System icons disappear from notification area when taskbar is more than 1 row

Clock sound network notification icons gone

from Stardock Forums

If I have my taskbar set to Windows 7 style with only 1 row all the system icons show in the notification area.  As soon as I unlock it and drag it to be 2 rows wide, however, all the system icons disappear with no way to get them back.  Time/date, sound/volume, network all disappear.

start menu products
6,449 views 17 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. What version of Windows you have on and What version of Start11?

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Windows 11 version 21H2 and Start11 version 1.22 also I didn't specifically mention but as soon as I drag the taskbar back down to 1 row all the system icons appear again.  I don't have to restart explorer process at all.

Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

I do not see the issue on my system. Here is my system. I am on Start11 V1.23 Beta and Windows 11 V21H2 (OS Build 22000.652). Perhaps you can try the latest Beta version of Start11 V1.23. It should be available in your product download page.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

I installed 1.23 Beta however problem persists.  

System Icons Present

System Icons Missing

Would love to know how to maintain system icons when taskbar is 2 rows height.  If I can provide more information I can.  BTW:  I have tried reducing screen resolution from 4K down to 1920x1080 (not desirable but tried it as a T-shooting step) as well as turning off HDR.  Same thing happens.  It occurs to me in YOUR screenshot you don't actually HAVE 2 rows of icons on the taskbar so it's not the exact same test.  Notice the vertical silver sliver of a scrollbar on my screenshot of 1 row height allowing me to scroll down to see the 2nd row.  What happens if you pin icons to overflow into a second row then reduce the height of your taskbar?  That would be more of an accurate same/same comparison with mine.  One other difference which may or may not matter is you show the 'up carat' to show more icons in the notification area whereas I do not - all the ones I have chosen to show appear without the 'up carat' to show more.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Do they come back if you restart explorer after pulling it to two rows?

Paul Scroggins
Associate Technical Support Analyst

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

No.  Restarting explorer (or even rebooting <both 'warm' and 'cold' boot> while leaving it at 2 rows) does not bring them back.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

First and foremost thank you everyone for trying to assist me.  I am grateful for your time and suggestions.  I did all that (new admin account and clean boot) and the problem was the same.  I did the uninstall and reinstall and the problem actually evolved.  I could keep the system icons viewable (time/date, network, sound) but when I enabled all the other icons for the 'taskbar overflow' area they actually overlaid the system icons and made a muddy mess of superimposed icons.  I've decided to not mess with Start11 any more it's taking too much time and too frustrating to try to make it work correctly on my PC (Alienware Aurora r13, AW2721D 4k Alienware monitor, NVidia GeForce RTX 3070).  I also noticed other little anomalies (bugs) like some windows when full-screen would disappear BEHIND the taskbar and I would have to resize them to stop at the bottom above the taskbar manually and basically never full-screen them natively.  Also the autohide function would sometimes work OK and sometimes come up scrambled looking and I would have to restart the explorer process to resolve it.  WAY too many bugs in 1.22 and I don't like running Beta software but tried it and the problems all existed still.  So.  I've done a full system restore to the last date/time prior to installing Start11 and will just live with the limitations of the Windows 11 taskbar...at least it IS stable even though I would prefer 2 rows of pinned apps without having to scroll between rows.  That's much less stressful than trying to address the issues Start11 has on my PC.  Perhaps I will try a future build of Shell11 down the road but for now I'll just stay away from it.  Peace to everyone & stay safe/healthy!

 

 

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Alienware-13, reply 8

First and foremost thank you everyone for trying to assist me.  I am grateful for your time and suggestions.  I did all that (new admin account and clean boot) and the problem was the same.  I did the uninstall and reinstall and the problem actually evolved.  I could keep the system icons viewable (time/date, network, sound) but when I enabled all the other icons for the 'taskbar overflow' area they actually overlaid the system icons and made a muddy mess of superimposed icons.  I've decided to not mess with Start11 any more it's taking too much time and too frustrating to try to make it work correctly on my PC (Alienware Aurora r13, AW2721D 4k Alienware monitor, NVidia GeForce RTX 3070).  I also noticed other little anomalies (bugs) like some windows when full-screen would disappear BEHIND the taskbar and I would have to resize them to stop at the bottom above the taskbar manually and basically never full-screen them natively.  Also the autohide function would sometimes work OK and sometimes come up scrambled looking and I would have to restart the explorer process to resolve it.  WAY too many bugs in 1.22 and I don't like running Beta software but tried it and the problems all existed still.  So.  I've done a full system restore to the last date/time prior to installing Start11 and will just live with the limitations of the Windows 11 taskbar...at least it IS stable even though I would prefer 2 rows of pinned apps without having to scroll between rows.  That's much less stressful than trying to address the issues Start11 has on my PC.  Perhaps I will try a future build of Shell11 down the road but for now I'll just stay away from it.  Peace to everyone & stay safe/healthy!

 

 
End of Alienware-13's quote

You are using autohide taskbar?

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

I tried it 1x the first day I had Start11 and immediately turned it off because it scrambled everything.  After that I never used it again but the other problems existed.

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Has anything been resolved regarding this issue? I have a very similar situation.

1. The only time the notification area loses icons for me is when the Taskbar is set to 2 rows. Of course, that's where I need to be. OK at one or three rows. It looks like there is something rectangular blocking or hiding the icons. You can see the One Drive icon is only displaying the left half.

2. I too get my entire desktop rearranged when I switch between fixed and autohide. All the icons return to correct placement exactly when its off.

Brand new laptop (4 days), Win11 Pro 22H2.

Thanx..........Len

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues.

Quoting lwerman, reply 11

1. The only time the notification area loses icons for me is when the Taskbar is set to 2 rows. Of course, that's where I need to be. OK at one or three rows. It looks like there is something rectangular blocking or hiding the icons. You can see the One Drive icon is only displaying the left half.
End of lwerman's quote

Does the issue go away if you try to restart explorer.exe?

Quoting lwerman, reply 11

2. I too get my entire desktop rearranged when I switch between fixed and autohide. All the icons return to correct placement exactly when its off.
End of lwerman's quote

Please post a video showing us this issue. Also check if the behavior does not occur if Start11 is not install.

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello Basj,

1. Restarting explorer does not help.

2. If screen shots are sufficient, look at these.

Autohide OFF, my current normal desktop arrangement:

Autohide ON, icons scrambled:

Autohide OFF again:

Autohide ON again:

I just had a thought! Since the placement of the icons is exactly the same every time I switch, maybe I should try arranging them while they're scrambled & see if that sticks.

If it's stupid but it works, it's not stupid!

Len

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting lwerman, reply 11

Has anything been resolved regarding this issue? I have a very similar situation.

1. The only time the notification area loses icons for me is when the Taskbar is set to 2 rows. Of course, that's where I need to be. OK at one or three rows. It looks like there is something rectangular blocking or hiding the icons. You can see the One Drive icon is only displaying the left half.







2. I too get my entire desktop rearranged when I switch between fixed and autohide. All the icons return to correct placement exactly when its off.

Brand new laptop (4 days), Win11 Pro 22H2.

Thanx..........Len
End of lwerman's quote

If you install the Start11 1.32 beta this may be resolved.

Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting lwerman, reply 15

Would you please direct me to where I can get the beta?

I looked around unsuccessfully.
End of lwerman's quote

Hello,
If you refer to the first post of this thread, you should see instruction on how to get the beta.

https://forums.stardock.com/515472

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello again,

Yes, I'm using the beta & it did solve issue 1, notification icons are all showing now when taskbar is on 2 rows.

However re issue 2, I still get a scrambled desktop whenever I activate taskbar autohide.

I have a follow-up regarding my thoughts of rearranging the desktop icons to normal/desired while in the autohide mode.

That presents a new issue that is still present in the beta. When autohide is switched on, the taskbar goes to one row and is locked that way. I have to turn off autohide, then turn off Lock all Taskbars. Autohide and multiple taskbar rows are mutually exclusive.

So, even if the icons were staying where they need to be, I’m back to my original issue of not being able the set the taskbar to 2 rows.

FYI, my target is an autohiding taskbar that is 2 rows high and all the notification icons are present and visible.

Thanx for your assistance. I'll switch over to the beta discussion & present my issues there.