The Task bar is missing on Windows 8

It's amazing to me how this long after Windows 8.1 was released, both Microsoft employees and Microsoft community MVPs pretend they don't know about this issue.  Here are a few hints:

1. It's not auto-hide.  
2. Of course it's desktop mode.  Have you ever seen a taskbar anywhere else in Windows 8+?  Nah, it's the taskbar on the moon.  There is such a thing as a stupid question.
3. Restart your PC to fix it.  There is no other way.

Metro (or whatever it's called now) apps cause this problem.  Somewhere along the line, something goes wrong and the taskbar is not shown again.  This is monitor-specific.  As in, if I have multiple monitors, then this bug will make the taskbar disappear on only the one with the offending Metro app.  

Netflix is the worst offender.  But clearly, it's something in the Windows 8 API.

You guys really need more serious support personnel.  This whole pretending to do your job thing on every single post rather than requesting information and figuring it out is a liability for your entire company.  It's a little ridiculous that these copy-pasted responses appear everywhere.  

@Rajesh  If you worked for me and I saw this, I'd fire you.

edit: It's worth adding, I don't mean to be rude.  It's just very frustrating that some bugs in Windows 8/8.1 are longstanding because the people responsible for fixing them never find out they exist.  And that happens because such a large part of the support personnel don't do work to find out what's a bug versus what can be solved by reading a help file.  That is incredibly insulting too, by the way, so it takes a little effort to write this and say that I don't mean to insult.  

About multi-monitors on this issue, if you lose the taskbar on the primary screen, disable it.  Then enable it again.  You'll end up with a missing taskbar on the other screen because they essentially trade places.

Thank you.

I was able to find out how this thing works. On the desktop interface it is present. Thanx, again.

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!!!