How To Hide The Taskbar In Windows 10

The Windows taskbar is a small, useful area on the screen that lets you launch applications, access Cortana’s search, view the time, and quickly jump to various settings options. If you don’t use the taskbar as often, you can hide it in Windows 10, which will free up space for other application windows.

After the taskbar disappears from the screen, all other applications can use the newly reclaimed screen space. If your computer screen is smaller, it will be of great benefit to you.

Windows 10 offers an option where you can automatically hide the taskbar from the screen. The taskbar remains invisible and only appears when you move your mouse cursor to the bottom of the screen.

How to hide the taskbar in Windows 10

To hide the taskbar on Windows 10 PC, you just need to enable the corresponding option in the Settings app.

1. Use Cortana Search to find and open settings.
2. Click the Personalize option on the next screen.



3. On the left sidebar of your screen, you will find several options. Click the icon labeled “Taskbar” to open the taskbar settings.



4. On the right sidebar, you have various options to customize the taskbar. One of these options is Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode. Enable this option and the taskbar will be hidden on the screen.



5. You should also enable the Automatically hide taskbar in tablet mode option if you are using Windows 10 tablet mode



6. The taskbar will disappear from the screen immediately. To open it, move your cursor to the bottom of the screen and it will appear.



How to Fix Windows 10 Taskbar Not Automatically Hiding

There are times when the Windows 10 taskbar doesn’t automatically hide. It stays on your screen, even though the auto-hide option is enabled in the Settings app.

There may be several reasons. Maybe Windows Explorer is not completely updated and still uses old settings? Or maybe some apps support the taskbar on your screen?

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Restart the Windows Explorer process

When you find that the Windows 10 taskbar is not automatically hidden, the first thing to do is restart the Windows Explorer process. This updates the explorer to take effect the changes you made.

There are two ways to restart the Windows Explorer process on your computer.

Use Command Prompt to restart Windows Explorer

If you prefer to use commands to perform tasks on your computer, there is a command to help you restart File Explorer from the command line.

1. Search for the command line by searching for Cortana and run it.
2. Type the following command in the Command Prompt window and press Enter.

   taskkill / f / im explorer.exe



3. You will see that the background behind the command line is now completely empty. This is because Windows Explorer is currently closed. To reopen it, type the following command at the command prompt and press Enter.

   start explorer.exe



4. All your icons and backgrounds will return. Additionally, your taskbar should now automatically hide when you move your cursor away from the bottom of the screen.



Use Task Manager to restart Windows Explorer

The task manager allows you to find running applications and processes on your computer and gives you the option to kill them. You can also use it to directly restart processes and this is what you need to do with the Windows Explorer process.

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select the Task Manager option.
2. Click the Processes tab at the top if you’re not already there.
3. Find a process called Windows Explorer in the list.
4. Right-click the process and select the Restart option.



5. Without any prompts or confirmation, Task Manager will shut down and restart Windows Explorer on your computer.

Disable notifications for criminal applications on the taskbar



Another reason the taskbar doesn’t automatically hide the taskbar on your Windows 10 PC is because there is an app that supports it. When an app on the taskbar receives a notification, it tries to grab your attention by returning the taskbar to your screen.

If you don’t think that notifications from apps on the taskbar have any meaning, you can turn off notifications for those apps.

1. Launch the Settings app by searching for Cortana on your computer.
2. Click System on the next screen to access the system settings.



3. Select “Notifications & Actions” from the left sidebar.



4. On the right sidebar, under “Receive notifications from these senders”, you will find a list of applications that can send you notifications. Find an app that doesn’t automatically hide the taskbar, and flip the toggle to OFF.



5. You will need to do this for each culprit application.

Remove problematic applications from the taskbar



Another way to ensure that the Windows 10 taskbar is automatically hidden is to uninstall problematic applications from it. Windows gives you the ability to choose which applications you want to see on the taskbar on your computer.

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select the option labeled Taskbar Options.
2. Scroll down the next screen, find the option labeled “Select icons displayed on the taskbar” and click it. This will allow you to disable applications on the taskbar.



3. On the next screen, find the applications you want to remove from the taskbar and turn their switches to the OFF position. These apps will no longer appear on the taskbar.



4. Go back one screen and click the Enable or Disable System Icons option.



5. Remove any system icons that you think might cause the taskbar to auto-hide.





This procedure basically makes the taskbar non-existent because it removes most, if not all, of the applications and icons from the taskbar area.

Do you use the taskbar on your PC to access applications and perform other tasks? If not, have you ever thought to get rid of it from the screen? Let us know your opinion in the comments below.

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