WiFi causes taskbar to be unresponsive

O_Confused · Mar 2, 2022

Hi folks - we bought a new Dell laptop this week. Turned it on for the first time, went through the set up, connected to Microsoft account, followed all the prompts. It's running Windows 11, first time we've had it. The taskbar is unresponsive. Click on an icon and nothing happens. Maybe it'll work once, then nothing. Took it to a repair place. Works fine. My wife took it to work. Works fine. I connect through my phone's hotspot. Works fine. Connect to our home WiFi - taskbar is unresponsive. So it looks like it's something to do with our WiFi/broadband? Spoke to the service provider (Exetel in Australia) who has factory reset the modem and changed the IP address. Will try it when my wife brings the computer home from work tonight. But has anyone else experienced/heard of this and knows what the problem is? We'll change providers if we have to but would rather not. Many thanks!

glasskuter · Mar 2, 2022

No, I have not heard of such. I did a little research and found several similar complaints from people using windows 10. I am assuming you are using your laptop on battery. Could you please check to see if the same problem exists when running your laptop plugged in. Hope the reset of your IP fixed the problem. Let us know.

O_Confused · Mar 2, 2022

glasskuter said:
No, I have not heard of such. I did a little research and found several similar complaints from people using windows 10. I am assuming you are using your laptop on battery. Could you please check to see if the same problem exists when running your laptop plugged in. Hope the reset of your IP fixed the problem. Let us know.

Thanks @glasskuter! Yes we were running it plugged in. Fingers crossed for tonight and I'll share how it goes...

Stigg · Mar 21, 2022

O_Confused said:
Hi folks - we bought a new Dell laptop this week. Turned it on for the first time, went through the set up, connected to Microsoft account, followed all the prompts. It's running Windows 11, first time we've had it. The taskbar is unresponsive. Click on an icon and nothing happens. Maybe it'll work once, then nothing. Took it to a repair place. Works fine. My wife took it to work. Works fine. I connect through my phone's hotspot. Works fine. Connect to our home WiFi - taskbar is unresponsive. So it looks like it's something to do with our WiFi/broadband? Spoke to the service provider (Exetel in Australia) who has factory reset the modem and changed the IP address. Will try it when my wife brings the computer home from work tonight. But has anyone else experienced/heard of this and knows what the problem is? We'll change providers if we have to but would rather not. Many thanks!

Hi, Confused.

I was starting to get RSI from having to click a second, third and even fourth time to get an app on the taskbar to respond.
I would see the taskbar icon animation bounce when clicked, but the app would fail to initially respond.

Go to Settings > Taskbar > Taskbar Behaviors: Untick "Show Badges". See if that works for you.

Apparently the unresponsive taskbar affects more people if Taskbar Alignment is set to the left, and some suggest to set it to center. But I don't want mine in the center.

The Windows 11 taskbar has been a mongrel implementation from the beginning.