» How to Fix a Frozen Taskbar on Windows OS

How to Fix a Frozen Taskbar on Windows OS

Frozen taskbar is an unresponsive state of the taskbar. You may have a frozen taskbar or unresponsive taskbar after a Windows change, such as the Windows 10 downgrade or upgrade, Windows 10 anniversary update, etc. In this case, you fail to click on anything on the Windows taskbar, including the right clicking.

Well, the icons or the Start menu are dead and not clickable on such a frozen taskbar. How depressed! Since there are many users encountering the frozen taskbar issue on Windows 10, 8.1, 7, etc., today I will talk about how to fix a Windows frozen taskbar.

How to Fix the Windows Frozen Taskbar

Generally speaking, there are several factors that can result in taskbar not working, such as a wrong running of the Windows Explorer, the Frequent items on the Jump List, disabled services, etc. Here are 5 solutions for you to fix an unresponsive taskbar.

Method 1: Restart the Windows Explorer to Fix the Frozen Taskbar Issue

Since it is not convenient to click on the taskbar, you have to use some shortcut keys to solve the frozen taskbar issue.

Use shortcut keys Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager.
Select the Windows Explorer on the list and then click on the button Restart at the right bottom.

For some Windows OS, for example, Windows 7, you need to end the task manually and then run a new one:

Right click on the Windows Explorer and select End task.
Click File from the menu and select Run new task.
Type explorer.exe into the pop-up dialog box and hit Enter or click on OK.

This can also help to end the unresponsive or frozen taskbar.

Method 2: Use Powershell to Fix the Frozen Taskbar Issue

Use Windows shortcut keys Win + R to launch Run.
Type powershell into the dialog box and hit Enter.
Paste the command line below to the Windows PowerShell and hit Enter.

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

Wait until the repair is finished, and then you will find the frozen taskbar has been unfreezed.

Note: You should enable the Windows Firewall before the steps above. Go to Services tab on Task Manager to check if the service MpsSvc, whose description is Windows Firewall, is running.

Method 3: Enable the User Manager

Sometimes, the disabled User Manager will also result in a Windows frozen taskbar. So re-enable the User Manager to unfreeze the unresponsive or frozen taskbar.

Use Windows shortcut keys Win + R to launch Run.
Type services.msc into the box and press Enter.
Double-click on the User Manager and select Automatic from Startup type.
Click OK and then restart the PC.

Method 4: Disable Recently Opened Items

This method is for the right-click on the Start menu or the taskbar issue. If you fail to get the Jump List or the Context menu with a right click on the frozen taskbar, you may consider turning off the recently opened items and speeding up the list launch.

Use Windows shortcut keys Win + I to open Settings.
Select Personalization and then select Start tab from the left column.
Disable the Show recently opened items in Jump Lists on Star or the taskbar.

Method 5: Create a New User Account

Open Run with the Windows shortcut keys.
Type cmd into the dialog box and press Enter.
Type net user Admin123 Mypassword /add into Command Prompt and press Enter.
Then type net localgroup Administrators Admin123 /add and press Enter.

Once finishing the settings, you’ve created a new user account named Admin123, whose password is Mypassword. Switch to the new user account with a replication of your data. After that you may find the Windows frozen taskbar issue has been solved.

Besides the methods above of resolving the frozen taskbar issue, it is also recommended to update the Windows OS and the drivers regularly, which can also help to free from other computer issues, like high disk usage, unidentified network, PC not waking up from sleep, etc.

That’s all about how to fix frozen taskbar on Windows OS. If you still have problems on the subject “frozen taskbar”, write to me via the comment.