Volume taskbar icon vanished / greyed-out in Control Panel

Anonymous
2014-04-20T14:08:38+00:00

Hi,

Since installing the latest major 8.1 update, my Volume Notification Area icon has disappeared. (It returned briefly but the default seems for it to inexplicably go away again to not return).

It still shows up as active when I go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Notification Area Icons

But toggling this a bubble appears saying "This notification icon is not currently active"

Going then into "Turn system icons on or off", the Volume System Icon is turned off, and greyed-out for access.

Why would this happen?

I see old threads for this happening in Win7, and I'm wary of downloading a registry fix in case my 8.1 computer blows up.

Thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2015-02-19T14:07:54+00:00
  1. Hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete and open Task Manager
  2. Click on DETAILS tab
  3. Find explorer.exe, right-click, and click on END TASK
  4. On the top Menu Bar, click on FILE, RUN NEW TASK
  5. Enter explorer.exe in the task entry box and click on OK
  6. On the top Menu Bar, click on VIEW and REFRESH NOW
  7. Volume icon should reappear after refresh

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Anonymous
2014-05-06T16:56:20+00:00

I checked and my drivers are up to date.

The problem actually fixed itself as suddenly as it started... no idea what that was about.

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70 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-11-28T16:46:28+00:00

    Hi John,

    Thank you for posting your query here in Microsoft Community. I would also like to thank you for providing the detailed information about this issue and we appreciate it.

    I suggest you to try reinstalling the Audio drivers and check if it helps. Normally this should work if the drivers folder is corrupted. This has helped most of the Community Members facing the same issue.

    Please feel free to visit our website for any help with Windows Operating System.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-12-01T19:08:39+00:00

    this seems to happen whenever i unplug my speakers (not sure it's every time though)

    annoying as once I'm away from them I have no way of shutting the bloody sound off this thing

    FFS it's just happened AGAIN!

    Not even touched the speakers today

    Sort it out!

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-01-14T20:19:47+00:00

    Hi,

    Since installing the latest major 8.1 update, my Volume Notification Area icon has disappeared. (It returned briefly but the default seems for it to inexplicably go away again to not return).

    It still shows up as active when I go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Notification Area Icons

    But toggling this a bubble appears saying "This notification icon is not currently active"

    Going then into "Turn system icons on or off", the Volume System Icon is turned off, and greyed-out for access.

    Why would this happen?

    I see old threads for this happening in Win7, and I'm wary of downloading a registry fix in case my 8.1 computer blows up.

    Thanks

    I suspect there are LOTS of folks with this issue, but some just haven't noticed.

    I've had this problem since I bought my computer a little over a year ago. All drivers are up to date. Everything works, I can adjust volume on my laptop holding the orange FN key and pressing the correct function keys, but I would rather my operating system to work the way it's supposed to work!

    For me, if I reboot, sometimes the icon comes back. Sometime it doesn't. Once it's there, it stays there until I reboot again, at which time it may or may not show up.

    Like others before me, I've checked updates, I've found the icon greyed out when clicking the "turn icons on and off" link, I've looked at the list of icons to ensure this one is set to show icons and notifications (and it's always set to show both). I also have Windows updates set to automatically update (computer is on 99% of the time) and Dell drivers set to always update when new drivers are available. None of this seems to matter. It's always a ****-shoot when I reboot the laptop.

    I'm working on:

    Dell Inspiron 17R

    Windows 8.1

    Intel(R) Core (TM) i5-3230M CPU @ 2.60GHz

    8.00 GB Ram

    64-bit Operating system, x64-based processor

    Thanks!

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