WINDOWS 10 MULTITASKING

Question

Having just completed the W10 Fall update (& associated additional updates) I find that my multitasking facility has disappeared completely. I can no longer arrange multiple windows and even the resize button (top r-hand corner) doesn't work anymore. The multitasking menu that normally appears when right-clicking on the taskbar has also disappeared.

None of options on the Settings multitasking page has fixed the issue so far. How do I restore this important functionality?

Answer 1

Hello Nicholas,

This issue may have occurred due to a corrupted system file. For us to assist you with this, we suggest that you perform the methods below to see if there will be any changes:

• Method 1: Use the System File Checker tool to missing or corrupted system files.
• Method 2: Perform a clean boot. A clean boot is performed to start Windows by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This helps eliminate software conflicts that occur when you install a program or an update or when you run a program in Windows 10
• **Method 3:**Restart the Windows' Explorer.exe to refresh your taskbar functionality.
  1. Open Task Manager by right clicking the taskbar.
  2. Click More details at the bottom to expand the Task Manager window.
  3. Under the Processes tab, look for Windows Explorer.
  4. After selecting the Windows Explorer, click the Restart button at the bottom.
  5. It may take a few seconds and things like your taskbar and Start menu may disappear momentarily, but when it restarts, things should behave better and you can exit Task Manager. Close the Task Manager window.

Kindly get back to us with the results.

Answer 2

Tried all of the above and DISM check but nothing worked. Method 3 was a non-starter as the right-click taskbar menu had also disappeared (as I said in my original post).

As it appeared that nothing was actually corrupted, I tried setting up a new account on the machine to see if the problem appeared again. It did not, so the loss of functionality was something to do with the settings in my original account. I compared the multitasking settings in the new account with those in my original account and found no discrepancies. I also searched for other settings that may somehow have led to this loss of functionality but found nothing.

In short, the loss of multitasking functionality and disappearance of the menus seems to have been something very specific to the account that occurred *following the Fall update.*My workaround - creating a new user account & deleting the original one - has worked, but it doesn't address the root problem which could therefore occur again. It's also a bit inconvenient having to go through the rigmarole of setting one's personal account up again. 

If anyone has any further ideas, do let me know. Otherwise, I'm signing off on this one - unless or until it happens again!

Answer 3

We appreciate your reply and also the details that you've provided especially the work around that can help fellow community members. There are reported issues related to the Task View (Multitasking) after an update, we've already relayed this information to our Developers to correct this on a timely manner.

Meanwhile, if you have a spare time, kindly share us your thoughts about this matter at the Feedback Hub. Our developers are working hard to provide better features on our applications to be implemented. To send a suggestion for this feature, follow the steps below:

1. On a Windows 10 device, search for “Feedback Hub” in Cortana search, then launch the app.
2. Navigate to Feedback in the left menu, then press + Add new feedback.
3. Select the Problem, and share any details you think are relevant, and choose an appropriate category and subcategory.
4. Important: If possible, reproduce the problem(s) after clicking Begin monitoring (or Start capture) near the end of the form; Stop monitoring when you’re done.
5. Once you’ve completed the form and monitoring, click Submit.
6. Click Continue using Feedback Hub.
7. Click My feedback at the top, then find the item you submitted (it may take a while to appear).
8. Open the item you submitted, then click Share.
9. Click Copy link, then paste the link here in your response (it will look like https://aka.ms/ link>).

We appreciate your feedback.

Answer 4

Xylee,

Thx for yours above.

At this point I have nothing more to add that might be helpful. However, I'd be grateful to know when the developers have resolved the issues you refer to above.

Thx for your efforts.