How to Fix System Tray or Icons Missing in Windows 10

Plus what to do as a last resort

The Windows 10 System Tray (Notification area), is located on the right side of the taskbar and provides access to system notifications, functions, and apps.

The system tray also holdsshortcutsto some important settings like network, power, volume, andAction Centericons.

If you hover over the system tray and notice that the icons you use are missing, there are several reasons why this happens. You may have installed a Windows Update, which caused a glitch, or there are corrupted Registry entries that seem to conflict with Windows 10, making the system tray or icons disappear.

Here’s how you can fix the system tray or icons missing in windows 10problem.

How to Fix System Tray or Icons Missing in Windows 10

There are two ways to show hidden icons in the system tray: Using the mouse and using Windows 10 Settings.

To do this using your mouse, select the arrow next to the Notification area to open the system tray and reveal the hidden icons. You can also drag the icons with your cursor and drop them on the taskbar.

If you want to see all your icons in the system tray all the time, remove the arrow and expandable pane, and enable theAlways show all icons in the notification areasetting.

Note: Icons in the system tray only appear when their corresponding apps are running.

If you still don’t see icons on your system tray, use theTurn system icons on or offsetting and see if it helps.

Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Restart Windows Explorer to reload it and restore the missing system tray or icons on your computer.

Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) will reload and the icons will appear in the system tray. If there’s an icon you don’t see, go back to theTaskbar settings, selectTurn system icons on or offand check the box next to the missing icon.

The icon cache database contains the icons you see on apps and files so that the operating system can display them on your screen. Caching icons keeps your system from slowing down by not having to look up icons every time.

However, as the icon cache database grows, corruption may creep in and the icons may not render correctly, may appear broken, or missing from the system tray.

To resolve this problem, try to reset or delete the IconCache to resolve the problem.

cd %homepath%AppDataLocalMicrosoftWindowsExplorer

Close Command Prompt to complete the process, and Windows will recreate the database files with new icons.

Controlled Folder Access is an intrusion prevention feature in Windows 10 that protects your valuable data from modification by threats likemalware, viruses, and ransomware. If you find system tray or icons missing in Windows 10, try disabling the Control folder access option and see if they’re restored after that.

If the system tray or icons are missing on your computer, chances are thetaskbar may not be workingproperly. To resolve this, reinstall the taskbar using Windows PowerShell.

Right-clickStart > Windows PowerShell (Admin).

Copy and paste this command and pressEnter:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

Check if your system tray and icons are back in the notification area.

Editing the Windows Registry helps correct errors or corruption, or prevent undesired system activity. The process can be dangerous, especially if you make a wrong edit in the wrong entry, so make sure youbackup the registrybefore proceeding with the steps below.

If nothing else works, try aSystem Restoreas this protects and repairs your computer’s software. It saves the Windows Registry and some system files as restore points for use in case of data corruption or an install failure.

A System Restore returns the system to working condition by reverting back the settings and files saved to the restore point.

Get Your System Tray and Icons Back

We hope these steps helped you get your missing system tray and icons back. Make sure to search the rest of our site for more troubleshooting tips and tricks to help you fix other issues in different operating systems and devices.

Elsie is a technology writer and editor with a special focus on Windows, Android and iOS. She writes about software, electronics and other tech subjects, her ultimate goal being to help people out with useful solutions to their daily tech issues in a simple, straightforward and unbiased style. She has a BCom degree in Marketing and currently pursuing her Masters in Communications and New Media.Read Elsie’s Full Bio

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