Windows – Taskbar Disappearing on Windows 8.1

modern-uitaskbarwindows 8.1

It seems that the taskbar disappears permanently whenever I use certain Metro apps on Windows 8.1. That is, when I exit the app, the taskbar is gone from the screen that the Metro app appeared on (yet, it always stays on my other monitor). The only way I am able to resolve to the issue seems to be by restarting entirely. Needless to say, this is a real pain.

Is there any way I can prevent this (short of not using Windows Store apps)? If not, is there a better way to fix this problem once the taskbar disappears (better than restarting)?

Best Answer

Restart explorer instead of restarting computer and see if it works.

Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Right click Windows Explorer, restart.

This will close your active explorer windows though.

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How to Toggle Auto-Hide Status of Windows Taskbar

Here is an AutoHotKey script to make Win+b into a hotkey that toggles the taskbar auto-hide setting:

VarSetCapacity(APPBARDATA, A_PtrSize=4 ? 36:48)

#b::
   NumPut(DllCall("Shell32\SHAppBarMessage", "UInt", 4 ; ABM_GETSTATE
                                           , "Ptr", &APPBARDATA
                                           , "Int")
 ? 2:1, APPBARDATA, A_PtrSize=4 ? 32:40) ; 2 - ABS_ALWAYSONTOP, 1 - ABS_AUTOHIDE
 , DllCall("Shell32\SHAppBarMessage", "UInt", 10 ; ABM_SETSTATE
                                    , "Ptr", &APPBARDATA)
   KeyWait, % A_ThisHotkey
   Return

If you wish to use a different key or key combination than Win+b, change the #b before the double colons in line 3 to whatever hotkey you want (using the syntax in the AutoHotKey documentation).

Windows – How to start Chrome in Desktop or Windows 8 mode based on where I start it from

Yes, this is possible with custom Windows shortcuts.

Create two shortcuts for Chrome named Chrome Desktop and Chrome Metro.

Enter the following flags for the shortcuts.

--force-desktop for Chrome Desktop and --force-immersive for Chrome Metro

In case you don't know how to add flags in shortcuts, refer to this image where the --incognito flag is added:

enter image description here

Now just keep the Chrome Desktop shortcut on your desktop and Chrome Metro shortcut in the folder: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\. The shortcut should appear in your Start Menu after a few seconds.

Keep in mind that you cannot have both modes open simultaneously at the same time.

Edit: I double checked this on my friend's system. It seems that after you close Chrome from metro mode, it doesn't exit. Instead, it stays in the background (application is suspended - it is by design of Windows 8.x). Refer to this article to find out how to close applications permanently.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

How to Toggle Auto-Hide Status of Windows Taskbar

Windows – How to start Chrome in Desktop or Windows 8 mode based on where I start it from

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