Missing taskbar icons after sleep (and how to temporarily fix it)

AgathePower · Mar 23, 2026

Hello,

Since several years there is an issue with taskbar icons which disappears on wake up from sleep. This don't happens everytime.

I found a way to fix this: in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, disable Show my taskbar on all displays, then re-enable it. Taskbar icons are refreshed and appear again.

I made a video about this bug: Watch 2026-03-23 08-36-39 | Streamable

Is there a way to permanently fix it? Windows Update and NVIDIA GeForce RTS 2060 drivers are up-to-date.

Ghot · Mar 23, 2026

AgathePower said:
Is there a way to permanently fix it?

Might start by trying this...

Rebuild Icon Cache in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to rebuild the icon cache to clear and reset it for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11. The icons that display for files in Windows are saved in an icon cache so they can be displayed quickly instead of having to manually scan and slowly load them each...

www.elevenforum.com

AgathePower · Mar 24, 2026

Ghot said:
Might start by trying this...

Rebuild Icon Cache in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to rebuild the icon cache to clear and reset it for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11. The icons that display for files in Windows are saved in an icon cache so they can be displayed quickly instead of having to manually scan and slowly load them each...

www.elevenforum.com

I think I've tried that before, but I'll give it another try next time it happens (it's unpredictable).

Ghot · Mar 24, 2026

AgathePower said:
I think I've tried that before, but I'll give it another try next time it happens (it's unpredictable).

If that doesn't solve the problem, you might want to try an In-Place upgrade...

Option Two (ISO method)

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

An In-Place upgrade fixes 99% of Windows problems, without altering you programs, files or drivers.

Graulges · Mar 24, 2026

I have this annoyance which doesn't always happen and I've found that restarting Windows Explorer in File Manager returns them. However it's not a permanent fix.

KevTech · Mar 24, 2026

Never have or have had this issue.

spapakons · Mar 24, 2026

If changing screen resolution or something else causes a bug with my Taskbar icons (the Copilot icon usually moves half way behind the search icon), I can toggle a change in Explorer Patcher to fix it. I usually toggle the Task View icon on and off to force the icons on Taskbar to rearrange. That's similar to your workaround, just make a temporary change and change back to force the icons in order.

AgathePower · Mar 28, 2026

Ghot said:
Might start by trying this...

Rebuild Icon Cache in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to rebuild the icon cache to clear and reset it for your account in Windows 10 and Windows 11. The icons that display for files in Windows are saved in an icon cache so they can be displayed quickly instead of having to manually scan and slowly load them each...

www.elevenforum.com

The problem came back this morning; this time, I also could see a icon overlay but not its icon (green square on right side on the video). This is the colored square over Tortoise Git icon (nothing unusual here).

This time a tried to change another Taskbar personalization option:

Watch 2026-03-28 08-48-03 | Streamable

Watch "2026-03-28 08-48-03" on Streamable.

streamable.com

I previously tried ie4uinit.exe -show command, it didn't work.

Next time i'll also try others methods like taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F.

nuspieds · Mar 28, 2026

Graulges said:
I have this annoyance which doesn't always happen and I've found that restarting Windows Explorer in File Manager returns them. However it's not a permanent fix.

Yes, this is what I do as well.

I created a batch file and a Start menu shortcut for it so that when it happens, I just click Start > (my shortcut).

DJNelson · Mar 28, 2026

IMO, The windows interface is inadequate without the following dropdown options...

elbmek · Mar 28, 2026

Curious: Can I ask why some people use 'sleep'. I never have, just turn machine off???

DJNelson · Mar 28, 2026

elbmek said:
Curious: Can I ask why some people use 'sleep'. I never have, just turn machine off???

IMO, it's an obsolete alternative to waiting 10 minutes for a machine with a spinning HDD to finish booting.

HeavyHemi · Mar 28, 2026

elbmek said:
Curious: Can I ask why some people use 'sleep'. I never have, just turn machine off???

Because I hit the keyboard and the system restores to the state I left it in around 5 seconds. The only time I have had issues with resuming from sleep has been caused by graphic drivers for the last several years. Basically my uptime equals the time between Windows updates. That's about the only times I reboot.

spapakons · Mar 28, 2026

Hibernation takes a few more seconds even with a "slow" SATA SSD, so I recommend using that in old laptops instead of sleep. New laptops with much faster SSDs should start faster from Hibernation. I have even used Hibernation on my desktop PC once that I had to move it to another room. Perfect, all my open apps were ready to use without opening them again one-by-one. Even better, some apps that were busy just resumed their job as if I never switched the computer off. I didn't have to wait for them to finish before moving the PC.

HeavyHemi · Mar 28, 2026

Here's a strange one: If I open Windows Tools, then open an instance of File Explorer, it paints part of the Windows Tools window in the File Explorer window.
Edit... It doesn't have to be Windows Tools. It does the same thing opening Control Panel then opening an instance of File Explorer.

AgathePower · Mar 28, 2026

elbmek said:
Curious: Can I ask why some people use 'sleep'. I never have, just turn machine off???

This allows me to keep several programs open—preserving window positions, the state of Ctrl+Z, any intermediate processing steps, the debugger’s state, and so on—that I’m constantly working on, thereby ensuring an uninterrupted workflow.

Edwin · Mar 28, 2026

DJNelson said:
The windows interface is inadequate without the following dropdown options...

Almost completely inadequate, and then some!!!

Edwin · Mar 28, 2026

I can resume tasks from a cold boot within a minute or two! I don't like to mess around with sleep!

DJNelson · Mar 28, 2026

Edwin said:
Almost completely inadequate, and then some!!!

Adequate is not to be confused with abundance... lol

spapakons · Mar 29, 2026

Edwin said:
I can resume tasks from a cold boot within a minute or two! I don't like to mess around with sleep!

I can too, but I don't enjoy the procedure of opening all of these again one by one. I usually have Handbrake for video converting, 3-4 instances of VirtualDub 2 for video editing, a browser, Adobe Audition for audio editing, and a couple more. Also 4-5 File Explorer windows that I don't like wasting time to open them again. So I almost never shutdown my main PC and use Hibernation if I have to. I delay restart after Windows updates to make sure no application is busy.

Missing taskbar icons after sleep (and how to temporarily fix it)

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