too obvious but sometimes it can help. So if you haven’t tried restarting your Windows 10 then you should certainly consider doing this before you move to the next method to fix this issue.

Here is how you can do that:

• Press CTRL + Shift + Esc keys simultaneously on your keyboard to open the Taskbar
• Now, find Windows Explorer then right-click on it and select End Task.
• Now, select File and then select the Run new task.
• Write explorer.exe in it and then check to create this task with administrative privileges
• Now click on OK

Method 2: Delete IconCache from Your Computer

Another thing that you can do would be to Delete the IconCache from your computer. This can too solve the issue easily and swiftly. As you know sometimes the extra cache can cause a little trouble and make things function inappropriately.

Here is how you can do that:

• Open the Run window by pressing the Windows and Run key together on your computer
• In the Run dialog, you need to type %appdata% and then hit Enter
• It will open the Roaming folder on your computer
• Now, in this roaming folder, you will need to find the Appdata and select it to open the folder
• Next, you will have to double click on the Local folder to access it
• In this local folder, click the view in the menu. See if the option of Hidden Icon is checked (if not, then you can check it).
• In the local folder, find IconCache or IconCache.db and delete its database file from your computer
• Once it’s done, close the File Explorer and then Restart your computer. This should solve your issue, of not then move to the next solution.

Method 3: Use Command Prompt

If the above methods didn’t work for you, then you may wanna use the command prompt and try solving the issue as well. Here is what you will need to do:

• Search cmd in the taskbar search for your Windows 10.
• Now, choose and right-click on the run as an administrator option
• Copy and paste this command and then hit Enter, DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
• Now, wait for a while until the process is completed and when it’s done, you should restart the computer and check whether the issue has been resolved or not.

Method 4: Turn Off Controlled Folder Access

The next thing that you can try to fix the taskbar icons missing in Windows 10 is to turn off the folder access. Sometimes this access can also cause the issue of missing icons on your Taskbar and turning it off might fix it as well. So here is how you can do this;

• Open the Start Menu and then locate and open the Settings
• Now, within the Settings, you should find the Update and Security
• Now, select the Windows security from the menu
• You need to find the Virus and Threat Settings, after that you will need to scroll down and toggle off Controlled Folder Access

You can now see if the issue has been resolved or not. If not, then move to the next solution.

Method 5: Reinstall the Taskbar

Reinstalling the Taskbar can solve many problems related to the taskbar, so if nothing else is working for you, you may want to reinstall the taskbar. Follow these steps to do that:

• Search Powershell in the Windows 10 search
• Now choose and right click on the run as administrator option
• Next, you will need to type Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}
• Now hit the Enter key on the screen

Wait for the process to complete and then Restart the computer. The taskbar would be automatically installed and may be updated as well. This would certainly fix the taskbar icon missing in Windows 10 issue. If not then move to the next solution.

Method 6: Remove temp Files

Another one of the things that you can do to fix the taskbar icons missing in Windows 10 is to remove the temp files from your computer. Here is how you can do that:

• Open Run dialog by pressing Windows +R key on your keyboard
• Now type %temp% and click okay on it
• Delete everything in the temp files and then restart the computer to see whether it worked for you.

Method 7: Disable Tablet Mode

Sometimes your PC or computer is running on tablet mode and this can cause some icons to disappear from the taskbar. This is done to create a more touch-friendly interface. If this is the case then all you have to do is to switch back to the desktop mode which might solve the issue for you. Here is how you can do that:

• Press Windows + I together to open settings or go there from the start menu.
• Within the Settings, locate and click on System
• Now locate and click on the Tablet option from the left menu
• Now, you need to do in the right side and select the option Never use a Tablet Mode

If your computer is on tablet mode and this is what causes the icons to disappear then it should solve your problem, if not then move to the next solution.

Method 8: Check Taskbar Icon Settings

• Search Taskbar Settings in the search box and then click on them
• Now scroll down on the right side and click on the Select which icons appear on the Taskbar
• Now, select those icons which you want on the taskbar.

Method 9: Update Your Device

For the last option, you may try updating your device. If nothing else worked then updating your device may solve the issue as sometimes the outdated devices or software can cause such problems. So try updating your device and see if it has been solved or not. For this, you need to go to the settings, and then to the Update and security to find out if there is an update available. If there is, then download the latest version and install it. It would take a while before your device is updated. If you are already running the version, then try the other methods on the list.

Conclusion

So these are some of the best ways to fix the taskbar icons missing issue in Windows 10. We have mentioned them as they have been found effective and a lot of people have said that they have solved the issue in their Windows as well. As you can see we have listed out several methods to fix the taskbar icons missing in Windows 10 so you can use any of them and see which one works for you.

That would be all for now and we hope that our article helped you. So go ahead and try these out.