Despite being one of the oldest features of the Microsoft operating system, it is still one of the most used by Windows users. We refer to the taskbar, a place where we can anchor our favorite programs to always have them at hand. However, since the arrival of Windows 10, a version that added certain customization options to the taskbar, there are many problems that users have encountered. Next, we are going to show you what to do if Windows 10 taskbar is not working.
As on most occasions when we encounter a problem in Windows, the first thing that comes to mind is to restart the computer. Therefore, we can test whether after restarting Windows the taskbar works properly again.
This is the first thing you should check
If the start menu does not go, you have restarted your computer, waited a bit and nothing, it is time to follow certain steps with which you will be able to solve this problem and enjoy it again without limitations, starting with the most common which is to restart Also Windows Explorer.
Restart Windows Explorer
If we want to solve the problems with the Windows 10 taskbar not working and still not going after restarting, then we can also try restarting Windows explorer , since this causes the taskbar to restart as well. Therefore, if the taskbar does not work or respond to us, we can open the Windows task manager and in the Processes tab we look for Windows Explorer. Once located, we right-click on the process and select the Restart option.
Since many problems are solved with a simple restart, in most cases this step is usually enough as it solves the problem. If not, you will have to do other actions.
Start Menu Troubleshooter
If after this we still have problems and the taskbar still doesn’t work, we can use the Start menu troubleshooter available for Windows 10. A tool offered by Microsoft itself and that you can download from this same link . Although it is a troubleshooter for the Start menu, it also helps to fix the problems with the Windows 10 taskbar.
This is a free utility provided by Microsoft itself that fixes many of these issues. Although currently you cannot download it from Windows itself. You download, install and start it and click Next. If there are no problems, it will tell you that it could not identify the problem and if there are, it will solve them.
Register the taskbar
One of these solutions is likely to get rid of the taskbar problems, but if not, we can also try re-registering the taskbar. To do this, we open a Windows PowerShell window with administrator permissions and execute the following command: Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}.
Once the command has been executed successfully, we open a file explorer and go to the path C: / Users / name / AppData / Local /. There we have to find the TileDataLayer folder and delete it. Of course, it is possible that we cannot, in which case we will have to run services.msc to open the Services Manager and stop the Tile Data model server service . Now we can delete the folder and check if the taskbar already works normally.
Try another account
If everything is still the same and the Windows 10 taskbar is still not working, we can try to create a new local Windows user account and check if for that user the taskbar is working properly or not. To create a new user account you can open Settings from the start or Win + I and go to Accounts and then to Family and other users . In Other users, click Add another person to this PC. If it works well, we will be able to move all the files from the usual account to the new one and install all the programs.
If you don’t want to create a new account and another one already exists, just start it and see what happens. If it’s from someone else and you can’t access it, tell them to come in and do this check. If so, you may have to consider creating a new account and moving all your files to it for it to work, because this may be the problem. To switch accounts you can do it from Start or with the shortcut Control + Alt + Delete.
What to do if none of this works
If none of this works, you have to try other somewhat more radical measures. The first is to try going back to a previous restore point to see if that fixes the problem, which is sufficient in most cases. If not, then you have to go further and reinstall Windows to fix this issue. Although it is the most drastic solution, it is also the most effective, not the most recommended if you can do something before.
Go back to a previous restore point
But if the problem continues, we can check if we have any system restore point from a previous date when the taskbar was working properly and restore Windows. To do this you will have to go to the Start Menu and type Control Panel. From there go to Recovery and from there System Restore. When you have done it, choose the desired restore point if there is more than one and hit finish.
If it’s starting to give you trouble now and you go back to an earlier date, chances are you’ll be fine just doing this.
Reinstall or format Windows
But if it still doesn’t work in spite of everything, the only thing left to do to solve it is to reinstall Windows 10 without losing data or perform a clean installation from a Windows 10 image. To do this, you can go to Start and Settings . From there you will go to the Update and Security section and you will be able to choose the option that most interests you. If you press reset you can choose between keeping your personal files or deleting them to reinstall Windows from here, if you press advanced start you can start from a USB drive or DVD.
There are more recovery options, although in this case it is probably more than enough to try the first one while keeping your data , to avoid having to save them and others, although it never hurts to make and have a backup of the most important.