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?

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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
    2013-11-02T20:41:41+00:00

    Thank you. Just for future, it would be nice to be able to have a little clock fixed on the bottom right hand corner instead of always having to make a move to see it. 

    Also, for other users, the u with umlaut thing: you can change your keyboard language by going to your charms bar > settings > language.

    Once again, all is possible but perhaps not quite so convenient. The good news is that it does keep your screen nice and tidy.

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-11-01T17:25:40+00:00

    I understand that Windows 8 does not have a task bar

    No that's wrong.  The main difference is that W8 has a Fullscreen Start Menu which hides the Taskbar whenever we press Win- or Ctrl-Esc.  In order to see the Taskbar you have to either press Alt-Tab (as usual) and go to a Desktop task which is not running Fullscreen or go to the Desktop "task" itself to see all your Desktop tasks minimized.   This also assumes that you don't have your Taskbar set to Auto-hide and that you have a Taskbar enabled on that monitor.

    BTW you are correct that some of the other things that you mentioned can be shown and accessed in new ways.  E.g. most of them can be accessed through the Settings charm (press Win-I).  And if you use the Charms bar (Win-C) instead on your way to wherever you can see the date and clock on the left, so there is really no need any more to have it still taking up room in your Taskbar.  I can't remember if that is a default or whether I made that change when I realized there was a redundancy.

    FYI

    Robert

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-10-31T21:02:05+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?

    I understand that Windows 8 does not have a task bar but how do we gain access to these items in that case? For example I used to have a clock at the bottom right hand corner, a view of internet access, volume, keyboard language, and all the other notifications. Surely they have added access to this somewhere?

    I also cannot open a new google window; I just have the possibility of opening another tab which makes research much harder. Is there a solution to that too?

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-05-02T02:50:01+00:00

    I don't use Auto-Hide on the taskbar.  I'm used to seeing the icons on the left of the taskbar and the  icons for open programs in the center of the taskbar but that option is not available on Windows 8 or at least I can't figure out how to make that available.

    Rosemary

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