Win11 Taskbar icons for running apps disappear after switching virtual desktops

This shell behavior typically occurs because the Windows 11 Desktop Window Manager (DWM) and File Explorer components fail to cleanly redraw the taskbar layout assets during the virtual desktop transition phase. It is highly common in environments where system animation arrays or multi-monitor configurations get desynchronized.

While restarting explorer.exe through Task Manager temporarily realigns the visual track, you can permanently mitigate this layout drop using two distinct native workarounds:

1. Disable Animation Visual Effects

Altering your system's desktop movement transitions prevents the shell framework from dropping initialization tokens during desktop shifts:

• Open Settings (Win + I) and select Accessibility on the left sidebar.

• Click Visual Effects.

• Toggle the switch next to Animation effects to Off. 

2. Force an Array Refresh via Taskbar Behaviors

If the icons continue to disappear, forcing a minor adjustment to the taskbar property cache usually locks them back in:

• Right-click an empty space on the taskbar and open Taskbar settings.

• Scroll down and expand the Taskbar behaviors menu.

• Locate the "Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels" property dropdown.

• Change this parameter from "Always" to "Never" for 10 seconds, then revert it back to "Always". 

This forces a hardware-level re-render of the active pinning paths across your active profiles and resolves the transition loop.