Taskbar Wont Autohide: Why Do I Need to Restart Windows Explorer?

Windows 10
1

I’m having an issue with my taskbar where it refuses to hide itself about a dozen times a week. I’ve checked and my autohide settings are enabled, which is the usual solution to this problem. The only way to fix it is to restart Windows Explorer through the Task Manager, which always works.

What I want to know is why this keeps happening. Is there something going wrong that’s preventing my taskbar from hiding properly?

2

Hey there, fellow Windows user.

I’m happy to help you troubleshoot this annoying issue. Restarting Windows Explorer is a common fix, but it’s not a permanent solution, and we should dig deeper to find the root cause.

Here are a few possible reasons why your taskbar won’t autohide:

Resource-intensive programs: If you have an application running in the background that’s consuming a lot of system resources, it might interfere with the taskbar’s autohide feature. Check your Task Manager to see if there are any resource-hungry programs running. Close them or limit their resource usage to see if it makes a difference.

Conflicting third-party apps: Some third-party apps, especially those that modify the taskbar or system tray, might cause issues with the autohide feature. Try closing or disabling any recently installed apps to see if they’re the culprit.

Windows Explorer glitches: Sometimes, Windows Explorer can get stuck or glitchy, causing issues like this. Restarting it, as you’ve already discovered, can temporarily fix the problem. However, we need to find a more permanent solution.

System file corruption: In some cases, system file corruption can cause issues with Windows Explorer and the taskbar. We can try running a System File Checker (SFC) scan to identify and fix any corrupted system files.

Here’s what you can do:

  1. Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
  2. Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
  3. Let the scan run and fix any issues it finds.

Other troubleshooting steps:

  1. Check for Windows updates and install any available updates.
  2. Disable and re-enable the autohide feature in Taskbar settings.
  3. Try resetting the taskbar to its default settings.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, it might be worth considering a clean boot to isolate the problem. Let me know if you need help with that!

Keep me updated on your progress, and we can further troubleshoot if needed