Taskbar does not Auto-hide all the time Windows 7

Anonymous
2009-11-21T17:32:06+00:00

**Original Title**Windows 7 taskbar won't consistantly autohide. After changing the properties to Autohide and clicking 'OK', it hides for a brief second then reappears. Other times it autohides as desired.

My taskbar autohide behaves in an erratic pattern.  When I have an alert, it autohides after resolving the alert, but other times it refuses to go away, even if I, once again, open the properties, uncheck autohide, recheck autohide, then click 'apply' and/or 'OK'. As I type this, the taskbar stubbornly remains!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2010-03-29T18:26:16+00:00

In the "good old days" applicaitons would often un-hide the Taskbar so their notification icons could show an updated status and they could ensure it would be seen.  I think this method has fallen out of favor, but older applications that haven't been updated could still be sending the commands to the system to show the Taskbar.  Is it possible that you have an older app in the notification area that's affecting the Taskbar as described?

What notification area icons do you have (and what versions)?

For what it's worth, I just tried disabling Avast Pro 5.0 and it still allowed the Taskbar to auto-hide.

-Noel

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Anonymous
2009-11-22T15:00:10+00:00

Hi Lamargene,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers.

See that “Lock the Taskbar” is not enabled. If it is, you may disable it by right-clicking on taskbar and unchecking it.

Still the same behavior?

If such is the case, I’d recommend you to download Microsoft Security Essentials on your computer. This will make sure that any virus, spyware or other malicious software on the computer is wiped out completely. Also if the weird behavior is due to any one of those, running the essentials will fix it.

Download it from

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

Do you see any changes after running the essentials? Post back and let us know.

Regards,

Shinmila H - Microsoft Support

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forumand let us know what you think

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-04-24T22:47:34+00:00

    Daemon42's post of 2014-01-18 has summed the problem up nicely.  

    This issue can be marked solved, or perhaps worked around.  

    Microsoft developers, please take note of his answer, and his suggestion at the end of the post. 

    I was able to find the particular window that was preventing the taskbar from autohiding

    In my case it was a Thunderbird notice that had been forgotten behind several other windows.

    It would be fantastic if this information became easy to find, I had to page through 34 pages of the forum to find it.

    Workaround Summary:

    A application tried to get the users attention by requesting the OS to flash the taskbar tile.  The user ignored the flashing for long enough that it stopped.  Since the program is still attempting to notify the user the taskbar remains visible.

    Go through the tiles on the taskbar and the notification area one by one to find the forgotten window that wants your attention.  Dismiss or otherwise handle that window so auto-hide can function again.

    The problem is that there is no persistent (and obvious) indication on the taskbar that an application requires user attention.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-05-02T08:53:03+00:00

    In my case I found that it was Skype with a reminder that I had a message.  Not obvious but easy to resolve now.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-06-08T04:14:39+00:00

    I was having this annoying problem for quite some time, got fed up and a quick search found this forum.  Looking at N. Carboni's answer made me realize that a program constantly running in my system tray was to blame for my issue.  It would send constant messages to the task bar to let me know it was working.

    I did the following to correct this:

    1.  Left click on the arrow next to the system tray which will show you hidden icons.  
    2.  Click on the Customize link at the bottom of the program list.
    3.  This brings up a window that will allow you to select the behaviors for tooltips running in the system tray.
    4.  Find the program that is constantly popping up notifications and then set the behavior to "Hide Icon and Notifications".

    This fixed my issue so now the Taskbar autohides like it is supposed to.  

    Hopefully fixes some of the problems out there.

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