How to fix taskbar

Move the pointer to the bottom edge of the screen; if the taskbar appears, disable its automatic hiding in Windows 10.

1. Turn off taskbar auto-hide

1. Move the pointer to the very bottom edge of the screen.
2. When the taskbar appears, right-click it and select Taskbar settings.
3. Turn off:
   • Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode
   • Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode, if enabled

These settings control whether Windows hides the taskbar until the pointer reaches the screen edge.^1^

If it does not appear, press Windows key + I, select Personalization > Taskbar, and turn off the same settings.

2. Restart Windows Explorer

If auto-hide is already off or the taskbar remains missing:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. If necessary, select More details.
3. Under Processes, find Windows Explorer.
4. Right-click it and select Restart.

The desktop may disappear briefly while Windows reloads its interface. A matching missing-taskbar case identifies restarting Windows Explorer as the next recovery action.^2^

If Windows Explorer is not listed:

1. In Task Manager, select File > Run new task.
2. Enter explorer.exe.
3. Select OK.

3. Check whether it moved to another display

If the problem started after connecting or disconnecting a monitor:

1. Press Windows key + P.
2. Select PC screen only.
3. Check whether the taskbar returns to the primary display.

4. Repair Windows files only if the earlier steps fail

Open Task Manager, select File > Run new task, enter cmd, check Create this task with administrative privileges, and run:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
sfc /scannow

Wait for each command to finish, then restart the computer. Microsoft documents this order for repairing the Windows image and protected system files.^3^

If the administrator option is unavailable on a managed work or school computer, contact the organization’s IT administrator rather than attempting registry changes or a Windows reset.

References

1. Windows 10
2. Show bottom taskbar - Microsoft Q&A
3. Windows 10