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

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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

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-05-30T22:10:05+00:00

    I have actually found an easy way to resolve this annoying glitch.

    and it can be done in a simple 2 step process, but first be sure to close out of any open applications, just to be safe.

    1. Open the task manager and navigate to the Processes tab, find and select the process called explorer.exe, this is the program that controls the taskbar as well as other things like file browsing, once you have it selected, hit the "end process" button, your desktop icons, and taskbar will all disappear, and any open programs will close. This may seem frightening, but its alright.
    2. Your task manager will remain open after you end explorer.exe, go to the applications tab and hit the "New Task..." button, type explorer.exe in the dialog box that pops up, and hit the "Ok" button. All your desktop icons will re-pappear, and the taskbar will now auto hide again.

    You are all welcome!

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  2. Kevin Jones 7,265 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2012-05-30T22:31:01+00:00

    Your "solution" and some automated versions of it has been posted above a number of times already along with the usual hooha about checking/unchecking the Hide Taskbar option directly from the Microsoft folks.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-05-31T06:10:10+00:00

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