Microsoft To-Do badge issue

Question

Microsoft To-Do badge issue

Chris Bovio 35

I’m having an issue with Microsoft To Do on Windows where the task badge count on the taskbar/tray icon does not update live.

Example: I open To Do in the morning and it correctly shows 11 tasks due today. If I complete a task or change the due date, the badge count stays at 11 instead of updating to 10. The only way to refresh the badge count is to fully close and reopen the app.

What I’ve already tried: • Restarting the app • Resetting the app through Windows Advanced Options • Uninstalling and reinstalling Microsoft To Do • Toggling Windows taskbar badges off and back on • Restarting Windows Explorer • Confirming the app is updated

Nothing fixes it permanently. The app itself syncs correctly, but the badge count does not refresh in real time unless the process is restarted.

Is this a known Windows notification badge issue or a Microsoft To Do sync bug? Has anyone found a real fix for this?

Jacob Arthur 5 Reputation points

2026-06-10T14:30:19.9+00:00

+1 for this, this began around the time of the April updates (in Windows and or To Do, not sure). I oversee a fleet of ~400 systems for a mid-size company, and it broke on all of the systems as they got the updates. I have been able to correlate the tickets received in our internal support ticketing to reboots following updates. At this point, the badge doesn't update on any of the systems in our fleet, and it's seriously limiting the usefulness.

We actually pulled 2 machines off the shelf inventory that hadn't been booted since March, and when they came up, both worked fine with my account and the badge updated as expected. They continued to work for ~48 hours while I delayed updates, but after installing outstanding updates and rebooting, both of them also broke.

Something in a recent update definitely impacted this, any chance we could get some attention on what that might be?
Gantasala, Yeswanth 0 Reputation points

2026-07-14T06:36:26.65+00:00

I am still facing this issue. this started after a system upgrade. This is not helpful to use the To Do app
Gantasala, Yeswanth 0 Reputation points

2026-09-01T05:51:22.06+00:00

Update (Additional Findings)

I have done further testing and can consistently reproduce the issue.

Environment

Microsoft To Do: 2.176.7601.0

Windows 11 Enterprise 25H2 (OS Build 26200.8893)

Observed Behavior

When there are no tasks due today, the taskbar badge is blank.

When I add 1 task due today, the badge correctly shows 1.

When I add additional tasks (for example, increasing the total to 5), the badge remains at 1 instead of updating to 5.

If I open To Do Settings and change the App Badge setting, the badge immediately refreshes and shows the correct count (5).

After that, if I complete tasks, the badge does not decrease and remains at the old value (5), even when only 1 task remains.

When the final remaining task is completed, the badge disappears correctly.

Expected Result

The taskbar badge should update in real time whenever the number of open tasks changes.

Actual Result

The badge appears to update only when transitioning between:

0 tasks → at least 1 task

at least 1 task → 0 tasks

Changes within the non-zero task count are not reflected unless the badge is manually refreshed.

This suggests the taskbar badge count is not being updated when the active task count changes, even though To Do can calculate the correct value after a manual refresh.
Savannah Rahimi 0 Reputation points

2026-09-01T21:02:04.2766667+00:00

Not sure what changed, but mine is finally working!

4 answers

Your answer

Jacob Arthur 5 Reputation points

2026-06-10T14:30:19.9+00:00

+1 for this, this began around the time of the April updates (in Windows and or To Do, not sure). I oversee a fleet of ~400 systems for a mid-size company, and it broke on all of the systems as they got the updates. I have been able to correlate the tickets received in our internal support ticketing to reboots following updates. At this point, the badge doesn't update on any of the systems in our fleet, and it's seriously limiting the usefulness.

We actually pulled 2 machines off the shelf inventory that hadn't been booted since March, and when they came up, both worked fine with my account and the badge updated as expected. They continued to work for ~48 hours while I delayed updates, but after installing outstanding updates and rebooting, both of them also broke.

Something in a recent update definitely impacted this, any chance we could get some attention on what that might be?
Gantasala, Yeswanth 0 Reputation points

2026-07-14T06:36:26.65+00:00

I am still facing this issue. this started after a system upgrade. This is not helpful to use the To Do app
Gantasala, Yeswanth 0 Reputation points

2026-09-01T05:51:22.06+00:00

Update (Additional Findings)

I have done further testing and can consistently reproduce the issue.

Environment

Microsoft To Do: 2.176.7601.0

Windows 11 Enterprise 25H2 (OS Build 26200.8893)

Observed Behavior

When there are no tasks due today, the taskbar badge is blank.

When I add 1 task due today, the badge correctly shows 1.

When I add additional tasks (for example, increasing the total to 5), the badge remains at 1 instead of updating to 5.

If I open To Do Settings and change the App Badge setting, the badge immediately refreshes and shows the correct count (5).

After that, if I complete tasks, the badge does not decrease and remains at the old value (5), even when only 1 task remains.

When the final remaining task is completed, the badge disappears correctly.

Expected Result

The taskbar badge should update in real time whenever the number of open tasks changes.

Actual Result

The badge appears to update only when transitioning between:

0 tasks → at least 1 task

at least 1 task → 0 tasks

Changes within the non-zero task count are not reflected unless the badge is manually refreshed.

This suggests the taskbar badge count is not being updated when the active task count changes, even though To Do can calculate the correct value after a manual refresh.
Savannah Rahimi 0 Reputation points

2026-09-01T21:02:04.2766667+00:00

Not sure what changed, but mine is finally working!

Answer 1

Rayyan Fawad 1,075

Hi Chris, since you have already tried deep OS resets like reinstalling and restarting Windows Explorer, this is a known background synchronization bug specific to the Microsoft To Do app's live badge API. Because the app database syncs perfectly but fails to push live telemetry to the taskbar, you can usually force it to rebuild the connection by opening To Do Settings, toggling the badge counter criteria to a different configuration (e.g., changing from "Due today" to "Important"), closing the app, and switching it back. Additionally, open your Windows Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Microsoft To Do > Advanced options and ensure that the Background apps permissions dropdown is explicitly set to Always so Windows doesn't aggressively choke the real-time background sync engine.

Chris Bovio 35 Reputation points

2026-06-05T13:27:55.7333333+00:00

I tried all these steps and it did not fix the issue.
Rayyan Fawad 1,075 Reputation points

2026-06-05T13:31:27.49+00:00
Since standard settings toggles and app resets haven't restored the badge functionality, the problem likely stems from a corrupted local database lock, a misconfigured notification payload assignment, or a broken registry entry mapping the app's real-time tile telemetry background task.

Step 1: Force a Clean Local Sync Reset

Microsoft To Do maintains a local background storage state separate from standard app data. Clearing this forces a complete server-side rebuild of the notification sync loops:

Close Microsoft To Do completely.

Press Windows Key + R, paste the following path, and press Enter: %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.Todos_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState

Locate the wpndatabase.db file (or look for folders containing local cache databases) and rename it to wpndatabase.db.old.

Relaunch the app to generate a fresh database file from the cloud server.

Step 2: Unshackle the Windows Notification Layer

Sometimes Windows permanently chokes an app's badge updates internally because of a legacy background task registration error. We can use PowerShell to force-reinstall the notification listener framework for To Do:

Right-click the Windows Start Menu and open PowerShell (Admin) or Terminal (Admin).

Paste the following command and press Enter to re-register the package's live tiles and badge telemetry configurations cleanly:

PowerShell

Get-AppxPackage

Step 3: Run the Windows Notification Registry Audit

If the badge still refuses to load, Windows may have a broken background push configuration flag inside your user profile's registry hive:

Press Windows Key + R, type regedit, and hit Enter.

Navigate to this pathway: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\Settings\Microsoft.Todos_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App

Look for a DWORD named ShowBadges. If it doesn't exist, right-click, create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it exactly ShowBadges, and set its value data to 1.

Restart your computer completely to force Windows Explorer to read the new registry configuration.

Let me know if forcing that PowerShell re-registration or clearing the local .db file finally forces that elusive badge counter back alive!
Chris Bovio 35 Reputation points

2026-06-05T16:41:37.8+00:00

I don't have time to do all this and it is a work PC so I don't have admin access. Also not bringing this issue to my IT department. I was really looking for a simple fix to this issue.
Savannah Rahimi 0 Reputation points

2026-06-10T15:22:54.88+00:00

This is the workaround I stumbled upon when I noticed by badge count wasn't updating. For my workflow it's just not worth the extra clicks. But it would be great to have this working again. I map out my whole day in ToDo.
Ranchod, Joel 0 Reputation points

2026-06-19T15:55:23.5333333+00:00

I've tried all steps above and my organization is having this issue aswell. Badge count isn't updating, even when I add a test task to my user's "My Day" list.

Tasks and Office suite are up to date.

Answer 2

Darren-Ng 12,770 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Dear @Chris Bovio,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your description, the Microsoft To Do app syncs correctly, but the taskbar/tray badge count does not update in real time. For example, after completing or rescheduling a task, the badge still shows the old count until the app is fully closed and reopened. You already tried restarting/resetting the app, reinstalling it, restarting Explorer, toggling taskbar badges, and confirming the app is updated, but the issue persists. You wonder this is a known Windows notification badge issue or a bug with Microsoft To Do.

For better understanding your situation, could you please provide some more information as:

Which type of account are you using (personal account or business account)?

Does the issue occur on multiple devices or only this PC?

Does the issue happen on all task lists or only “My Day”/“Planned” tasks?

Are badges from other apps (Outlook, Teams, Mail, etc.) updating normally?
Please understand that the more information you provide, the more effectively I can support you.

Looking forward to your update.

Chris Bovio 35 Reputation points

2026-06-05T13:29:56.8466667+00:00

Business account. I only use the app on this PC. It happens with all task lists. I don't use any other apps that have badges.
Darren-Ng 12,770 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-08T06:44:31.9166667+00:00

Hello,

Have you tried to use other profile to check whether the issue still persists?

Besides that, please try MS To Do web version in https://to-do.office.com/tasks/today?utm_source=applauncher to check about the issue.

If possible, please provide screenshot of the issue so I can better understand your issue and can investigate more effectively.
Chris Bovio 35 Reputation points

2026-06-08T10:33:07.2366667+00:00

I only have one profile. Honestly, I appreciate everyone's assistance, but having to go through this much troubleshooting for such a minimal issue is too much. Microsoft needs to figure this out and fix the glitch.
Darren-Ng 12,770 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-09T03:49:37.3766667+00:00

Hello,

Thank you for your effort and cooperation. Please understand that this is a user-to-user support forum. As a forum moderator, I always do my best to help users find effective solutions and useful information.

If you would like to submit feedback to the Microsoft product team, you can do so through the Microsoft Ideas Community at Ideas · Community. The product team is in charge of the site, and they constantly check customer reviews and feedback. The higher votes, the more attention the related team will pay on and a lot of the features are developed and improved based on customer feedback.
Chris Bovio 35 Reputation points

2026-06-09T10:07:58.81+00:00

That is very helpful. Thank you!
Darren-Ng 12,770 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-06-09T23:30:33.6566667+00:00

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback. If you have any further questions or need additional support, please feel free to reach out. I will be happy to assist you. If you find this information helpful and feel satisfied with my answer, please consider marking the answer as accepted and upvoting it so that other users with similar concerns can benefit from it.

Thank you for your kindness, have a nice day

Answer 3

I also have the issue! It hasn't been addressed yet -- for months now!

Nothing listed here works. And btw when I try to open Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Microsoft To Do > Advanced options -- the moment I click on the "Advanced options", the Settings window ALWAYS crashes without even showing the error code or something like this.

Of course it is possible to open ms-settings:taskbar and open Taskbar Behaviors and uncheck+check "Show badges on taskbar apps". But doing so dozens of times per day -- is pure madness.

The app itself must be profoundly fixed and properly QA-ed by Microsoft, and fixed version must be released.

MS development team, please fix the app ASAP!

Answer 4

Anthony Branham 10

3 months later, no fix/revert....this is super annoying. Phone is fine, work laptop fine (10.0.22631 build 22631) but personal desktop never updates the badge with an accurate count of tasks (10.0.26200 build 26200)

Savannah Rahimi 0 Reputation points

2026-07-10T20:25:19.43+00:00

My phone has just straight up stopped syncing tasks :( I'm frequently away from my desk, so it was really helpful to have this to take notes on the fly. Not sure what is going on with ToDo in general.

Microsoft To-Do badge issue

4 answers

Step 1: Force a Clean Local Sync Reset

Step 2: Unshackle the Windows Notification Layer

Step 3: Run the Windows Notification Registry Audit

Your answer