The Task bar is missing on Windows 8

Anonymous
2013-02-09T15:56:41+00:00

Old Title: where the heck is the task bar?

I just want the task/tool bar to show on top of my screen,, any way to do that?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Email and communications

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Anonymous
2013-02-10T09:45:23+00:00

Hi L Jensen,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community Forums. We are here to assist you with your Windows related issues.

It seems that you have recently installed Windows 8 and you are unable to find the taskbar on your computer. I would like to have some information regarding this issue.

1.       Are you referring to the taskbar on the desktop interface on Windows 8?

2.       Have you made any recent changes on the computer prior to this issue?

If you are referring to the Modern User Interface, then I am sorry to inform you that we do not have any options to display the taskbar in the Modern User Interface of Windows 8 and it is by the new Windows 8 design.

However, if you are referring to the desktop interface, then the reason why the taskbar is not shown on the screen may be because the taskbar is set to automatically hide or it might be some issues with the “explorer.exe” service or it might be stopped manually.

Method 1: Disable the Auto-hide feature of the Taskbar.

If the task bar appears on the desktop interface, when you move the mouse pointer towards the bottom of the screen, then the auto-hide option of the taskbar might have enabled on the computer.

To disable this option follow these instructions and check the issue:

a)       Right click on the taskbar from the Desktop Interface of Windows 8.

b)        Select “Properties” to open the “Taskbar Properties” window.

c)       On the “Taskbar Properties” window and under the “Taskbar” tab, uncheck the second option which says “Auto-hide the Taskbar”.

You will also have the option to change the position of the taskbar on the same window. You can change it to top,  left or right.

Check if you are able to view the taskbar. If it is not visible at all from the desktop interface, then there might be some issues with the explorer.exe or its service might be stopped manually.

To start the “explorer.exe” service on the computer, try the next method:

Method 2: Check the “Explorer.exe” service and start it if it is “Stopped”.

a)       Press “Alt” + “Ctrl” + “Del” keys on the keyboard and select “Task Manager” to open it.

b)       On the “Task Manager” window, click on “File” menu and select “Create a new task”.

c)       Type “explorer.exe” in the “Open” box.

d)       Click on “OK” and check if you are able to find the taskbar now.

Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to get back to us for any further queries or issues related to Windows.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-05-11T18:35:42+00:00

    I am suddenly having the same problem with no task bar on the bottom (and it is set to display and does so with other programs than google chrome).  I also can no longer move the google chrome window into my second monitor, so basically between these two appearance changes, I can no longer use google chrome and have gone back to firefox.  I'm disappointed to have to do that, but all the threads I've seen about this is that Windows 8.1 and the newest google chrome version no longer allow for display of the task bar or using multiple monitors.  Seems like a very foolish change to have made, but luckily there are a variety of other browser programs out there, so as we abandon chrome, they may decide to fix these interface issues. Cheers!

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-04-15T16:56:44+00:00

    I had windows 10 tehcnical preview and i booted back into windows 8, the whole screen was black and it stayed black but everything else is fully functional only the desktop interface is missing completely, its been replaced with black.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-03-10T23:23:04+00:00

    Having worked with Windows 8 for quite some time, I tend to agree with the person that gave you the advice.

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