Top 9 Solutions to Windows 10 Taskbar Icons Missing

Taskbar is an element of an operating system located at the bottom of the screen. This feature allows you to locate and launch a program through the Start and the Start menu. On the Taskbar, there are a lot of icons that correspond to the windows open with a program. Clicking these icons allows the user to easily switch between programs or windows.

In addition, users can also pin files or programs to the Taskbar so that they can access them quickly and conveniently. But something would be contrary to fact. Some users say that their icons disappear from the Taskbar or can’t find icons from the Taskbar.

If you also come across the error of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing, do not worry. You can find them back by the following methods. So, in the following section, we will show you how to fix the error of Taskbar icons disappeared.

Top 9 Solutions to Windows 10 Taskbar Icons Missing

Here, we will show you how to solve the error of Windows 10 taskbar icon missing.

Quick Video Guide:

Way 1. Restart Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer is designed to control your desktop and Taskbar. When your Taskbar is missing or Taskbar icons are missing, you can try restarting Windows Explorer.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Ctrl, Shift and Esc keys together to open Task Manager.

2. Then select Windows Explorer and right-click it.

3. Then choose End Task.

4. Then choose File > Run new task on Task Manager.

5. In the pop-up window, type explorer.exe and check the option Create this task with administrative privileges.

6. At last, click OK to continue.

Once all steps are finished, the Windows Explorer will be restarted and check whether Taskbar icons are back and the issue of Taskbar icons missing is fixed.

Way 2. Disable Tablet Mode

If you are using the Tablet mode, you may not see the icons on the Taskbar. So, you can choose to disable Tablet mode and many users fix this problem with this method.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and I key together to open Settings.
2. Then choose System.
3. Navigate to the Tablet Mode.
4. Then choose Use desktop mode under When I sign in section.

After that, reboot your computer and check whether the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing is fixed or not.

Way 3. Delete IconCache from Your Computer

In order to solve the problem of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing, you can also try deleting IconCache from your computer.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and R key together to open the Run dialog.

2. Type %appdata% in the box and click OK to continue.

3. Then the Roaming folder will be opened.

4. Then click Appdata in the address bar to go to that folder.

5. Then open the Local folder.

6. Next, click View in the menu bar and check the option Hidden items.

7. Then find the IconCache item in this folder and delete it.

After that, the IconCache file will be deleted on your computer. Then close the File Explorer window and restart your computer to check whether the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar icons invisible is solved.

Way 4. Turn off Controlled Folder Access

In order to fix the error of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing, you can choose to turn off Controlled Folder Access.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and I key together to open Settings.
2. Choose Update & Security.
3. Switch to the Windows Defender
4. Then click Open Windows Defender Security Center.
5. In the pop-up window, click Virus & threat Protection.
6. Then scroll down to find out Virus & threat protection settings and click it.
7. In the pop-up window, scroll down to find Controller folder access and switch it to Off.

Once all steps are finished, reboot your computer and check whether the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar icons disappeared is fixed.

Way 5. Run System File Checker

If there are corrupted system files on your computer, you may also come across the issue of Windows 10 pinned Taskbar icons missing. In this situation, you need to repair the corrupted system files. To do that, Windows built-in tool – System File Checker is competent.

Now, we will show you how to use System File Checker to scan and repair corrupted system files on your computer.

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator.

2. In the Command Line window, type the command sfc /scannow and hit Enter to continue.

3. Then wait for the process to be finished. Please do not close the command line window until you see the message verification 100% complete.

4. However, if you encounter an error in which Windows states that it found some errors but was unable to fix them, you should type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth in the Command Line window. Then it will download the corrupt files from the Windows update Servers and replace the corrupt ones.

After all steps are finished, reboot your computer and check whether the problem of Taskbar icons disappeared is solved.

Way 6. Reinstall Windows Taskbar

If you come across the error of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing, you can choose to reinstall Taskbar. However, you are not allowed to uninstall the application directly, but you can uninstall it with a PowerShell cmdlet.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Type PowerShell in the search box of Windows and choose the best matched one.
2. Then right-click it to choose Run as administrator.
3. Then type the following command which will re-install all the default Windows applications.

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

After the process is finished, restart your computer and check whether the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing is fixed.

Way 7. Remove Temporary Files

Apart from the above solutions, here is another way for you to fix the error of Windows 10 taskbar icons missing. You can try removing temporary files.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Press Windows key and R key together to open Run dialog.
2. Type %temp% in the box and click OK to continue.
3. In the pop-up window, check all files in this folder and delete them.

After all steps are finished, you have cleared the temporary files. Restart your computer and check whether the problem of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing is fixed.

MiniTool System Booster TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Way 8. Show Icons on Taskbar

If the icons are hidden on the Taskbar, you may not see them. In this situation, you need to make sure the icons are set to be shown on Taskbar.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Right-click on the Taskbar and choose Taskbar settings.
2. Then scroll down to the Notification areas.
3. Select which icons appear on the taskbar.
4. Switch the option Always show all icons in the notification areas to ON.

After that, restart your computer and check whether the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar icons not showing is fixed or not.

Way 9. Reinstall OS

If all the above solutions are not able to help you to get icons back on Taskbar, you may need to try to reinstall the operating system as a last resort. In general, reinstalling the operating system is able to fix most system-related problems. But, in this way, it will revert your Windows settings and may lead to data loss.

So, before going ahead with OS reinstallation, it is advised to back up all your data and save all your work. After that, you can begin to reinstall the OS.

Now, here is the tutorial.

1. Create a bootable USB drive with Windows 10 Media Creation Tool.
2. Then connect the bootable USB drive with your computer and change the boot order to boot the computer from it.
3. Next, select the language, time and keyboard input.
4. Then click Repair your computer to continue.
5. Next, you need to follow the on-screen wizard to complete the OS installation process. For more detailed instructions, you can also read the post: Detailed Steps and Instructions to Reinstall Windows 10

After all steps are finished, you have reinstalled the operating system and the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing is also resolved.

It is an amazing post because it helped me to fix the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing. I’d like to share it with more friends.Click to Tweet

Top Recommendation: Back up Windows 10

After the issue of Windows 10 Taskbar icons disappeared is resolved, it is recommended to back up the Windows 10 operating system. When it happens again or you come across some other system errors, such as Taskbar frozen, etc, system image is a good way to safeguard your PC and helps you to restore your computer to an earlier date.

So, to back up Windows 10, you can use the professional backup software – MiniTool ShadowMaker. It is designed to back up files, folders, partitions, disks and the operating system and enables you to restore your computer to a previous state with the system image.

Now, we will show you how to back up Windows 10.

1. Click the following button to download MiniTool ShadowMaker, install it and launch it.

MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

2. Click Keep Trial.

3. Then you will enter the main interface of MiniTool ShadowMaker. Please go to the Backup You will find MiniTool ShadowMaker chooses the operating system as the backup source by default. And there is no need for you to choose it again.

4. Then click the Destination module to choose a target disk to save the backup image. It is recommended to choose an external hard drive.

5. Then click Back up Now to start to back up Windows 10.

After the process is completed, you have created the system image. When there are errors occurring on your computer, you can directly restore your computer to a normal state with the system image.

Bottom Line

To sum up, in order to solve the error of Windows 10 Taskbar icons missing, this post has shown 9 reliable solutions. If your icons are disappeared on Taskbar, try these solutions.

If you have any different ideas to solve this problem, you can share it in the comment zone. In addition, if you have any problem with MiniTool ShadowMaker, please feel free to contact us via the email [email protected] and we will reply to you as soon as possible.

Windows 10 Taskbar Icons Missing FAQ