Switching between user logins freezes taskbar

Anonymous
2020-12-23T12:44:15+00:00

The case:

My wife and I share the same home PC for work, that we use independently throughout the day. We would like to be able to switch between our users without having to log out and close/reopen our respective documents and apps. Kinda like how it works on a Mac when you switch between multiple active user login sessions.

The Problem:

Whenever we try to use the "Switch User" functionality, the taskbar freezes (doesn't load) on whichever user you switch to. The only way to unfreeze the taskbar is to log out completely on one user (and subsequently close all apps/documents), and then login to the other user afterwards.

What I have tried:

  • A fresh Windows install
  • Add a new and fresh user (stops working after a reboot)
  • Running DISM.exe /CheckHealth, /ScanHealth, /RestoreHealth
  • sfc /scannow

Extra info:

Both users have Admin account type and our Windows 10 is updated to the latest version.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Family and online safety

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.

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Anonymous
2021-04-22T14:50:25+00:00

It is very discomforting to see that relatively simple and ubiquitous peripherals like mice and keyboards can interfere with the OS so badly. Disabling HID devices is a poor workaround for something that MS should fix in the OS or the OEM manufacturers like RAZER should comply with MS specs. But then you have a MS intellimouse freezing the taskbar on an MS OS, it seems that MS itself has an internal interoperability problem.

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-03-27T04:57:30+00:00

    No way! Glad to have accidentally helped with that haha

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-03-21T16:07:18+00:00

    Same issue here.

    If the other user is first logged out, this does not happen.

    I am using 2 screens.

    If I force the display mode to single-screen only, this also does not happen, but attempting to switch to an extended display will freeze the taskbar.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-03-17T21:31:20+00:00

    Same issue here. When you are logged into an account exhibiting the issue, you can use task manager to log out the other account and the problem will be resolved.

    This is obviously not a workaround since that user will lose any unsaved work.

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