We hide the taskbar to expand space on our screen, but the taskbar is not hiding in Windows 10 when it supposes to, then the question arises. Solving the problem might seem easy enough for experts in this area, but I wouldn’t say the same for beginners. Fortunately, I have brought all available solutions for beginners and the guide focus on solving the advanced problem in the simplest way possible.
Basic Solution to Fix Windows 10 Taskbar Hiding Issue
I would never spend plenty of time on solving a problem that could be fixed in a few clicks. Of course, I don’t follow the temporary solutions for long-time usage, but it does come in handy when you have an important email to reply to.
- Open “Task Manager” or you can use CTRL + ALT +DEL button to view more options, and then click on it to open it.
- Select “Windows Explorer” and then tap on “Restart” to fix the problem immediately.
Open one file explorer or computer window and that’s when “Windows Explorer” shows up in the taskbar. Don’t get confused over this because I guided the PC administrator’s quick solution to resolve the problem. The taskbar will restart and don’t worry about the background running applications because the action won’t force close them.
Delete or Remove Third-party Personalization Programs
Millions of Windows PC are running third-party programs that don’t play a crucial role in running the system. I came across programs that promise to deliver a specific feature, and they don’t optimize it properly for Windows features and third-party program features to co-exist.
Remove programs that assist the Windows to look more beautiful and disable them temporarily. Double-check hidden icons for running programs and disable them one-by-one, and confirm, which one is the culprit.
Use Windows Update to solve taskbar not hiding
Microsoft released several software updates for a wide range of build versions, and many don’t know that there are several bugs in it. The newer updates focus on improving the overall experience, and I recommend the readers to keep the operating system up-to-date.
Don’t download “optional updates available” because they don’t add much value to the average consumer computer. Focus on installing important upgrades and make sure to keep an eye on what Microsoft is suggesting to the desktop-class users.
Auto Hide Taskbar Automatically in Settings
There is nothing wrong in confirming our actions and see if we have made any changes to the system. I believe revisiting the settings page to double-check whether we have modified anything.
- Press Windows Key + I button from the keyboard and the shortcut will open “Settings” automatically.
- Click on “Personalization” to continue.
- Now, tap on Taskbar located at the bottom of the screen.
- Enable options as per the image.
Restart the Windows machine, if every single option grayed out. Rebooting the machine will eliminate previous session data, and start afresh session for newer challenges.
Make sure you have correct Group Policy settings
Wrong Group Policy configuration can trigger the autohide feature to work incorrectly, and it will appear enabled from the settings. Group Policy editor will allow the administrator to make changes to the computer at the coding level, and we are going to utilize the feature to resolve the problem.
- Go to the “Run” and then type (gpedit.msc) in the empty field, and then click on “OK” to run the program.
- Navigate to (User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar) the given location.
- Click on the “Notifications” folder, and check, if you can find “Lock the taskbar” from the list.
- Double-click on the “Lock the taskbar” and click on “Enable” and then click on “OK” to confirm the changes.
I couldn’t show the “Lock the taskbar” from the list because I don’t have an activated copy of Windows PC. If the mentioned taskbar Group Policy is missing from the list, then it indicates that Windows did not enable the feature yet.
