Windows 10: Blank Taskbar Entry

So, as you can see, near the bottom right, there is a blank taskbar entry. The popup menu does little to clarify (pin to taskbar and close all windows, neither of which does anything as far as I can see). The blank is between the Paint.net icon and the Steam Icon and the popup was what you get with a right-click on that taskbar space.

Now, I think it somehow had something to do with Avast Safe Browser. I got an Avast update at some point and must not have been careful to say 'don't give me extra crud' and ended up with that installed. I think I then created a shortcut or otherwise got it onto the taskbar (pin to taskbar for the program or the shortcut... not sure which).

Anyway, I used Avast's Safe Browser Removal Tool and it is not on my system anymore. But I have this sort of zombie taskbar space that no longer shows the Safe Browser Icon (used to above the other two options in the image but I don't have a screen shot, but it did show up there) and yet... I cannot unpin from the taskbar that which believes it is not pinned there....

I'm not afraid of registry work. I just don't know where Windows 10 stores its Taskbar entries and how to wipe out that dead Taskbar entry.

Windows 10 Home build 18363

(I'm going to flatten and reinstall Win 10, I just haven't got everything off this box yet and life seems to keep preventing me from getting to do that... it stuck on an update and I tried the update manually no better... I'm gonna go for a clean sweep once I get all the data off. I thought I had it all, but then I realized there's a bunch of stuff buried in AppData and all the Steam Games stick save games in places other than their install location.... anyway, not ready quite yet to drop this box to rebuild the OS from a fresh install.

Besides, it bugs me that I don't know how to deal with this blank taskbar entry.

PS - After doing a bit of net research with somewhat similar issues (people having strange taskbar entry problems), I uninstalled Google Backup and Sync. That didn't do anything for me.

:)

 

Blank icons in taskbar on Windows 2016

Hello,

For us to better assist you, we'd like to know the following:

• Confirm which build is currently installed on your device. To check, follow the steps below:

• Press Windows key + R, then type in winver.
• Click OK.

• Confirm the said application you're using so we could fully understand the cause of the issue.
• Were there any recent changes made prior to this issue?

Meanwhile, we suggest restarting the Explorer.exe on the Task Manager. This may help resolve the issue with blank icons on the Taskbar. Refer to the steps below:

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del, then select Task Manager.

2. On the Task Manager window, click on More Details at the bottom left if it doesn't shows the
Processes tab.

3. Scroll down the list of the Windows processes and locate Windows Explorer and right-click on it and select
Restart.

Note: The desktop icons and the Taskbar will refresh and will be gone for a moment after this process. It should reappear automatically.

We look forward to your response.

Regards.

 

System Icons on taskbar

Hi,

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Communities.

Are you referring to the clock system icon on the taskbar?

If so, I suggest you to follow the steps mentioned below:

• 
  Click on the search bar on the taskbar.
  
• 
  Type system icons.
  
• 
  Under Turn System Icons ON or OFF, turn On the Clock and check with the issue.
  

Hope it helps.

 

How to fix taskbar showing generic blank icons on Windows 7 professional?

How to fix taskbar showing generic blank icons on Windows 7 professional?





These icons correspond to Windows Explorer, IE and Office 365 programs.

Steps i took to resolve issue, but did not help are:

1. In order to fix generic blank icon issue on taskbar i killed explorer.exe and restarted it but this did not resolve issue.
2. Ran quick repair on Office 365 & restarted Windows.