How to Hide the Taskbar in Windows 10?

The taskbar is a movable bar usually present at the bottom of the desktop. This bar contains the Start button at left corner, whereas, the right corner of the bar holds date & time, volume control etc. Along with this, the taskbar contains the icons for the active programs, enabling the quick access and switching between the simultaneously running programs.

By default, the taskbar is always visible on the desktop, but as per your convenience, you can hide it when you are not using it. This will make your desktop more spacious and look more systematic and clean.

Another benefit of hiding the taskbar is privacy. With the taskbar, the active programs and applications are also hidden and no other person can peep into what you’re working on.

Hiding a taskbar in Windows 10 is just a simple 3-step procedure.

Steps to hide the Taskbar in Windows 10

Step 1: Right-click on the blank space of the taskbar and select Settings.

This will take you to the Personalization Settings where you can personalize the desktop. The menu contains options for editing Background, Colors, Lock screen, Themes, Start (menu) and Taskbar (as shown in image 3).

You can access the same by Right-clicking anywhere on desktop and choose Personalize.

Step 2: Select Taskbar from the menu.

This gives you a list of options with on & off toggle buttons as follows:

• Lock the taskbar: As you know that the taskbar is movable, you can drag and drop it to any other edge of the desktop. But if you turn this switch on, it will fix the taskbar at the same position and it won’t move until you unlock the taskbar again.
• Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode: This option hides the taskbar from the desktop when you are working in the desktop mode (usually in case of PC’s and Notebooks).
• Automatically hide the taskbar in tablet mode: This option will tuck away the taskbar from the desktop when you have enabled the tablet mode in your device.
• Use small taskbar buttons: You can reduce the size of the buttons and icons present in the taskbar by switching on this toggle button.

Few more options related to the Location of the taskbar, Notification Area and Multiple Display are given further in this list.

Step 3: Turn on the second toggle switch which says ‘Automatically hide the taskbar in Desktop Mode‘.

As you turn the switch on, the taskbar disappears from the desktop. Although, if you take the mouse to the area of the taskbar, it pops up again and stays visible till you keep the mouse pointer there.

Can’t hide the Taskbar in Windows 10?

There is a possibility that the taskbar doesn’t disappear even after hiding it. This may happen because of notifications from any application or program. You can resolve this issue by clicking on the notification.

If the taskbar is still visible, then you can fix this problem by restarting your Windows Explorer Process.

Steps to restart the Windows Explorer Process

Step 1: Open the Task Manager by right-clicking on the taskbar or pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc.

Step 2: Open the tab ‘Processes‘. It contains a list of active processes.
Step 3: Find & Click on ‘Windows Explorer‘ and Restart it.

After restarting Windows Explorer, the taskbar will be automatically hidden from the desktop.