If you find that your Action Center is missing from the Windows 10 Notification Area of the Taskar, then this post will show you how to enable the Action Center. The Action Center is a one-stop place where you can see all notifications and interact with them. Missing Action Center means you cant access them. So follow these suggestions to bring back Action Center in Windows 10.
Windows 10 Action Center missing
Make sure to check for the Action Center after trying each of these suggestions.
- Turn system icons on or off
- Use Keyboard shortcut
- Check the Registry settings
- Enable from Group Policy
- Re-register Action Center
- Repair System Image – Run DISM
Some of these will need admin permission to complete the steps, while one of them will need you to create a system restore to make sure you have a backup in place.
1] Turn system icons on or off
- Open Windows 10 Settings (Win + I)
- Navigate to Personalization > Taskbar
- Locate Notification area section, and then click on Turn system icons on or off
- Toggle on Action Center
If this was the problem, then Action Center should appear instantly next to the clock.
2] Use Keyboard shortcut
Action Center can be instantly invoked using Win + A keyboard shortcut; however, if you think the notification is missing, read out how to bring back notification in Windows 10.
3] Check the Registry settings
Since we are changing registry values, any mistake can result in an unstable system. It would be the best idea is to create a system restore point first.
- Open Registry Editor by typing Regedit in the Run prompt (Win + R)) followed by pressing the Enter key.
- Navigate to the following path
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\
- Change the value of the DisableNotificationCenter key to 1.
- If the DWORD is not available, then right-click, and create a new DWORD.
- Namer, it as DisableNotificationCenter and double click to edit the value.
- Set the value accordingly
- Close the Registry
If the value of DisableNotificationCenter is set to 0, it will disable the action center.
4] Enable using Group Policy
If you are using Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education edition, then you can use Group Policy Editor to enable Action Center
- Open Run prompt (Win + R), and then type gpedit.msc and press the Enter key
- Go to User Configuration > Administrative Template > Start Menu and Taskbar
- Locate Remove Notification and Action Center, and double click to open it
- If it is enabled, make it disabled.
Restart the system and check if the action center is back in place.
TIP: See this post if Action Center does not open.
5] Re-register Action Center
Action Center can be registered with Windows if, for some reason, it has gone corrupt. Open PowerShell with admin permission, and run the below-mentioned command to get it back.
Get-AppxPackage | % { Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppxManifest.xml" -verbose }
It will re-register a lot of things and should fix the action center issue. If the system icon is turned on, you should see it in the right place. You may have to restart the computer once.
6] Repair System Image – Run DISM
Last but not least, you can execute the DISM command, which can fix most of the system problems related to corrupted files. You will need admin permission to execute this.
- Open Command Prompt or PowerShell with admin privileges.
- Type and press to execute the below-mentioned command.
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Once the process completes, and it replaces the corrupt file with new ones, the action center should be back in place. Those who are not aware, DISM stands for Deployment Image Servicing and Management. It is used to install, uninstall, configure, and update Windows features, packages, drivers, and settings in a .wim file or VHD using the DISM servicing commands. These images can be applied later on to multiple machines.
I hope the post was easy to follow, and you were able to bring back the Action Center, which was missing in your Windows 10.
