Windows 11 multi-monitor taskbar issue

[Teligence1970]

I just upgraded from win10 Pro this morning, also installing all updates.

I'm running 3 monitors on an HP Omen - 1=laptop, 2=left, 3=right.

I have taskbar on for all monitors in settings.

If I disable taskbar autohide, then the taskbars show properly on all monitors.

If I enable taskbar autohide, then the "autohidden" taskbars on 2 or 3 do not pop up.

I've read of other taskbar issues - such as blank taskbars, but this is not that.

I had no such issue while running Windows 10 this morning prior to the upgrade to Windows 11.

System info:

HP Omen 17t-an100 CTO

32GB RAM

Windows 11 Pro, ver. 21H2, Build 22000.194

Drive C: Toshiba KXG50ZNV256G (256G - 136G free)

Drive D: Toshiba MQ04ABD200 (2TB - 1.8TB free)

Microprocessor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8750H CPU @ 2.20GHz

Display adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

Monitor 1: HP 17.3" diagonal 4K IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit (3840 x 2160 max)

Monitor 2: HP Z23i IPS Display (Connected via Kensington USB3.0 DisplayLink Video Dock)

Monitor 3: HP Z23i IPS Display (Connected via Kensington USB3.0 DisplayLink Video Dock)

All 3 monitors are set to 1920x1080 resolution.

[#2]

I just tried sleeping/waking a few times - no issues for me.

[#3]

Windows 11 multi-monitor taskbar autohide issue was isolated to monitors other than the one designated as the main monitor. I just discovered another (very odd) main monitor related issue:
I'm running TotalAV for my anti-malware solution. The app will not open via the app icons (start menu, taskbar corner overflow, aka the system tray, etc.) unless there is an app - any app - open on the designated main display. If I open an app on the main display and drag the associated window to another monitor, TotalAV won't open. However, if I open an app on on my 2nd or 3rd monitor and drag the associated window completely or partially TO the main display, then TotalAV will open.
The reason I'm posting this here in this thread is that it is associated with something that only works on the main display.

Maybe the root cause of the taskbar autohide issue isn't the taskbar itself, but rather something associated with the way Windows 11 manages the main monitor???

[#4]

@Bullprun 

I just upgraded to Windows 11 and this is the first 'bug'  I saw. Until I remembered that the automatic taskbar popup was one of the things that irritated me. I think this is a feature. I run 3 monitors of which 2 are running full screen programs. I often need to click  near the bottom of the screen. Usually the taskbar comes up and interferes. I need full screen functionality without the taskbar popping up automatically. The RIGHT CLICK at the bottom of the screen method is awesome. Microsoft only needs to provide an option for AUTO POPUP/RIGHT CLICK (also for the main monitor). I didn't know this until I came across this post. Thanks a million!

[#5]

You know what would be nice? If it worked AT ALL with the upper monitors. I have monitors stacked vertically. It only works on upper monitor if i click on the desktop and only if i don't have an app window covering it. And then it flickers the desktop, making wallpaper black and then recovers few seconds later with the taskbar.
Maybe that's just an aritfact of monitors being connected to different graphics cards, but still.
Can I PLEASE just have it as it was before? Microsoft, stop messing with my desktop. Who asked for this???
I am fed up and already went Manjaro on the laptop that I use for work too.

[#6]

@Teligence1970  I fixed it on my system by toggling main monitors.

1: right click on any screen and select display settings.

2: I have 3 but usually keep my laptop closed and use dual, but just opened my laptop to make sure I would be toggling between different resolutions.

3:  Once all displays showed up I toggled the Make this my main display around all three monitors.

4:  Then toggled between Extend these displays and duplicate these displays, until the problem went away. 

Hope this helps!

[#7]

This seems to finally be fixed in the update KB5008353:

Updates an issue that affects the auto-hide feature of the taskbar. The taskbar might not reliably appear when you hover over the primary or secondary display.
I haven't had any autohide issues since installing.

[#8]

@Teligence1970 Glad that if finally fixed your autohide issue, ours is similar but not fixed.  We have a shared office computer with two monitors and some not very tech savvy employees so we keep the task bar unhidden on both monitors.  We leave it on 24/7 for updates and for people to log in anytime, after about 2 days with no reboots the taskbar on the main screen is unclickable.  The second screen's taskbar still works fine and can open pinned apps.  I'll have to try the unpinning and repinning of an app to see if that will refresh the task bar, but what we have done so far is just reboot late at night minimize the interruption.  If anyone has seen a fix for this issue I'd be happy to learn it.  Tried to tell them not to upgrade to 11 yet but do they listen to the IT guy ... nope just clicked a box that came up.

[#9]

This is a very unusual solution, but it somehow repairs the taskbar thickness issue. I had to do a couple times until it worked...

[#10]

Update: After applying the update KB5008353: back in March, I haven't had a problem since!

[#11]

Sounds like you need to setup Windows Domain Administration to then setup Policies to manage users' actions...

[#12]

No taskbar can display on second display

Edition Windows 11 Home
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎9/‎3/‎2022
OS build 22000.918
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.918.0

Last night I had taskbar displayed on both monitors. This morning the second monitor no longer can display the taskbar. I have set it to all displays under personalization and Extend these displays set under System/Display.

It is broken. I can check the registry setting at Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\MMTaskBarEnabled = 1 and it just does not have any effect changing it to zero, reboot. Set it back to 1, reboot. The taskbar is just not displaying.

[#13]

@Temple-Fitzhugh 

1. Have you tried restoring from a slightly older restore point?

2. Also, 9/6 is  (an infamous) "Patch Tuesday", so if recovery from a restore point doesn't work, try manually uninstalling anything installed since the last time it worked.

3. Another thing to try is starting up in a "clean" mode. Open msconfig and temporarily disable any services or apps that automatically start, then reboot and check operation. If that resolves it, then while it's a pain in the A$$, enable one no-MS service/app at a time until you identify the culprit.

[#14]

If your Taskbar behavior has "Automatically hide the taskbar" enabled, try disabling it and see if the taskbar shows full time on all monitors.

[#15]

I could not delete this. It was 'Overscan' enabled on the monitor and nothing at all to do with Windows 11.

[#16]

@Temple-Fitzhugh 

So, If you disable "Overscan" did that resolve your trouble?

[#17]

Coincidental timing indicates that one of yesterday's updates reset the taskbar settings to disable "Automatically hide the taskbar" and also disable "Show my taskbar on all displays".

Re-enabling these restored expected functionality without any issues - on my system, at least.

[#18]

I am having a similar issue. Each time a monitor is plugged in I get an error "can only hide taskbar on one screen". I've tried various solutions and nothing seems to work.

[#19]

@kking2375 

[#20]

@Teligence2 Yes.

[#21]

Windows Multi-monitor support is absolute garbage compared to 10. Applications go to random monitors, turning off a monitor sends applications to turned off monitors. Coming out of sleep, applications will be on monitors that are off. Literally no problems in Windows 10, Windows 11 has been a nightmare.

If this company wasn't a monopoly I'd be out of here in a heartbeat. Why can't the government break up companies like this???