How to fix error Show Desktop button unusable on Windows 10

On Windows 10, there is usually a button called Show Desktop located in the bottom right corner of the screen (next to the Action Center button). The function of this button helps users to quickly hide all working windows and display the Desktop by hovering over it, useful in cases where you want to quickly view data on the Desktop.

If you are having problems with this button then we will give some ways to resolve the problem.

Turn off the Peek to Preview feature

The first most common cause is that the Peek to Preview feature is turned off, preventing you from using Show Desktop. To enable the feature, do the following:

Step 1: Press the Windows + I key combination to open the Settings application.

Step 2: Next, select Personalization.

Step 3: Select on the line Taskbar in the left menu bar.

Step 4: Finally turn on the option Use Peek to Preview the desktop… to activate. Then try again to see if Show Desktop is working again.

Re-register the DLL

If the Use Peek to Preview the desktop… option is enabled and the feature still doesn't work, re-register the DLL file with the system.

Step 1: Press the Windows + R key combination, then type regsvr32 / i shell32.dll and press Enter.

Step 2: Restart the computer to apply the change.

Turn off Tablet mode

When the computer switches to Tablet mode is also the cause of the error that the Peek to Preview cannot be used. To turn off this mode, do the following:

Step 1: Click the Action Center button at the bottom of the taskbar.

Step 2: Click Next on the Expand option.

Step 3: Finally, click on Tablet Mode to turn off Tablet mode.

Restart Windows Explorer

Sometimes the unstable Windows Explorer service also causes this problem, you just need to restart its process.

Step 1: To restart Windows Explorer, right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.

Step 2: Next, at the Processes tab, navigate to the File Explorer process, right-click on it and select Restart.

Create shortcut for Show Desktop

You can create yourself a shortcut with the same functionality as Show Desktop and pin it to the taskbar to use. So everything will work again the same as when you use the original Show Desktop, to do the following:

Step 1: Right-click on the desktop and choose New> Shortcut.

Step 2: Next, paste the path explorer.exe shell ::: {3080F90D-D7AD-11D9-BD98-0000947B0257} and click Next> name the shortcut and click Finish.

Step 3: Finally right-click on the Shortcut and select Pin to Taskbar to pin it to the taskbar for easy use later.

Marvin Fry

Update 02 November 2020