The Windows key has the Microsoft logo on it and is found between the left Ctrl and Alt keys on the keyboard.

The first method of moving the Show Desktop icon is to add back the Quick Launch bar to the Taskbar. The Quick Launch bar contains a Show Desktop option, so once you follow the steps in our article to bring back the Quick Launch bar, you should see the Show Desktop icon on the left side of the Taskbar.

Press the Windows key on the keyboard to bring up the Start Menu. This should also make the taskbar appear. Right-Click on the now-visible taskbar and select Taskbar Settings. Click on the ‘Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode’ toggle so that the option is disabled, or enable “Lock the taskbar”.

In the Task Manager window, click the “File” menu and then click “New Task (Run…)”. In the Create New Task window, type “explorer.exe” into the “Open” box and then click “OK.” Your taskbar and notification area should reappear and hopefully, whatever problem you were having will be resolved.

Simple Reasons for Icons Not Showing You can do so by right-clicking on the desktop, selecting View and verify Show desktop icons has a check beside it. If it’s just the default (system) icons you seek, right-click the desktop and choose Personalize. Go into Themes and select Desktop icon settings.

Open the Control Panel “Taskbar and Start Menu.” Under the Taskbar tab, in the Notification area section click on the “Customize” button. In the Notification Area window notice the link “Turn system icons on or off.” Click on the link and make sure the icons your prefer are turned ON.

Press the Windows key on the keyboard to bring up the Start Menu. This should also make the taskbar appear. Click on the ‘Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode’ toggle so that the option is disabled, or enable “Lock the taskbar”. The taskbar should now be permanently visible.

A missing Taskbar can be caused by either the Taskbar being on Auto hide or the computer user accidentally hiding the Taskbar by dragging it down too far. In Windows Vista and later: If you still cannot get the Taskbar to show, reboot the computer and load the computer into Windows Safe Mode.

To display the Toolbar (the one at top that shows File, Edit, View, Tools, Help) in Windows 7 Explorer: within Explorer hit the ALT key. If you’d always like to see the menu bar, then set the default here: Tools, Folder Options, View, “Always show menus”.

Run Registry Editor (RegEdit).

Bottom: The taskbar is located at the bottom of the screen (Default) Left: The taskbar is located on the left side of the screen Right: The taskbar is located on the right side of the screen Top: The taskbar is located at the top of the screen