Taskbar icons are missing problem

When I turned on my computer today, I realized that some of my icons disappeared from my taskbar e.g. Google Talk, Skype etc. When I tried to open Google Talk, the program opened normally, but when I tried to minimize it to my taskbar no Google Talk icon was there. I decided to solve the problem without restarting Windows using the following procedure.

1. Open Windows Task Manager by pressing "Ctlr+Alt+Del" simultaneously.

At the Processes tab, make sure that your program is still running e.g. "googletalk.exe".

2. Select the "explorer.exe" process and end it using the "End process" button at bottom right of Task Manager window.

3. All desktop icons will disappear. Without closing Task Manager, go to "File > New Task" at the left up corner in Task Manager’s window.

5. At the Open command window box, type "explorer.exe" and then choose "OK"

After that, Windows Explorer reloads again and normally you can see your desktop and its icons come back, and you can see again all the running program icons appearing in your taskbar.

If this article was useful for you, please consider supporting us by making a donation. Even $1 can a make a huge difference for us in our effort to continue to help others while keeping this site free:

• Author
• Recent Posts

Konstantinos Tsoukalas

Konstantinos is the founder and administrator of Wintips.org. Since 1995 he works and provides IT support as a computer and network expert to individuals and large companies. He is specialized in solving problems related to Windows or other Microsoft products (Windows Server, Office, Microsoft 365, etc.).

Latest posts by Konstantinos Tsoukalas (see all)

• How to Securely Allow SMTP Sending through Microsoft 365 using SMTP RELAY. - May 26, 2026
• How to Add a Shared Calendar in Outlook for Web (OWA) - May 20, 2026
• How to Stop Windows 11 from Downgrading GPU Drivers. - May 18, 2026