Disappearance of Windows 11 Taskbar Icons after Switching Virtual Desktops

Anonymous
2023-11-24T09:01:51+00:00

Windows 11 22H2
In Windows 11's built-in virtual desktop feature, there is a high probability that icons of active applications on the current desktop may not be displayed when switching between different virtual desktops. The icons only appear when I click on the respective application. I have attempted to resolve the issue through restarts and using Sfc and Dism for repairs, but the problem persists. An essential configuration to note is that the taskbar is set to display windows only from the current desktop.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

172 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2024-12-03T17:14:49+00:00

    Same problem, very annoying.

    Unbelievable MS does not fix it.

    Billion dollar company can not solve or does not want to solve this for their poor users.

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2024-12-03T13:48:29+00:00

    I am still having this issue, on Windows 11 24H2 build 26100.2314.
    MS, please prioritize a fix for this...

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2024-11-09T14:42:52+00:00

    I can't believe it that this is still not fixed

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2024-10-28T08:08:39+00:00

    Windows 11 22H2
    In Windows 11's built-in virtual desktop feature, there is a high probability that icons of active applications on the current desktop may not be displayed when switching between different virtual desktops. The icons only appear when I click on the respective application. I have attempted to resolve the issue through restarts and using Sfc and Dism for repairs, but the problem persists. An essential configuration to note is that the taskbar is set to display windows only from the current desktop.
    Image

    Still the issue persists. Mutli desktop multi screen system. Its a real pain...

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2024-08-02T08:03:49+00:00

    ⬇️⚠️ Here is a workaround, until Microsoft finally decides to fix the issue! ⚠️⬇️

    The workaround is to install ExplorerPatcher.

    This seems to fix the issue where icons disappear when switching virtual desktops in a multi-monitor environment.

    Steps:

    1. Download ExplorerPatcher and install it. This will restart Windows Explorer and change your taskbar to the Windows 10 one.
    2. Once installed, open the start menu and launch Properties (ExplorerPatcher).
    3. On the first settings tab Taskbar, change Taskbar style back to Windows 11 (or keep Windows 10 if you want ^^).

    Image

    Voilà! After restarting the File Explorer, the icons should stop disappearing when switching virtual desktops!

    If this works for you, please share it as largely as possible! The issue has been driving us insane for long enough.

    Also consider donating to the ExplorerPatcher project which is Open Source (disclaimer: I'm not affiliated to the project in any way)!

    Thanks for posting this, but unfortunately it didn't solve the issue for me completely - it may have only slightly reduced the frequency of it happening. Disabling animation effects seems to be the only reliable workaround for now.

    Over 9 months of this issue existing on Microsoft's current operating system... Tragic, really.

    Was this answer helpful?

    3 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments