Strange taskbar issues

cwburns32 · 13 Jul 2020

Hello all,

I have tried restarting the computer and then also restarting explorer.exe and neither have worked. First my taskbar will randomly show over a fullscreen game, fullscreen YouTube video or even over my work Citrix environment. It is completely random and no real way to recreate the issue. Second, none of the popups work on my buttons within the system icons area. If I click on Network, Sound or even the clock/calendar, nothing pops up. I can click the expand arrow which allows me to left and right click on all of my applications with ese but anything that is pinned to the system icon area does not function properly. Not sure where issue lies. Maybe a registry issue?

Windows 10 64-bit build # 19041.329, Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2202.130.0

eroopli123 · 14 Jul 2020

Type CMD in search box next to start to open the Command Prompt and select run as (Admin)

Then input sfc /scannow command and press the Enter key

Wait until the scan is over. Once it is - close the utility you are using (Command Prompt)

Then Run the DISM tool

Open the Command Prompt with administrative privileges

Type DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

Press the Enter key to run the command.

Wait for the all-clear to proceed - and restart your computer.
Then check your Taskbar to see if it fixes the issue

Barman58 · 14 Jul 2020

I've seen this on my own systems and on many others for as long as I've been using Windows (after the taskbar first appeared). It just seems to happen randomly without any set reason ( at least that I can figure out). I have tried various cures found online and in the end after they all at best temporarily cured the issue I have reverted to the original method I've always used ... ... a reboot of the system will usually clear the issue, I know that this is often not convenient, (especially for a gamer,I don't game but do a lot of image editing with full screen applications).

Sometimes merely resetting the taskbar to fixed and Auto hide a few times will clear the fault

cwburns32 · 14 Jul 2020

Barman58 said:

I've seen this on my own systems and on many others for as long as I've been using Windows (after the taskbar first appeared). It just seems to happen randomly without any set reason ( at least that I can figure out). I have tried various cures found online and in the end after they all at best temporarily cured the issue I have reverted to the original method I've always used ... ... a reboot of the system will usually clear the issue, I know that this is often not convenient, (especially for a gamer,I don't game but do a lot of image editing with full screen applications).

Sometimes merely resetting the taskbar to fixed and Auto hide a few times will clear the fault

A simple restart fixes the persistent taskbar but I cannot for the life of me get the popups to come up in the notification/system tray area. Clicking the sound button does nothing, clicking the calendar does nothing, clicking the network does nothing. No matter how many times I restart my system or reset the taskbar. Frustrating as all hell but it sounds like it might just be it is what it is.