The Task bar is missing on Windows 8

There is not a ile-Create New Task.

If you don't see File, you may have to press Alt- first.   So Alt-F n to get the Create New Task dialog.

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.

On HP Touch Smart 15. I press keys ctrl+alt=del. This gets a page to be able to select Task Manager. Here I select Task Manager. On this page is listed Task Manager there is no way of opening this.

By right click I get a window with; Expand, End Task, Resource, Values Create dump file, Go to deails, Open file location, Search online, Properties.

Left click or double left click just gets; first gets one more Task Manager if you right click this you get End Task.

There is not a ile-Create New Task.

WINDOWS 8 IS A WASTE OF T I M E!!!

 what did work is going into the task manager and scrolling down to "windows processes" and looking for "windows explorer".

Then the OP's symptom was probably not what yours was.  The symptom--no taskbar, no desktop, no Win- key response--suggested that explorer.exe was not running.  So then there would be no Windows Explorer to restart; then you would have to use the Task Manager File, New... command as described by the Answer.

Znhunter .... the windows explorer worked like a charm ... great ...