How to remove the duplicate application icons on taskbar in kiosk mode?

Question

How to remove the duplicate application icons on taskbar in kiosk mode?

Liang, Ming 101

We have a WinUI 3 application that runs in kiosk mode.(Implemented using Shell Launcher v2)

Here is how to reproduce duplicate application icons on taskbar:

Steps:

Turn on kiosk mode in application.
Logon user. (Application start running in kiosk mode)
Set power&sleep: screen will turn off after 1 minute, sleep after 1 minute.
In windows settings Account tab: set sign-in option windows will require you to sign in again after 1 minute.
Waiting for 10 minutes, then logon user account. The application is restarted and there is a application icon on the taskbar.

If you repeat the step 5 again, you will find two application icons on the taskbar. These two icons can be removed by signing out or restart the system. Is there anyway to remove these duplicate icons programmatically(like API call to force the shell to refresh)? Thanks.

Viorel 126.8K Reputation points

2026-03-11T01:29:16.0166667+00:00

Doesn't the “Require sign in again = Never” option help (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5815157/)?
Liang, Ming 101 Reputation points

2026-03-11T02:24:04.51+00:00

@Viorel
Yes, application won't get restarted(no icon appeared on taskbar) after set “Require sign in again = Never”, but it is not a realistic solution for user avoid this duplicate icon issue.

Answer accepted by question author

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Viorel 126.8K Reputation points

2026-03-11T01:29:16.0166667+00:00

Doesn't the “Require sign in again = Never” option help (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5815157/)?
Liang, Ming 101 Reputation points

2026-03-11T02:24:04.51+00:00

@Viorel
Yes, application won't get restarted(no icon appeared on taskbar) after set “Require sign in again = Never”, but it is not a realistic solution for user avoid this duplicate icon issue.

Answer 1

Jack Dang (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 16,595 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Liang, Ming ,

Thanks for reaching out.

When the system sleeps and the user is required to sign in again, Shell Launcher v2 launches the kiosk app again as part of the logon process. In some cases the previous taskbar registration isn’t fully cleaned up by the shell, so when the new instance starts, the shell creates another taskbar entry instead of reusing the existing one, which is why the icons accumulate until a full sign-out or system restart resets the shell state.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a supported Windows API that allows an application to directly force the taskbar to refresh or remove stale icons. The taskbar is managed by Windows Explorer, and applications generally don’t have a way to programmatically clear or rebuild those entries.

That said, there are a couple of things worth checking on the application side that can sometimes prevent duplicate icons from appearing:

Ensure the app uses a consistent AppUserModelID across launches. Windows groups taskbar buttons based on this ID, and if it changes between launches the shell may treat each restart as a separate application.
Confirm the app is not unintentionally creating multiple windows during initialization (which can also result in multiple taskbar buttons).
If possible, ensure only a single instance of the application is allowed to run.

If you found my response helpful or informative in any way, I would greatly appreciate it if you could follow this guidance provide feedback.

Thank you.

Liang, Ming 101 Reputation points

2026-03-11T09:01:44.51+00:00
@Jack Dang (WICLOUD CORPORATION) Thanks.
I tried the "AppUserModelID" solution you mentioned, but it did not work.

Our application will create a startup window when it is launched, but that startup window only last one second and get closed, so I guess it is not the root cause of the issue.

public App() { WindowHelper.SetCurrentProcessExplicitAppUserModelID("ABC.KIOSKAPP.01.00.00"); }
Jack Dang (WICLOUD CORPORATION) 16,595 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-11T10:00:22.8+00:00
Hi @Liang, Ming ,

Thanks for the update and for sharing the code snippet.

One additional detail that would be helpful to confirm is whether your application is packaged (MSIX) or running as an unpackaged .exe.

For apps built with WinUI 3, this can make a difference. Packaged apps installed via MSIX have a registered identity in Windows, which helps the shell correctly associate all launches and windows with the same taskbar icon. For unpackaged apps, Windows relies more on runtime information (like AppUserModelID). In kiosk setups launched through Shell Launcher v2, if the app is restarted after the sleep -> sign-in cycle, the shell may treat the new launch as a separate registration and create another taskbar icon.

So it would be helpful to check:

Is the kiosk app deployed as an MSIX packaged app or as a standalone executable?

If it’s currently unpackaged, it may be worth testing with a packaged deployment so Windows can consistently recognize the app identity.

Also, since you mentioned a temporary startup window, you may want to ensure it doesn’t appear on the taskbar, as even short-lived windows can sometimes register a taskbar entry.
Liang, Ming 101 Reputation points

2026-03-11T12:50:38.19+00:00

@Jack Dang (WICLOUD CORPORATION)
Our WinUI 3 application is standalone executable. We use Wix installer project to install the application executable and it dependencies to the target machine.
Liang, Ming 101 Reputation points

2026-03-12T01:40:57.8766667+00:00

@Jack Dang (WICLOUD CORPORATION)
I removed the code of startup window, but it did not work. I guess we just need to accept this behavior.

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How to remove the duplicate application icons on taskbar in kiosk mode?

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