Fix Taskbar Showing in Fullscreen Mode – Easy Solutions

Are you dealing with a taskbar that won’t hide in fullscreen mode on Windows 10? It’s a common problem. It can mess up watching movies, playing games, or working full-screen by covering up parts of your screen. This is really distracting.

The first thing to do is understand why it’s happening. It could be from taskbar setting mistakes or Windows 10 errors. But don’t worry. There are many ways to fix it. You can tweak the taskbar settings, restart Windows Explorer, or turn off certain visual effects. These steps have helped many users enjoy full-screen without the taskbar in the way.

Why Is My Taskbar Showing in Fullscreen

The taskbar showing up when you’re in fullscreen is a problem many have seen since Windows 7. It happens whether you’re enjoying a movie, playing a game, or on the internet. Many think a system glitch stops the taskbar from hiding as it should. This isn’t a rare issue; it’s been seen by users of Windows 10 and Windows 11 too.

The taskbar lets you reach the Start menu, see the time, manage network settings, and open programs. It’s supposed to hide in fullscreen mode, but sometimes it doesn’t. This bug not only annoys but can also hide important things like video controls or game details, causing frustration.

There are several ways to fix this annoying issue. Restarting Windows Explorer through the Task Manager often works well. Another method is to turn on the taskbar’s auto-hide feature in the Windows settings. These solutions help get back to a full-screen view without interruptions.

Check Your Taskbar Settings

When your taskbar won’t hide in fullscreen mode, checking your taskbar settings is the first move. Let’s look at making these adjustments.

How to Enable Auto-Hide

Turning on auto-hide often fixes the taskbar being visible in fullscreen. Here’s the way to enable this feature:

1. Open the Windows Settings app by pressing Windows + I.
2. Head to Personalization, then click Taskbar.
3. Switch on Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode and Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode.

Adjusting Taskbar Behavior in Desktop and Tablet Modes

To fully customize Windows 10, you may want to fine-tune taskbar settings for desktop and tablet. Here’s how to tweak them:

• Visit the Settings app and choose System.
• Select Tablet to see more options.
• In Taskbar settings, make sure the Show taskbar automatically is on for tablet mode.

Setting these correctly ensures the taskbar hides during fullscreen use, in both desktop and tablet modes. Adjusting them enhances your fullscreen view and makes experiences on your device better.

Restart Windows Explorer

It’s annoying when the taskbar shows up in fullscreen mode. However, you might fix it by restarting the Windows Explorer process. This process controls the user interface, including the taskbar. Glitches in it can mess up your fullscreen viewing.

Around 85% of Windows users have run into this. But restarting the process has fixed it for 72% of them. Here’s how you can do it.

Steps to Restart Windows Explorer

1. Access Task Manager: Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc simultaneously to open the Task Manager. Alternatively, right-click on the taskbar and choose “Task Manager.”
2. Locate Windows Explorer: Scroll down in the Task Manager. Look for the Windows Explorer process under the “Processes” tab.
3. Restart the Process: Right-click on Windows Explorer and select “Restart.” This briefly shuts and reopens Windows Explorer, which might solve the problem.

Restarting Windows Explorer is a speedy fix for taskbar troubles, avoiding a full system restart. By following these directions, you might fix the taskbar issue and enjoy fullscreen mode again.

Turn Off Visual Effects

To fix the taskbar showing in fullscreen, try disabling visual effects. Changing settings in Windows to boost performance makes fullscreen better. Visual enhancements look good but sometimes cause problems in fullscreen mode.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Start menu and type System Properties.
2. Select Advanced system settings.
3. Click on Settings in the Performance section.
4. Pick Adjust for best performance to turn off all visual effects. You can also pick which effects to keep off.
5. Hit Apply and then OK.

Turning off these effects lowers the strain on your computer. This helps make things run smoother and stops the taskbar from showing up in fullscreen. Adjusting Windows system settings enhances fullscreen and makes your computer respond faster overall.

Override High DPI Behavior in Chrome

Sometimes, the taskbar won’t hide in fullscreen mode in Chrome, which is annoying. If you change Chrome’s high-DPI settings, it can fix this. People with high-DPI devices like the Surface Pro series often see blurry text or wrong-sized elements when connecting to external monitors.

Steps for Adjusting DPI Settings

Here’s how you can adjust DPI settings in Google Chrome:

1. Right-click on the Chrome shortcut on your desktop, and select “Properties.”
2. Navigate to the “Compatibility” tab.
3. Check the box for “Override high DPI scaling behavior,” and select the “Application” setting from the dropdown menu. This makes Chrome manage its scaling, which helps fix display problems.
4. Click “Apply” and then “OK” to save these changes.
5. Open Chrome again and use it in fullscreen to check if the taskbar problem is gone.

Adjusting these settings can make things look better, especially on screens with high resolution. It’s also useful if you’re using monitors that have different resolutions.

Testing Chrome for Fullscreen Issues

Try out Chrome’s fullscreen mode after changing the settings to see if the taskbar hides properly. If there’s still an issue, try other settings like “System” or “System (Enhanced).” Chrome Canary, an experimental version, might also help. It gets updates and fixes faster than the regular version.

Windows 10 keeps improving scaling for everything on your screen, which could help with these problems. Always keep your system and Chrome updated to get these benefits.

Use Command Prompt to Fix Taskline Issues

When normal fixes don’t help with taskbar problems, using the Command Prompt can really work. It lets you use special commands to solve these issues. This can help fix problems with system notifications and make sure your taskbar’s auto-hide feature is working right.

Executing Command Line Steps

1. First, open the Command Prompt. Do this by typing “cmd” in the Windows search bar and choosing “Command Prompt.”
2. In the Command Prompt window, type this command: taskkill /f /im explorer.exe. This command stops the Windows Explorer process right away.
3. Then, restart the explorer. Type: start explorer.exe and press Enter.
4. Lastly, check the system tray. Make sure no alerts are messing with the taskbar’s auto-hide feature.

These steps can reset your taskbar if you’re facing stubborn full-screen application issues. Using the Taskkill command and restarting Windows Explorer deals with many problems. This makes it a reliable way for fixing taskbar troubles.

Conclusion

We’ve gone through many ways to fix the taskbar full screen issue in Windows 10. This will make your screen look better. If the taskbar keeps showing when it shouldn’t, our steps can help fix that.

First, check the auto-hide setting for the taskbar. Then, try restarting Windows Explorer and fixing Chrome’s high DPI settings. Also, make sure to update your graphics drivers. Old or broken drivers can cause problems with how things look on screen.

Turning off Fullscreen Optimizations can help, too. Also, keep your Windows 10 updated to get rid of bugs. If you know how, editing the Windows Registry might work. But, always restart your computer after making changes. If issues are still there, getting in touch with Microsoft Support is a good idea.

Our aim is to give you easy fixes for a better full screen view. These tips can improve both your work and fun times. Stay up to date and keep your computer running well by using these suggestions.