Windows 10: Ghost icons on taskbar

After upgrading from Windows 10 to 11 I noticed that I had some ghost icons from Windows 10 still on the taskbar in the bottom left hand side. I have tried everything I can think of including a complete reinstall of Windows 11. Can anyone help? I am using an Alienware M15 R2.

:)

 

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.

 

Phantom/Ghost icons on the taskbar


Hello everybody,

I am having an issue with Mozilla Thunderbird. During installation on Windows 10, I chose to pin it to the taskbar.

Today, I tried to unpin Thunderbird from the taskbar; unfortunately this resulted in a phantom/ghost icon. I can move its position on the taskbar in the same way as other icons. I can right-click on it, which brings up the same Thunderbird context menu as before. However, a left-click does not start Thunderbird (or do anything).

After this, I repinned Thunderbird to the taskbar but that did not help. At this point I had two icons for Thunderbird: a phantom/ghost and one that worked as it should.

Now, I try to unpin the working Thunderbird icon. The result is two phantom/ghost icons for Thunderbird.

I have no idea what is going on. Please help. Thank you!

Kind regards,
Mark

PS: If you could direct me to a built-in GUI taskbar manager of some kind that would be awesome!

 

Ghost Taskbar Button

Hi Blake,

For us to isolate your concern with the invisible mail icon on your taskbar, we would like to know the following:

• Were there any changes made on your computer prior to the issue?
• To make sure that we have not missed on anything, what troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
• Is this the first time you experienced the issue?
• Send us a screenshot of your taskbar.

We look forward to your response.