7 Ways To Fix Windows 10 Taskbar Not Hiding

In a situation where you detect that your Windows 10 taskbar isn’t hiding, there are certain steps that need to be taken which will be discussed very soon.

Most people come across this issue when they are trying to watch a video or youtube video in full screen while some other people could notice this issue while they are playing games.

Whatever the case may be, I understand what you are facing because I faced them myself earlier this year on my Windows 10 computer.

But the good thing was that i was able to resolve this problem after several trial and error.

If you keep reading this article, I will show you exactly the necessary steps I took and the methods I applied to force my taskbar to hide on windows 10

The common thing I found out about the majority of people complaining about their taskbar not hiding is that they haven’t hidden their taskbar in the first place.

If you know you are among these set people, the first thing you should do is to hide your Windows 10 taskbar.

Now, if you’ve hidden your taskbar and somehow it’s still not hiding, then you should know why your taskbar isn’t hiding.

After finding that out, you should proceed with these working methods that worked for me to fix your taskbar problem.

How To Fix Taskbar Not Hiding

Please follow these troubleshooting method one after the other till you find the one that works for you.

1. Verify You’ve Auto Hidden The Taskbar

Like i mentioned earlier, you might only be having issues with your taskbar not hiding if you haven’t made any attempt to hide it in the first place.

Before you proceed to the next step, check out this guide to automatically hide your taskbar.

If you are sure you have hidden your taskbar, you don’t have to follow that guide. Move on to the next step.

2. Restart Explorer.exe

There are two ways to restart explorer. These ways are:

1. Task Manager
2. Command Prompt

Lets take them one after the other.

Task Manager

1. Open file explorer with the following command and leave it open. If your file explorer is not responding, then you should fix it.

Windows Key + E

2. Open task manager with the following command:

Ctrl + Shift + Esc

3. In the apps section, right-click on windows explorer and select restart.

By doing this, your whole desktop and taskbar will be refreshed and your problem should be fixed.

If you are unable to restart file explorer with task manager, then you should try command prompt instead.

Command Prompt

1. Open Run box with the following command:

Windows key + R

2. Type the following command into the run box to open command prompt:

cmd

3. Copy and paste the following into command prompt and press enter on your keyboard:

taskkill /im explorer.exe /f

4. After hitting enter, type in the following command and hit enter again:

explorer

5. Your problem should be resolved.

3. Turn on Icons Notifications

The whole point of turning on your notification icon is to detect what program is causing your windows 10 taskbar not to hide.

Here’s how to turn it on,

1. Open windows settings with the following command:

Windows key + I

2. Click on personalization.

3. Select taskbar in the left section.

4. In the taskbar section, scroll down to notification area and click on select which icons appear on the taskbar.

5. Turn on always show all icons in the notification area.

Note – Some icons will be displayed on your taskbar by turning on that option.

After detecting what program is causing the problem, you should disable the notification with the next method.

4. Turn off Program Notification

1. Type in notification and actions settings in windows search.

2. Click on notification & actions settings from windows search results.

3. Scroll down to get notifications from these senders and turn off the notification of the program causing the problem. If you don’t know what program is causing the problem, then turn off all the notifications and then turn it back on one after the other to detect the program causing the problem.

5. Check Group Policy Settings

Group policy has some features for your taskbar that you can edit to your need. You can use this to fix your taskbar issue.

Here’s how

1. Search for gpedit.msc in windows search.

2. Click on edit group policy from the result.

3. Inside group policy editor, click on user configuration to reveal more options.

4. Under user configuration, click on administrative templates.

5. Under administrative template, select start menu and taskbar.

6. In the settings section, you need to tweak the following:

• Lock all taskbar settings
• Turn off all balloon notifications
• Turn off the automatic promotion of notification icons to the taskbar.
• Turn off feature advertisement balloon notifications.
• Notifications — this options lets you turn off calls during Quiet Hours

You can either enable or disable any of these options.

If your taskbar still won’t hide, try the next method.

6. Check Third-party Programs

The idea here is for you to try and find and uninstall the program that is causing your taskbar not to hide.

I understand how this idea my not be the best option but it’s something you have to consider. Some programs might not be 10% compatible with windows 10 which can cause some complex problems.

Ask yourself:

What program did I install last?

When did this taskbar issue start?

What program was installed before my taskber started misehaving?

When you ask yourself these questions, you should be able to identify and uninstall the program completely from your computer.

If you don’t want to uninstall the program, you can try to repair the program on windows 10.

7. Update Windows and Third-party Programs

Just as stated above, you should update your windows and programs.

Windows 10 tend to develop complex issues if it’s version is outdated. This could be the reason why your taskbar is having issues.

Third-part programs on the other hand is similar, if it’s outdated, there’s a chance it could be the cause of the problem.

I already prepared a complete guide on how to update your windows and apps.