Windows 11 Taskbar Not Working? Try These 8 Easy Ways to Fix It

Windows 11 taskbar not working? Well, yes if you have recently upgraded to Windows 11, you may encounter a few issues and minor bugs through the run. As Windows 11 has not made its official release yet, it is running in a Beta version so you may come across several glitches. The revamped Taskbar on Windows 11 includes a shortcut to the Start menu, search box, notification area, app icons, and more.

So, if you’re unable to access the Windows 11 Taskbar, it can get extremely annoying. Most users have reported that the Taskbar on Windows 11 got blocked and inactive that leaves you with absolutely no choice to take any further action.

In this post, we have listed a few solutions that you can try to fix the “Windows 11 taskbar not working” issue by making a few quick changes in your device’s settings. You can use any of these solutions to fix the windows 11 taskbar not responding issue.

Let’s get started.

Windows 11 Taskbar not Working After Update? Here’s the Fix!

Follow these quick tips and tactics to fix Taskbar not working on Windows 11 problem:

1. Restart the Services

As the Taskbar is currently stuck right now, press the Control + Shift + Escape key combination to open the Task Manager. In the Task Manager window, switch to the “Processes” tab, look for the “Windows Explorer” service. Right-click on this service and select “Restart”.

Now, switch to the “Details” tab in the Task Manager. Look for the below-listed services, right-click one each, and select “End Task” in the same order:

ShellExperienceHost.exe

SearchIndexer.exe

SearchHost.exe

RuntimeBroker.exe

As soon as you ‘End Task’ for all the aforementioned processes, simply close the Task Manager window and you’ll be able to resolve the Windows 11 Taskbar not showing issue in no time.

Also read: How To Disable File Explorer Search History In Windows 11

2. Shut Down your Device

We usually use the Start menu for shutting down or restarting your machine. But in this particular case where the Windows 11 taskbar is not showing, you can use the Power button to turn off your device.

Press the Power button to manually shut down your PC and then restart it after a few seconds. By restarting your device, all the active services and components will be reloaded and it will give you a chance to start afresh. This might be helpful in fixing the temporary glitch which caused Windows 11 Taskbar not working.

Also read: Windows 11 Installation Stuck at 100%? How to fix

3. Update Graphics Driver (Recommended Way To Fix Windows 11 Taskbar Glitch)

Another major culprit behind ‘Taskbar not working on Windows 11’ could be an outdated graphics driver. You can consider following the list of effective methods to update Windows drivers. However, one of the safest and easiest ways to update faulty drivers is using a professional driver updating tool like Advanced Driver Updater (ADU). The application saves your valuable time and effort for finding and updating Windows drivers in bulk. It runs a thorough scan, lists out all the drivers that need immediate attention, and lets you download the most authentic and compatible driver versions from trustworthy sources. 

It even offers tools to backup, restore and schedule automatic scans for updating drivers to maintain system stability. Follow the instructions below to update your graphics driver and fix the annoying Windows 11 Taskbar glitch. 

How To Use Advanced Driver Updater?

Updating drivers with Advanced Driver Updater is a simple & straightforward process. All you need to do is: 

STEP 1 – Install the latest version of Advanced Driver Updater on your computer. The utility supports Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP, and Vista OS versions. 

STEP 2 – With the free version of ADU, you can update outdated, corrupted, incompatible, damaged, and missing drivers one by one. Using the premium edition, you install and replace all the faulty Windows drivers in one go. So, we highly recommend our users to get registered with the product & make the most out of it! 

STEP 3 – From the main screen, initiate a scanning process by hitting the Start Scan Now button. All the faulty drivers will appear on your screen in a fraction of a moment. 

Please be patient and let Advanced Driver Updater do its job and identify all the problematic drivers on your PC. 

STEP 4 – As soon as the scanning process gets completed, look for the outdated graphics driver that needs to be updated. Once found, hit the Update button next to it. Alternatively, you can also click on the Update All button to install the latest Windows drivers in bulk! 

Pretty convenient, right? Don’t forget to restart your computer to implement the changes. After updating the graphics driver, we hope you don’t have to search for “How to fix Taskbar not Working on Windows 11”. 

Most users have reported that updating their drivers helped them fix Taskbar not working on Windows 11. Did it help you the same way? If yes, do share your experience in the comments section below! 

4. Repair System Files

The next workaround to fix the “Windows 11 taskbar not working” issue is to repair the system files by using the Command Line terminal.

Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run dialog box, type “cmd” and hit Enter. You will now be redirected to the Command Prompt window.

Enter the following commands and hit Enter after each:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

sfc /scannow

Executing these commands will repair the damaged and corrupt system files on your device. Close the Command Prompt window and then try accessing the Taskbar again to see whether it’s active or not.

Also read: How to Create a Bootable Windows 11 USB Drive

5. Reinstall UWP

Reinstalling the basic UWP (Universal Windows Program) can allow you to fix the “Windows 11 taskbar not visible” issue. To reinstall the UWP, you will need to run a command in the Windows PowerShell (Admin). Follow these quick steps:

Press Windows  Key + S to open the search bar and type Windows PowerShell. Select the “Windows PowerShell (Admin)” option from the list.

Enter this command and hit Enter to execute it:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$ ($ _. InstallLocation) \ AppXManifest.xml”}

If you meanwhile see a few red texts in the PowerShell window, don’t worry! Wait for a few minutes until the command is successfully executed. Hopefully, this will help you to instantly get rid of the annoying “Taskbar not working on Windows 11 issue”.

6. Create the XAML

By editing the XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) file in the Registry Editor, you can easily fix the Start menu or Taskbar on Windows 11. Here’s what you need to do.

Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run dialog box. Now type “Regedit” in the textbox and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.

In the Registry Editor window, navigate to the following folder location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced

Right-click on the Advanced folder and select New> 32-Bit D-word value.

Set the new parameter as “EnableXamlStartMenu”. Double-click on the “EnableXamlStartMenu” file and set the value as “0”.

Close the Registry Editor and check whether it fixed the Taskbar not working on Windows 11 issue or not. If the problem persists, don’t panic, as we’ve got a couple of more effective workarounds listed below.

7. Perform System Restore

In case the Taskbar was working fine earlier, but has lately started throwing errors and issues, we recommend you to simply perform System Restore. By doing so, you’ll be able to revert your Operating System to a working state when everything is working normally. You can follow our step-by-step guide on how to use System Restore on Windows 11. 

Hopefully, this would help you to easily get rid of potential Windows 11 Taskbar problems. If it does, do share your experience in the comments section below!

8. Uninstall Any Recent Windows Update You May Have Installed

In case the “Windows 11 Taskbar not showing” problem has appeared after installing a Windows Update, then we advise you to uninstall the update and see if it helps. To uninstall the recent Windows Updates in Windows 11, here’s what you need to do:

STEP 1 – Navigate to the Start menu and launch Windows 11 Settings.

STEP 2 – From the Settings menu, navigate to the Windows Update option from the left-side panel.

STEP 3 – Now hit the Update History option and scroll down till you locate the Uninstall updates option under Related settings.

STEP 4 – At this point, you need to right-click on the update you remember installing the last, and from the context menu that appears on your screen, click the Uninstall button.

This will help you to resolve the ‘Windows 11 Taskbar Not Showing’ problem in no time.

Hopefully, you don’t have to search for how to fix Windows 11 Taskbar anymore. Let us know if this workaround helped you in the comments section below! 

FAQs: Find Out More About How To Fix Windows 11 Taskbar

1. How do I fix my Windows taskbar not working?

To fix the windows 11 taskbar not loading issue, you can perform a variety of tasks that include restarting the Windows Explorer app, making changes in the Registry Editor, reinstalling the UWP using PowerShell, repairing the system files, or simply rebooting your machine.

2. Why does my Taskbar not work?

If you’ve recently upgraded your device to Windows 11 by enrolling in the Windows Insider Program, you may experience minor issues and bugs while running this update. Windows 11 is still in its Beta version and the public release is expected to release by the end of this year with performance improvements, bug fixes, and more features.

Also read: How to Use System Restore on Windows 11

3. How do I fix the Start menu in Windows 11?

To fix the Start menu on Windows 11, you can try a bunch of troubleshooting hacks. Here are a few things that you can do to fix the Start menu on Windows 11: Reboot your device, close the Windows Explorer app in the Task Manager, reset your PC, check for the latest available updates.

To know more, you can visit this link on how to fix Windows 11 Start Menu not working issue.

Conclusion

So, folks, this wraps up our quick guide on how to fix the “Windows 11 taskbar not working” issue. If the taskbar or Start menu has suddenly stopped working after you upgraded your device, you can use any of the above-listed solutions to fix this issue.

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