Toolbars I put on the Task Bar disappear with each restart

Hi Ethan,

This could be because the service responsible for this toolbar is not running at the Startup of the computer. I would like to know the name of the toolbar would you like to have on the Taskbar at the Startup of the computer. Also, let me know - How do you enable this toolbar every time you start the computer? Is it by double clicking on any .exe files on the computer?

If yes, then you may try adding this .exe file of the toolbar into the startup folder on the computer and check if that activates the toolbar every time you start the computer. To try this, you may follow these steps:

a)       Press “Windows Logo” + “R” keys on the keyboard.

b)       Type “shell:startup” in the “Run” command window and press “Enter”. This will open the Startup folder on the computer.

c)       Now, navigate to the location where you have the toolbar installed on the computer (C:/Program Files) using another Windows Explorer and then search for the .exe file which activates the toolbar on the computer.

d)       Copy this .exe file from its folder to the Startup folder and then restart the computer after closing all the windows on the computer.

e)       Now, check if the toolbar appears automatically on the Taskbar at the Startup.

Hope this is helpful.

Well, my toolbars are not at all related to an .exe, or any program I have installed, so I am not sure how your steps could apply. Rather, my toolbars are based on folders, and don't use any programs (other than what comes with Windows, of course). I have tried to find a running background process that somehow relates to Windows toolbars, but I haven't come up with anything.

Here are the steps I use to create each toolbar.

This PC:

1. Right-click the Task Bar.
2. In the context menu that appears, hover over "Toolbars"
3. In the Toolbars sub-menu that appears, click "New Toolbar"
4. In the navigation pane on the left, scroll down and click "This PC" (In previous versions of Windows, I would click "Computer" or "My Computer")
5. Click the "Select Folder" button (so you see, the toolbar is based on a folder, not a program)
6. Move the cursor to the Task Bar, revealing the new toolbar that has been placed on it called "This PC"
7. Drag the toolbar by its handle (or its title) to move it to its desired location so all its buttons are visible (My preferred spot is under the Task Bar buttons on the left)
8. Right-click the title "This PC"
9. In the context menu that appears, hover over "View"
10. In the View sub-menu that appears, click "Large Icons" (Ironically, the button icons take up less space this way)
11. Right-click the title "This PC" again
12. Click, and thereby uncheck, "Show title" (The toolbar takes up less space when it doesn't show the title)

Favorites:

1. Right-click the Task Bar.
2. In the context menu that appears, hover over "Toolbars"
3. In the Toolbars sub-menu that appears, click "New Toolbar"
4. In the navigation pane on the left, scroll up and click "Favorites" (In older versions of Windows, there was no such Favorites section, so I would instead create a folder of my own containing shortcuts to various things. Another option in recent Windows versions is to select <userprofile>\Links, as this folder contains the very same items that Favorites in the Navigation Pane does. BTW, the reason why I find Favorites so handy to keep as a toolbar is because I can add any folder I like to Favorites, and there it is equally accessible from the desktop or a Windows Explorer window.)
5. Click the "Select Folder" button (again, the toolbar is based on a folder, not a program)
6. Move the cursor to the Task Bar, revealing the new toolbar that has been placed on it called "Favorites" (or "Links", if you chose that equally-valid method, but this is not to be confused with the Links toolbar already in the Toolbars sub-menu mentioned in step 3)
7. Drag the toolbar by its handle (or its title) to move it to its desired location so all its buttons are visible (My preferred spot is under the Task Bar buttons on the right)
8. Right-click the title "Favorites"
9. In the context menu that appears, hover over "View"
10. In the View sub-menu that appears, click "Large Icons" (Ironically, the button icons take up less space this way)
11. Right-click the title "Favorites" again
12. Click, and thereby uncheck, "Show title" (The toolbar takes up less space when it doesn't show the title)

As I noted before, these two toolbars disappear whenever I restart or hard reset or anything else like that. Thus, when the computer starts again, I have to re-apply each of these 24 steps in order to have the toolbars the way I want them. In every version of Windows back to ME, the toolbars would stay where I put them regardless of my restarting. Likewise, back when this computer was running Windows 8, the toolbars would stay put. It was the update to 8.1 that caused this problem.

Ethan Hayes

Ethan, you're not alone and not going crazy.

I'm having the same problem (when I upgraded to 8.1) -- although mine is more intermittent.

It also happens with a 3rd party toolbar that has been added (ie: the dll has been registered) and appears in the list when you click "toolbars...", but it frequently disappears (becomes unchecked).

I have the same problem

Either the toolbar (a quick launch one I have created) disappears, or the shortcuts located within it are reordered

I had the same problem.  I spent hours looking for the answer, and I finally got it to work.

1.  Click the gear icon in the upper right corner.

2.  Click internet options.

3.  Choose Advanced tab.

4.  Under Browsing section, check box "enable third-party browser extensions."

5.  Save and Restart.