Microsoft taskbar blank

[tribal bear]

Hi, so I’ve recently bought a pre-built pc and the supplier installed windows 11 for me. When I put the pc on, I noticed there was no apps, search bar or windows logo on the taskbar, it was completely empty. I have tried putting the show taskbar badges on and off, I have tried restarting the file explorer task and ending the task. I have tried resetting to the last saved point. I have tried signing out and nothing has worked. Please help.

[oak panther]

It may've been installed wrong. If you have warranty, put the PC under it. If not, try opening Command Prompt and using the following tools:

[gritty dome]

System File Checker / SFC

This utility scans the system for corruption in the system files which may be responsible for irregular operating system behaviour. For more information, check this page (written by Microsoft).

Use DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth if SFC fails to properly fix the problem.

[sleek mango]

use the shortcut shift fn f10 or shift f10 then type regedit into cmd click enter go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
right click on the option called advanced and then click on new dword 32 bit value
name the value Start_ShowClassicMode and then double click on the value and set it to 1
then restart windows 11

[oak panther]

I think that will show the old start menu (and after looking up, this way seems to no longer work either), not fix the issue.

[tribal bear]

Yep I’ve tried this but it doesn’t seem to work, thanks though

[sleek mango]

have you tried replacing windows 11's explorer.exe with windows 10's explorer.exe

also are you on win11 21h2 or 22h2?

[oak panther]

In my opinion, that would be a more breaking than fixing solution.

Either go with the OS to the PC manufacturer if you can fix it for free, you will most likely get a working OS with the license.

I would experiment only on PC's when you have no choice. If it doesn’t work properly from the beginning, report it to the PC manufacturer. You may end up voiding warranty when you start to mess with the OS.

[tribal bear]

Nope

[tribal bear]

uh sorry, is that the update ?

[tribal bear]

Alright thanks

[tribal bear]

@sleek mango I’m on 22h2

[brittle light]

maybe related, my taskbar has higher Z-index than Start, so I cannot click on "Power" button (below "Settings") to shutdown PC

when Start gets focus, taskbar is hidden by it

[sleek mango]

okay replace windows 11 22h2's explorer.exe with windows 10 22h2's explorer.exe

[fringe path]

I don't think replacing system files especially with ones from old version is a good idea

[sleek mango]

windows 11 is basically windows 10 anyways

[fringe path]

Reinstalling windows might help if it was prebuilt as it might have been used before

[fringe path]

But have you at least tried? Even if it's based on windows 10 there were changes made to it's executable

[sleek mango]

yeah explorer from windows 10 is compatible with win 11

[fringe path]

Hmm maybe, but I doubt it would resolve OP's issue

[oak panther]

I'm pretty sure that leaving this to PC manufacturer would be enough if OP has a warranty. Otherwise, simply repair or reinstall the OS (if you didn’t use it at all already), like said above ^.

[tribal bear]

Hi, thanks for all the answers

our local pc guy just did a registry update and it worked

[frosty walrus]

how can i do it too?