Steps to recover lost Taskbar icon on Windows 10

This is a common problem on Windows 10 devices. It leaves a space between your other pinned taskbar icons. In the worst case scenario, all your pinned taskbar icons might suddenly disappear.

This problem can be annoying, but the article will show you how to solve it.

1. Unpin and re-pin apps to the taskbar

The easiest way to solve this is to unpin and re-pin the faulty app.

Step 1: To get started, right-click on the pinned taskbar application and select Unpin from taskbar .

Step 2: Next, enter the name of the application in the Windows search bar.

Step 3: Right click on the best match and select Pin to taskbar .

2. Reinstall or update the app

An app can suddenly hide from the taskbar if it crashes or has other problems. Reinstalling or updating the app can help with this problem. If you decide to reinstall, make sure you download the app from a safe website.

3. Clear icon cache

Clearing the icon cache can also help. But since this file is in a hidden folder, you will have to show hidden files on File Explorer.

Step 1: Open File Explorer and select File in the upper left corner of the screen.

Step 2: Select Options and navigate to the View tab .

Step 3: In the Advanced settings section , select the option Show hidden files, folders, and drives .

Step 4: Click Apply > OK to apply these changes.

Step 5: Next, press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box . Type appdata and press Enter. Open the Local folder , right-click IconCache and select Delete.

Step 6: Close File Explorer and restart your PC.

4. Turn off Tablet Mode

If your PC is in Tablet Mode, all your pinned taskbar icons may disappear. However, this depends on your PC settings. Therefore, you can turn off Tablet Mode to solve this problem.

Step 1: To get started, open Action Center by pressing Windows key + A .

Step 2: If the Tablet mode utility is blue, this indicates that it is enabled. Click on it to disable it.

If your PC always boots in Tablet mode, you can change this by configuring your Windows 10 Settings.

Step 1: Navigate to Start menu > PC Settings > System .

Step 2: Select Tablet mode on the left.

Step 3: Select the When I sign in drop-down menu on the right.

Step 4: Select the Use desktop mode option .

If you are using a touchscreen device and want to enable Tablet Mode, that's okay too. You can still show your pinned taskbar icons in this mode. Open the Tablet mode settings like the previous steps. From there, disable the Hide app icons on the taskbar in tablet mode button .

5. Using the DISM and SFC . tools

As pointed out, this error can be caused by corrupted system files. To fix the problem, run an SFC scan on your PC. This will scan your PC for corrupted or missing system files. But first, you need to run the DISM tool. It should be noted that DISM has many different functions. In this case, it will ensure that the SFC works properly.

To run DISM, follow these steps:

Step 1: Press Windows key + R and type CMD.

Step 2: Press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt with admin rights.

Step 3: Type the following command and press Enter :

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

Wait for the scan to complete. From there, type the following command and press Enter :

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Restart the PC when the scan is complete.

To run the SFC tool, open Command Prompt following the previous steps. Type the following command and press Enter :

sfc /scannow

Close Command Prompt when the scan is complete. Restart your PC to save these changes.

Hope you are succesful.

Jessica Tanner

Update 24 May 2021