How to Fix Windows stuck on Desktop with no Icons or Taskbar

That's because this article is going to show you how to fix Windows stuck on desktop with no icons or taskbar if you continued reading.

How to fix Windows: If ever your desktop freezes up and you lose all of your icons and your taskbar, here is how to fix Windows by following the steps outlined in this article. Users report that after logging in, their machines just hang on the desktop. Keyboard shortcuts and left/right mouse buttons are out of their reach. Nothing works, not even the Windows key. Put simply, the computer now is not operating correctly.

That is to say, in this case, the machine is fully functional, and you're allowed to troubleshoot the problem, which is not possible in cases when even desktop or taskbar icons go missing.

Windows Stuck on Desktop with no Icons or Taskbar

If you are using either Windows 11 or 10 and your computer simply hangs at the desktop without icons or taskbar, you can try a couple of things: 

Restart Display Driver 

Force Explorer to restart

On Clean Boot, create a new task and restart the computer. 

Use Safe Mode to Boot 

Repair Startup Run 

Run a check on the RAM stick. 

Switch off all devices on the computer 

If it won't start, try refreshing your desktop by pressing F5.

one] Initialize display driver

This is done in Windows by restarting or resetting the graphics driver using the keyboard sequence Win+Ctrl+Shift+B. Just give it a little while, and the screen will be back to normal after a little blackout. Check if this is of any use.

2] Shut off Explorer

You can't apply repairs regularly since your computer is frozen and you can't operate it.

Test it with Ctrl, Alt, then Delete. If so, down the menu in the bottom where it says Task Manager, now from within Task Manager right click on the icon of and select Restart.

Easy

Easy

3. On Clean Boot, click on New Task.

Stop all applications from starting up by opening the Task Manager. Create a new assignment. Under the Task Manager, click on Run new task. Inside, it will ask you to type in MSConfig. Click OK afterward. Under the System Configuration window, open the Services tab wherein it will allow you to hide all the Microsoft Services. Click the corresponding check box for this.

Click the "Disable all" button to turn off all third-party services. Then click Apply, followed by OK. Then log off and on again.

You will have a Clean Boot state after a restart. Check to see if the problem is still present. If the problem persists after having typed this into the Clean Boot state, you need to actively troubleshoot because such a problem can be caused by any of the startup applications or third-party services running in the background. 

4] Boot into Safe Mode First

In case the above solution doesn't work for you, boot in Safe Mode, and from there, run system image file repairs. The only way you can enter Safe Mode is through Windows Recovery Environment. You could have entered this place through the Settings menu if Windows 11 was working or by simply holding down the Shift key when you restart it. But since your machine is unresponsive, that's of no help. To enter the Windows Recovery Environment, you would thus need to interrupt the normal booting of Windows. To open the Command Prompt-CD, follow these steps: Open Task Manager, click on New Task, enter cmd.exe, then click OK:

To boot into WinRE, restart the device and run reagentc /boottore in an elevated command prompt.

To enter WinRE, reboot the device then run from an elevated command prompt shutdown /r /o. 

You can also turn off your computer by using a combination of the Power button. 

To turn on, press the Power button now. Press and hold the power button to quickly turn off your computer, when you see the Windows logo or the logo of your computer manufacturer. Continue repeating steps 1 to 3 if you don't see an Advanced Recovery or Preparing Automatic Repair screen. If a normal Windows boot is attempted and fails twice, on the third attempt, the Advanced Startup page will appear. Advanced options > Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup settings > Restart while in the Windows Recovery Environment. Once you get to the Startup settings hit the proper F key to boot into Safe Mode. F4 will result in the image you see above.

Next, after booting into Safe Mode, run Windows repair tools to fix the corrupted system image files: this includes SFC and DISM scanning, or using Installation Media.

Another option would be to launch Automatic Startup Repair. This is a command that will automatically fix critical problems with Windows PCs. You access this command by booting into the Windows Recovery Environment. Once in WinRE, select the Advanced menu, then select Troubleshoot. Next, select Advanced options and, lastly, select Startup Repair.

When the Startup Repair is complete, restart your computer to check whether this has solved your problem.

6. The RAM modules should be checked.

This may also be caused by defective RAM stick(s). Your system may have more than one defective RAM sticks. Alternatively, shut down your computer and remove the casing. Remove one RAM stick at a time. Now power on your PC and see the outcome. Follow the same procedure and check other available RAM sticks.

7. Turn off the computer

If those remedies have been tried and none has succeeded, you can always reset your computer to its default settings. To avoid data loss, you should apply the "Keep my files" option when doing this. Since your computer won't go past the desktop, you'll be able to launch the Windows Recovery Environment to perform a factory reset.

This way, we come to the end of our guide on How to Fix Windows stuck on Desktop with no Icons or Taskbar, so we do hope we have been very helpful.