Windows 10: My taskbar is missing and the system setting wont even open. Tried some fixes but didn't work

Just 2 days ago my laptop is doing fine until the next I opened it and notice that the taskbar is missing. When I hover over where the taskbar is supposed to be located, the mouse icon would only show a loading state. I also cannot open the system settings at this point also opening a photo/video won't work either. I have done some fixing measures found on the internet e.g. dism checkhealth/restore health, sfc scan and even tried to re-install the windows 11 by using the windows media creation tool. All of them didn't fix the issue.I also found this thread:Windows 11 taskbar missing and cant

:)

 

System Icons/Overflow arrow missing from taskbar

Greetings! I need help! I am running windows 10 pro with updates

Recently i had to force a restart, now the little overflow arrow on the right side of the taskbar is gone and i am not able to access networking, volume, or any recently opened programs like my VPN. I have tried several fixes listed online, such as turning
them on and off in the various settings menus. I have tried exiting explorer and restarting it as well as the pc itself several times.

Basically everything listed here short of the system restore..Fix System icons missing from Windows Taskbar

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you very much for your time! Tony

 

Windows 10 Taskbar is not working and "fixes" don't fix it.

Hi Carole,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community and being a part of Windows 10.

I understand your concern about accessing Taskbar on Windows 10. We will help you with resolving the issue.

Provide us the additional information to understand the issue and assist you better:

• What exactly happens when you press Alt+Tab keys from the keyboard to switch between the apps?
• Have you made any changes to the operating system prior to this issue?
• What are the troubleshooting steps you have tried to resolve the issue?

As you said Taskbar is not working, and you will minimize all the opened apps to access the one you wish to from Taskbar. Be clear with how exactly you are trying to accessing the apps from Taskbar.

Step 1: I suggest you to check if you have enabled the Auto-hide option for Taskbar, if so try to disable and check if it helps.

Steps to enable auto-hide Taskbar:

• Right click in the empty space on the Taskbar, click on
  Properties,
• Under Taskbar tab, uncheck the Auto-hide the Taskbar option, click on
  Apply and Ok.

Step 2: I suggest you to install all the pending updates on your device.

• Connect to the internet.
• Press Windows key and type
  updates.
• Click on Check for updates.
• Under Windows Updates, click on
  Check for updates.
• Try to install the updates being shown.

Hope it helps. Get back to us with an updated status of this issue and brief description for further assistance.

 

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.