Windows Taskbar is a place which holds the shortcut to various important Windows settings such as Volume, Network, Power, Action Center icons etc. It also has a notification area that displays icons for running programs and shows all notifications related to these programs. Knowing you must have an idea that these system icons that Windows Taskbar holds are very important for day to day use of the users, imagine what happens when these icons go missing from Windows Taskbar. Well, that being said, it’s exactly the case here, so let’s look into the problem before actually trying to fix it.
Sometimes, Volume or Network icons go missing from the Taskbar, which has created a lot of problems for Windows users as they find it difficult to browse around for these settings. Now imagine how hard it must be for average users to find these settings every time they want to change the power plan or connect to a WiFi network. A restart seems to help bring back the icons, but that seems to be temporary as after some time one or more system will again go missing.
The cause of this problem seems to be Unkown as a various group of experts has a different opinion regarding this issue. But the problem seems to be created by corrupted Registry entries of IconStreams and PastIconsStream key which seems to be conflicting with Windows and hence making system icon disappear from Taskbar. So without wasting any time let’s see how to actually Fix System icons missing from Windows Taskbar with the below-listed guide.
Fix System icons missing from Windows Taskbar
Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.
Contents
- Fix System icons missing from Windows Taskbar
- Method 1: Make sure System icons are turned ON from Settings
- Method 2: Deleting IconStreams and PastIconStream Registry Entries
- Method 3: Registry Fix
- Method 4: Run System Restore
Method 1: Make sure System icons are turned ON from Settings
Press Windows Key + I to open the Window Settings and then click on Personalization.
From the left-hand side menu, select Taskbar.
Now click Select which icons appear on the taskbar.
Make sure the Volume or Power or the hidden system icons are turned ON. If not, then click on the toggle to enable them.
Now again go back to Taskbar setting, which clicks Turn system icons on or off.
Again, find the icons for Power or Volume and make sure both are set to On. If not, then click on the toggle near them to set them ON.
Exit the Taskbar settings and Reboot your PC.
If Turn system icons on or off greyed out, follow the next method in order Fix System icons is missing from Windows Taskbar.
Method 2: Deleting IconStreams and PastIconStream Registry Entries
Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
Navigate to the following Registry Key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\LocalSettings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify
- Make sure TrayNotify is highlighted and then in the right window pane find the following two entries:
IconStreams PastIconStream
Right-click on both of them and select Delete.
If asked for confirmation, select Yes.
Close Registry Editor and then press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys together to launch the Task Manager.
Find explorer.exe in the list then right-click on it and select End Task.
Now, this will close the Explorer and run it again, click File > Run new task.
Type explorer.exe and hit OK to restart the Explorer.
Exit Task Manager, and you should again see your missing system icons back in their respective places.
The above method should have resolved System icons missing from the Windows Taskbar issue, but if you are still not seeing your icons, you need to try the next method.
Method 3: Registry Fix
- Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Right-click on each of them and select Delete.
After deleting the above values, browse to the below Registry path and then repeat the process:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Reboot your PC to save changes.
Now again repeat method 1 again.
Method 4: Run System Restore
System Restore always works in resolving the error; therefore System Restore can definitely help you in fixing this error. So without wasting any time run system restore to Fix System icons missing from Windows Taskbar.
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That’s it you have successfully Fix System icons missing from Windows Taskbar but if you still have any questions regarding this guide then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.
