Build 23516 – Missing Taskbar Bug

Question

Hello Windows Insiders!

Build23516 was released to the Dev Channel this week. in our reviews of incoming feedback, a bug has been logged that we wanted to share insights on. See below for details.

Who: Windows Insiders on Dev Channel Build 23516

What:  Taskbar may be “missing” on boot after installing this build

Why:  (Investigation is underway)

Additional information:

As we have attempted to reproduce this issue, it has proven to be inconsistent.  Many users have not hit this issue, while others have it on some device reboots, but not others.

Workarounds:

There are three possible workarounds possible for this scenario, each detailed below.

1. If your taskbar is missing, allow the computer to sit idle for 5-6 minutes.  Users have reported hearing an audible ding notification after which time the Taskbar reappears.
2. Reboot the device.  This has not proven to be a fully reliable workaround, but it has been noted as successful from some users.
3. Lastly, you may choose to roll back from this build to the prior build.  This bug was not present in the prior Dev Channel build (23511). To roll back your device if the task bar is missing, please follow these steps:
   • Click the lock screen to display the login page.
   • Select the on-screen Power Button in the lower-right corner.
   • Hold the Shift key and **** select Restart.
     • (The device will reboot and enter the Windows Recovery Environment)
   • On the "Choose an option" screen, select Troubleshoot
   • Select Advanced options
   • Select Uninstall updates
   • Select Uninstall latest feature update
     • If your device has BitLocker enabled, you will be prompted for the recovery key. Input the key and click Continue.
   • On the next screen select Uninstall feature update
   • The uninstall process will now begin.

We appreciate your patience as we investigate this issue.  Please share any additional insights you may have either in the Feedback Hub or here in this thread.

Thank you as always,

• The Windows Insider Team

Answer 1

The following is my workaround for Windows 11 desktop systems with an external display where at random times the taskbar is completely empty after the pc wakes from sleep. (See this related bug report). Possibly, my workaround for that bug also helps in this case?

Workaround steps:

1. Right-click the desktop area.
2. Select "Display settings".
3. Click on "Advanced display".
4. Click on the "Refresh rate" button.
5. Select and switch to a different frequency.
6. Click the "Revert" button.
7. See the Taskbar appear again.

This works on my system (Lenovo Windows 11 desktop pc, with an external LG 5120x2160 monitor connected via DisplayPort 1.4 cable).

Answer 2

I'm using the latest dev build, 23516

It is ironic that had this problem with the missing taskbar several times with previous development Builds on 2 different machines, but never got it to happen with Dev Build 23516.1000. 😵‍💫🤷‍♂️

Perhaps because when I had the problem with previous builds, I did an update/repair in place with ISO to eliminate the bug. Who knows? Mysteries of MS windows! 😂😂😎😵‍💫

Answer 3

I've experienced this bug. I rebooted my computer but the problem still occured. Then after I signed out and logged in again(alt+F4 and setting doesn't work, so I used ctrl+alt+del), the taskbar was back.

Answer 4

笑死了，我等了好久，不止5分钟，任务栏就是加载不出来，什么方法都无效！！！！！！！！