UWP icons dark on taskbar

I have started using some UWP apps and have pinned them to the taskbar. But on some PCs, the icons are dark so they cannot be seen. I can click the spot where I know they are and start the apps, I just cannot see them.

Initially, I thought it was an issue with Start10, but even after fully removing it the problem is the same. Things I've checked:
1) uninstall Start10 and reboot
2) Taskbar Settings -- identical between machine with dark icons and one with normal icons
3) right-click desktop and 'Personalize.' Every setting in Background, Colors, Themes, Taskbar, etc. is identical across machines. Default Windows mode is 'dark' and default app mode is light, transparency effects off, etc.
4) delete iconcache.db and reboot

This is driving me nuts because I cannot find a solution anywhere online. Any help is greatly appreciated! I'm on 1903 most recent non-Insider build, but this was an issue even with 1809. I just never bothered trying to figure it out until now.


I'm attaching a pic of a working one & one with dark icons. On the right-side of each image are icons for the MS Calendar and To-Do UWP apps, you just cannot see them on the second image.

Actually, I can see the icons on your screenshot (barely!!). If I move the image to the edges of my screen I can see that the icons show up in a slightly different shade of black than the taskbar itself. Maybe the backlighting is stronger there. Also, if I grab a screenshot of your image and expand it really large, I can just make out the icons.

I know that doesn't solve the problem so I am trying to do some research to see if I can find anything.

Question: You noted that this is happening on "some PCs", so are you seeing this happen on more than one PC? Anything in common with those PCs that is different than the ones where this is not happening?

Has this always been a problem or did it start right after any particular chage, software install / update, etc.?

Thanks for the reply. I initially thought and still suspect it may be due to Start10, because I have 3 PCs with Start10 on them that have the issue, and I have two without Start10 that don't have the issue. I have since uninstalled Start10 and rebooted on one of those, and the issue is still there. So it could be that Start10 had changed some registry key that's still changed, but I posted on the Stardock website, and they don't seem to think it's Start10.

Since those PCs with Start10 had it from day one, it's impossible to say whether it made the difference. It's only been in the past 6 months or so that I started using these UWP apps.

and wanted to post the solution in case anyone has this issue.

It was Start10 causing the issue. You can pick different styles of Start Menu in it -- Win7, Modern, and Win10 Styles. But Win7 and Win10 Styles have different icons for UWP apps. So since I had pinned the UWP apps to the taskbar while running in Win7 style (dark icons against light backgrounds), you could barely make them out. You need to be running in Win10 Style when you pin the apps to the taskbar.

Fix was really simple:
- unpin the UWP apps from the taskbar
- right-click Start10 start icon, 'Configure Star10...' and pick the 'Windows 10 Style'
- re-pin the UWP apps to the taskbar
- switch back to 'Windows 7 Style'