Taskbar unresponsive, frozen, not working, showing or loading in Windows 11/10

Sometimes, users might face intermittent issues with Windows System UI components. Such issues can give a bad user experience. One such UI element is the Taskbar. If you are also facing any issues where your Windows 11/10 Taskbar is not working properly or freezes, is unresponsive, is unclickable or stops working randomly, then this article can help you troubleshoot & fix the issue.

There are several methods to fix a non-functioning taskbar. We’re going to list down the most effective methods.

Windows Taskbar not working, showing or loading

If you are facing issues where your Windows 11/10 Taskbar is not working, is not responsive or freezes, then these suggestions are sure to help you fix the problem.

Fix Unresponsive or frozen in Windows 11/10

1] Restart Windows Explorer

This is one simple fix that can help you restore your taskbar to working order. If the problem with the taskbar is not so critical, this method should do the job for you. You won’t need to play or manipulate with other system settings. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Press Windows Key + R combination on your keyboard to launch Run prompt. Enter taskmgr.exe and hit Enter to open Task Manager.

2. Now, under Processes tab, scroll down and look for Windows Explorer over there.

3. Select Windows Explorer and click on Restart button in the bottom right corner.

4. This should simply kill the Windows Explorer process and restart it in a little while.

Check if this method resolves the issue for you.

Read: How to Restart or Reset Windows Taskbar.

2] Check for bad explorer addons

Boot your Windows 11/10 computer in Clean Boot State and try to locate the offender by trial and error method. Maybe some File Explorer addon is interfering with the smooth functioning of explorer.exe. If you can identify if, disable or remove that addon and see.

3] Re-register the Taskbar

If the issue resurfaces, then try this method to fix it using Windows Powershell. Powershell is a command-line tool to configure system settings and automate Windows tasks.

First, create a system restore point and then follow these steps to use Windows Powershell for fixing taskbar issues:

1. Press Windows Key on your keyboard and type in powershell. Right-click Windows Powershell (Desktop App) and select Run as administrator. Select Yes in the UAC window that pops up.

2. Now paste the following command, in the PowerShell window and hit Enter:

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

3. Once the command is executed successfully, navigate to the following directory in Explorer where name is your Account Username. Make sure you have enabled the showing of hidden items in Explorer.

C:/Users/name/AppData/Local/

4. Scroll down to locate the folder named TileDataLayer and delete this folder.

If you are unable to delete this folder, Run services.msc to open the Services Manager, scroll down to Tile Data model server service and stop it. Now try to delete the folder again.

5. Now check if your taskbar is working as expected.

Read: Task Manager not updating in Windows 11

One of these fixes should work just fine for you. Shout out in the comments section below if any of these methods worked out for you or if you are facing any other issue with the taskbar on Windows 11/10.

Related: Windows 11 Taskbar not working.

See this post if your Windows Start Menu is not working and this one if Taskbar icons or buttons not working.