{"id":2364,"date":"2016-03-25T12:02:09","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T06:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=2364"},"modified":"2023-07-31T17:53:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T12:23:14","slug":"reset-taskbar-settings-to-defaults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/reset-taskbar-settings-to-defaults\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Reset Taskbar Settings to Windows Defaults"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Corruption of Taskbar settings can cause it not to retain your customizations, such as auto-hide, icon size, or toolbar preferences. Also, in some situations, the taskbar may not be docked to a particular position. This post has a script that quickly resets the taskbar configuration for your user account to defaults.<!--more--><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 560px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/taskbar-corrupt.jpg\" alt=\"completely reset taskbar\" width=\"570\" height=\"79\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fig 1: Corruption of Taskbar settings, causing a gap at the bottom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/backup-pinned-taskbar-shortcuts-restore\/\">How to Backup and Restore Pinned Taskbar items in Windows 10<\/a><\/div>\n<h2>Reset Taskbar to Default<\/h2>\n<p>Here is a VBScript that will clear your Pinned taskbar shortcuts, remove the toolbars added to Taskbar, and clears the past notification icons. The script can be used on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10, and 11.<\/p>\n<p><script src='https:\/\/gist.github.com\/2755962602c983a36a18b5979410cdfd.js'><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><\/p>\n<pre>'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\r\n'Resets the Taskbar configuration\r\n'This script can be used in Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10.\r\n'\u00a9 2016 Ramesh Srinivasan\r\n'Created on March 24, 2016; Reviewed on April 24, 2021.\r\n'https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\r\n'-----------------------------------------------------------------------------\r\n\r\nSet WshShell = WScript.CreateObject(\"WScript.Shell\")\r\nstrRegPath = \"HKCU\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\\"\r\nstrkey0 = \"HKCU\\Software\\Classes\\Local Settings\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\TrayNotify\\\"\r\nstrkey1 = strRegPath &amp; \"StuckRects2\\\"\r\nstrkey2 = strRegPath &amp; \"StuckRects3\\\"\r\nstrkey3 = strRegPath &amp; \"Taskband\\\"\r\nstrkey4 = strRegPath &amp; \"Streams\\Desktop\\TaskbarWinXP\"\r\n\r\nsMsgTitle = \"Taskbar Settings Reset\"\r\nsMsgCompleted = \"Taskbar settings have been reset.\"\r\n\r\nExitExplorerShell\r\nWScript.Sleep(3000)\r\nClearTaskbarSettings\r\nWScript.Sleep(2000)\r\nStartExplorerShell\r\n\r\nSub ExitExplorerShell()\r\n\tstrmsg = \"Explorer Shell will be terminated now. Click Yes to continue.\"\r\n\trtnStatus = MsgBox (strmsg, vbYesNo, sMsgTitle)\r\n\tIf rtnStatus = vbYes Then\r\n\t\tFor Each Process in GetObject(\"winmgmts:\"). _\r\n\t\t\tExecQuery (\"select * from Win32_Process where name='explorer.exe'\")\r\n\t   \t\tProcess.terminate(1)\r\n\t\tNext\r\n\tElseIf rtnStatus = vbNo Then\r\n\t\tWScript.Quit\r\n\tEnd If\r\nEnd Sub\r\n\r\nSub StartExplorerShell()\r\n\tWshShell.Run \"explorer.exe\"\r\n\tstrWelcome = \"For more tips and articles on Windows, visit us at:\" &amp; Chr(10) &amp; Chr(10) &amp; vbtab &amp; \"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\"\r\n\tMsgBox \"Completed!\" &amp; Chr(10) &amp; Chr(10) &amp; strWelcome &amp; Chr(10),64, sMsgCompleted\r\nEnd Sub\r\n\r\nSub ClearTaskbarSettings()\r\n\tOn Error resume Next\t\r\n\tWshShell.Regdelete strkey0 &amp; \"IconStreams\"\r\n\tWshShell.Regdelete strkey0 &amp; \"PastIconsStream\"\r\n\tWshShell.Regdelete strkey1\r\n\tWshShell.Regdelete strkey2\r\n\tWshShell.Regdelete strkey3\r\n\tWshShell.Regdelete strkey4\r\n\tOn Error goto 0\r\nEnd Sub\r\n<\/pre>\n<p><\/noscript><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Download <code>taskbar_reset.vbs<\/code> or create the script file by manually copying the above code to Notepad.<\/li>\n<li>Double-click the script file to run it.<\/li>\n<li>Click Yes to continue.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24153\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/reset-taskbar-script.png\" alt=\"reset taskbar script\" width=\"350\" height=\"133\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The script takes 5 seconds to execute (including the sleep time). It will restart Explorer and reset the taskbar to default.<\/p>\n<p>You need to pin the icons again. If you had added additional toolbars on the taskbar, you&#8217;d need to re-add them.<\/p>\n<p><b>Related article:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-taskbar-icons-gap-padding-bottom\/\">Fix The Gap That Appears At The Bottom Of Taskbar Icons<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Corruption of Taskbar settings can cause it not to retain your customizations, such as auto-hide, icon size, or toolbar preferences. Also, in some situations, the taskbar may not be docked to a particular position. This post has a script that quickly resets the taskbar configuration for your user account to defaults.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[441,480,583],"class_list":["post-2364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows","tag-registry","tag-scripts","tag-taskbar"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2113,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/restore-pin-to-taskbar-option-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":0},"title":"Restore Missing &#8220;Pin to Taskbar&#8221; Option in Windows 10\/11","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \"Pin to Taskbar\" option is missing when you right-click on a .exe file or its shortcut on a Windows 10 or Windows 11 computer. The issue occurs due to the Taskbar policies applied on the computer using the local group policy editor or the registry. For example, TaskbarNoPinnedList Policy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2335,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-taskbar-icons-gap-padding-bottom\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":1},"title":"How to Fix the Gap that Appears at the Bottom of Taskbar Icons?","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If an extra padding space or gap appears underneath the Taskbar icons, even when the Taskbar is in single row (default width), this has to do with the icon size for the custom toolbar in the Taskbar. This image better illustrates this.To reduce the padding, try one of these steps:Option\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/taskbar-padding-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/taskbar-padding-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/taskbar-padding-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1097,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/backup-pinned-taskbar-shortcuts-restore\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":2},"title":"How to Backup and Restore Pinned Taskbar Shortcuts in Windows 10","author":"Ramesh","date":"October 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"When you install Windows on a new computer, customizing Windows takes a lot of time and effort. One such thing is the taskbar. You may have to redo the procedure of pinning the applications which you frequently use. If you're planning to move to a new Windows PC or a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"taskband registry key","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/w10-taskband-key.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":970,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/clear-customize-notifications-tray-items-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":3},"title":"How to Clear Customize Notifications (Taskbar Corner Overflow) Icons","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Over time, many invalid or obsolete taskbar notification icons may appear on the \"Customize notifications\" or the \"Select which icons appear on the Taskbar\" page with duplicate, invalid or missing icons. On Windows 11, the setting is called \"Taskbar corner overflow.\" It's located under Personalization \u2192 Taskbar, in the Settings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"taskbar tray overflow remove single entry","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/tray-overflow-icon-remove-single-entry-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/tray-overflow-icon-remove-single-entry-3.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/02\/tray-overflow-icon-remove-single-entry-3.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4707,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/pin-control-panel-taskbar-access-classic-applets-quickly\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":4},"title":"Pin Control Panel to Taskbar to Access Classic Applets Quickly","author":"Ramesh","date":"December 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Windows 10 Settings page is ought to replace the classic Control Panel entirely in the near future. But it hasn't happened yet, and some pages in the Settings app still link to the classic Control Panel applets. That will be the case till Microsoft entirely ports Control Panel applets to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"pin control panel taskbar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pin-cpl-applets-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pin-cpl-applets-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pin-cpl-applets-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pin-cpl-applets-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3285,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/hide-taskbar-completely-windows\/","url_meta":{"origin":2364,"position":5},"title":"How to Hide the Taskbar Completely using Shortcut in Windows","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When you're playing a game or using an application that's better optimized for full-screen mode, the taskbar can be a distraction. You can set the taskbar to auto-hide using taskbar Properties or Settings window in Windows 10, by enabling \"Auto-hide the taskbar\" checkbox. In Windows 10 Settings, the option is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"taskbar auto-hide","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/hide-taskbar1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}