Windows 11 Enterprise Taskbar icons disappear after reboot and being moved to a folder named 'Tombstones

Question

All my Office taskbar icons disappear after reboot being moved to the folder called 'tombstones' (AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar\Tombstones), so I need to restore each of them manually. My Windows is Windows 11 Enterprise for Workstations. Would be appreciate for any help with this issue.

Answer 1

Hi Mike Tran,

Thank you for posting in the Q&A Forums.

This can be due to a variety of reasons such as system updates, software conflicts or misconfiguration. Below are some possible steps and suggestions for resolution:

Windows Explorer is responsible for managing the taskbar and desktop icons, etc. If it has problems, it may cause the taskbar icons to disappear. You can try restarting Windows Explorer to fix this issue:

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.

Find the "Windows Explorer" process in the "Processes" tab.

Right-click on it and select "Restart".

Make sure you have the latest version of Office and Windows 11, as Microsoft may fix such issues with an update.

Best regards

NeuviJ

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Answer 2

Hello Mike

Also, you can try these steps

Step 1: Find the original Office shortcut files

In the AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar folder, you should find a subfolder named Office. Inside this folder, look for shortcut files with .lnk extensions. These are the original shortcuts that were moved to the Tombstones folder.

Step 2: Move the shortcut files back to their original location

Copy the .lnk files from the Office folder in Tombstones and paste them into the same Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar folder. This will restore the original shortcuts.

Step 3: Update the shortcuts

Right-click on each shortcut file and select "Properties". In the Properties window, make sure the "Target" path points to the correct location of the Office application (e.g., C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Root\Office16\WINWORD.EXE for Word).

Step 4: Pin the shortcuts to the taskbar

Right-click on each shortcut file and select "Pin to taskbar" or drag-and-drop them onto the taskbar. This will restore the icons to their original positions.

Optional: Create a script to automate the process

If you need to perform this process frequently or have many Office applications, you can create a batch script to automate the process. You can use tools like PowerShell or a text editor like Notepad++ to create a script that moves the shortcut files back to their original location and updates their properties.

Here's an example PowerShell script:

Copy

Replace <username> with your actual username.