Taskbar is transparent after wake from sleep

Question

I have a Surface Pro 2017 running Windows 10 21H2 which is the most up-to-date version for this computer. I have had this problem as long as I've had this device, but now I would like to fix the problem. In settings under the personality section, I have set it to this: which means that transparency effects are on. Normally, my taskbar looks like a normal Windows 10 taskbar. But after I wake my Surface from sleep, and this has only happened if the type cover is on, I get a transparent taskbar except for the search field. It does not look good and it looks like this:

Does anyone know how to fix this? I have not had this problem on any other Windows devices.

Answer 1

Hi PolarBear123_456,

Thank you for reaching Microsoft Community. Apologies for the inconvenience this has caused you.

Just to confirm: You mentioned that this only happens when the typecover is connected then you wake the device from sleep, how about when you turn the device on from a shutdown or if the typecover is not connected? Do you get the normal black Taskbar?

How about when you turn off the Transparency effects in Settings, what happens?

Kindly try first running these steps on the device then see if the issue persist:

1: Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit

See: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit (microsoft.com)

2: Check for Windows Update

Go to Windows Settings > Update & Security and select Check for updates

Make sure all updates need are installed including Optional updates

3: Update drivers and firmware

Check what is the current OS Build of your Windows version by going to Settings > System > About. 

Go to Download driver and firmware for Surface, choose Surface Pro

Then click the link next to Surface Pro 5thgen then click Download on the next page.

Choose the .msi file that matches your current OS Build and click Next.

After downloading, run and install the .msi then Restart. 

4: Run System File Checker Tool

See: Using System File Checker in Windows (microsoft.com)

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Marrion

Answer 2

Thank you for your reply and detailed response. If I turn the Surface Pro on from a shutdown, I get the normal black taskbar. If the typecover is not connected I am in tablet mode and this does not happen. If I turn off transparency effects, I get this dock: It isn't transparent, but I don't think it looks good either. I would rather have the normal dock that is somewhat transparent but not fully. If I wake my device from sleep and the dock is transparent, I can turn off transparency effects to get the above dock. But when I turn transparency effects on again, the dock is transparent. I can only fix this by restarting.

This problem has occured a few years ago and until now. In that time, I've reinstalled Windows 10 two times. That means that I don't have to run the system file checker because this has happened on two clean Windows installations. I updated my Surface Pro firmware and Windows 10 is on the latest version.

Thank you again for your time, do you have any suggestions?

Answer 3

Hi PolarBear123_456,

Thank you for the response and for providing the screenshot of the Taskbar when Transparency effects if off. To make sure that we get the exact face of the Taskbar that you prefer, you mentioned that when you turn the device on from shutdown, you get the Taskbar that you prefer, can you please take a screenshot of this Taskbar then share it also here with us?

Also, please open Windows Settings > Personalization > Colors. Take also a screenshot of that page so we could see how are the color settings configured on the device.

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards,

Marrion

Answer 4

Thank you for your reply.

Disconnecting the type cover and then attaching it again does not solve the problem, it reverts back to the transparent taskbar. I also want to mention that this only happens sometimes when I wake the device from sleep when the type cover is attached, maybe 50% of the time.

Here is a picture of how the taskbar should look when it is working:

And here is a picture of the Colors settings in the Personalisation menu: It is in German, but you can see that Transparency is on, the color is dark mode, accent color is chosen automatically, and that you cannot see the accent color in the taskbar and on window borders.

Thank you.

Answer 5

Hi PolarBear123_456,

Thank you for the added details and apologies for the delay. Considering that the issue is intermittent and there are times that the Taskbar displays correctly, we could say that this is likely just due to some software on the device. Please have the Transparency effect option set to Off first to avoid conflicts and having the Taskbar go to a transparent state then proceed with the steps below to refresh the display driver of the device:

Open Device Manager

Expand Display adapters

Right-click on the Intel graphics then choose Uninstall device

Note: If prompted with a checkbox stating "Delete the driver software for this device", leave it uncheck then hit Uninstall.

After uninstalling, restart your Surface then see if the issue persist

Kind regards,

Marrion