Content

• Steps
• Advice

Hiding the Windows taskbar when you're not in use will give you more desktop space and show the entire desktop. You can hide the taskbar from within the Settings menu in Windows 10, or in the Properties window of the taskbar with older versions. If the taskbar doesn't hide or disappear, there are several things you can try.

Steps

Method 1 of 4: On Windows 10

1. 

   Right-click the taskbar and select "Taskbar settings". You need to remind yourself to click on an empty space, not an icon. With the touchscreen, you hold down on the taskbar for a while and then release to open the right-click menu.
   • You can also open the Start menu, select "Settings", click or click "Personalization" and select "Taskbar" in the left menu.
   • If you right-click and see "Properties" instead of "Settings", you're running an older version of Windows 10. You can follow the instructions in the next section to hide the taskbar.

2. 

   
   
   Turn on the switch "Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode" (Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode). The taskbar will immediately hide. This will affect the taskbar every time the computer returns to desktop mode. If your computer is not a tablet then this is the only setting you need to consider.

3. 

   
   
   Turn on the switch "Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode" (Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode). The taskbar will be hidden when the device returns to tablet mode. You can switch to tablet mode by tapping the Notifications button in the lower-right corner of your desktop and then tapping the "tablet mode" button.

4. 

   
   
   Open the taskbar by hovering the mouse pointer over the bottom of the screen. When you place your mouse pointer at the bottom of the screen, a taskbar will appear. The taskbar remains hidden after you move the mouse pointer away.
   • If you're on a tablet, you can bring up the taskbar by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.

5. 

   Change the position of the taskbar. You can use the menu "Taskbar location on screen" to change the position of the taskbar on the screen. Maybe you will find it more convenient when the taskbar is located on the side or above the screen. Changes will be applied immediately. advertisement

Method 2 of 4: On Windows 7, 8 and Vista

1. 

   Right click on the taskbar and select "Properties". If you use Windows 8, select "Desktop" from the Start menu or click ⊞ Win+D to open the desktop view.

2. 

   Check the box "Auto-hide the taskbar". This option is located in the "Taskbar" tab.

3. 

   Click "Apply". The taskbar will disappear. You can click "OK" to close the menu, or adjust other settings.

4. 

   Use the mouse pointer to reopen the taskbar. The taskbar will pop up when you hover your mouse pointer over the bottom of the screen and will hide if you hover out of it. advertisement

Method 3 of 4: Troubleshooting

1. 

   Check for programs that keep the taskbar open. If a program is blinking in the taskbar, the taskbar will not be able to close. Click on the flashing program to switch to that program, the message will stop at this time.

2. 

   Check the system tray icons. The system tray is in the lower right corner of the screen, next to the clock. Like the programs on the taskbar, the system tray icons keep the taskbar open so you can notify you. Click on the notification icon to see what the program needs.
   • The program icon may be hidden. Click the arrow mark to the left of the icon row to see if the icon is hidden.

3. 

   Turn off notifications for specific programs. If you ignore notifications frequently, or if something doesn't go off and the taskbar is stuck, you can disable all notifications.
   • On Windows 10 - Click the Start menu and select "Settings".Select "System"> "Notifications & actions". You can turn off notifications for a specific app or turn off all the top options of the list.
   • Windows 7, 8, and Vista - Click the expanded arrow next to the system tray icons and select "Customize". Find the app for which you want to turn off notifications and select "Hide icon and notifications".

4. 

   Try to apply settings again. Sometimes disabling and reopening the auto-hide feature will fix the taskbar failure to close. Open the Settings (Windows 10) or Properties window again and turn off the auto-hide feature. On Windows 8 and earlier, click "Apply". Then re-enable the feature and apply the settings.

5. 

   Reset Windows Explorer. This is the user interface for Windows, resetting it can fix the taskbar problem.
   • Hold down Ctrl+⇧ Shift and right click on the taskbar.
   • Select "Exit Explorer" from the menu. The taskbar along with all the icons and folders will disappear.
   • Press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
   • Click "File" → "Run new task".
   • Type "explorer" and click ↵ Enter. The file manager will be reloaded.
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Method 4 of 4: Troubleshooting on Windows 10

1. 

   Press.⊞ Win+Rand type "powershell" to open PowerShell. If you're on Windows 10 and can't hide the taskbar, you can try using the PowerShell feature to fix it.

2. 

   Right-click the PowerShell icon in the taskbar and select "Run as administrator" (Run as administrator). Then, confirm that you want to continue. The new "Administrator" PowerShell window will appear.

3. 

   Copy and paste the following command. Make sure you paste the command into the correct "Administrator" window:
   • Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$ ($ _. InstallLocation) AppXManifest.xml"}

4. 

   Execute the command. You will see some errors when the command is executed, but feel free to ignore them.

5. 

   Click or tap the Start menu after the command is complete. You will see the taskbar is hidden. advertisement

Advice

• You will not be able to permanently hide the taskbar on later versions of Windows.