Small 'close' bar on screen - and won't go away

Hello @Mark Damazer

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum.

I understand the frustration that caused by the "Close" tooltip stuck on your desktop. This happens when a tooltip does not dismiss properly.

Here are some steps that you can kindly take to help resolve the issue:

Hover back over the original window's Close button:

• Move your mouse pointer onto the "X" of the app or dialog that spawned the tooltip.
• Simply hovering there again usually forces the tooltip to disappear.

Close it with Alt + F4:

• Click once on the stuck tooltip to focus it
• Press Alt + F4 together - this will close the parent window and remove the tooltip.

Restart Windows Explorer:

• Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC to open Task Manager
• Under Window processes, right-click Windows Explorer > Restart.
• Explorer will redraw your desktop and clear any stuck UI elements.

Change display scaling or resolution:

• Open Setting ( Window + I ) > System > Display
• Under Scale & Layout, pick a different Scale or Display resolution, apply it, then switch back.
• This forces a full UI refresh and remove any stubborn on-screen artifact.

Reboot your PC if none of the steps above work.

If the issue still occurred, please let me know:

• Which Windows edition and build you are currently running?
• Are you using any third-party window-management?
• Provide a screenshot or short video of the stuck icon could also help track down the cause.

Feel free to let me know if you need any further assistance. Thank you for your time

Best regards,

Ian | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist.

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Followed all provided instructions. Issue intermittently appears and restarting is the only discovered fix.

Hi Mark Damazer

It has been a while, and I am writing to see how things are going with this issue.  

Have you had a chance to check the replies provided?  

Any update would be appreciated. 

Best regards,

Ian | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist

Hello, thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A.

1. Could you please provide us with a screenshot showing the small Close icon in the middle of the screen? This will help us to determine what is causing the issue.

• Have you tried restarting your computer first?

Sometimes, a simple restart can stop background applications from running and resolve a temporary glitch within the operating system.

• If you're still experiencing issues, open Task Manager and check if any suspicious process is running in the background. Right-click and select End Task.

Then, locate the Windows Explorer process, right-click on it, and select 'Restart'.

• Finally, try running the System File Checker utility scan.

Open the Command Prompt as an Administrator. Execute these commands one by one, pressing Enter after each.

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Sfc /scannow

Restart your computer.

Let us know how it goes.