Why Is My Taskbar Flickering? How to Fix It

By Dilip Updated March 27, 2022

Taskbar makes it easier to launch pinned apps, monitor opened programs, and switch between them. Basically, every task on Windows can be accessed through the Taskbar.

The icons on the Taskbar are usually static unless there’s an activity that requires users’ attention, like notification. In that case, the icon changes its color. They become static again after you’ve opened the app.

But sometimes, the icon keeps flickering or flashing even after opening the app. In this article, we will discuss how to fix this issue.

Why Is My Taskbar Flickering? – Causes

The reason behind the flickering taskbar issue can be the following:

Outdated display driver
Third-party software
Virus or Malware
Too many pinned apps
Corrupted system files
Specific user account related glitch

How to Fix It?

There are a lot of things you can do to fix the flickering taskbar issue. But, before moving on to more complex fixes, try doing these things:

Check if there aren’t any pending alters
Unpin some apps from the taskbar
Restart your PC

If doing these things did not solve the issue, then go ahead and try applying the fixes mentioned below.

Update Your Windows

Microsoft regularly releases Windows updates to fix bugs and add new features. Hence, the flickering taskbar issue might be a bug in Windows that can be solved with new updates. To check for any pending Windows updates

Go to Settings (Windows key + I for a shortcut)
Choose Windows Update
Click on the Check for updates button
Install any available updates

If your Windows is up to date, move on to the other fixes.

Use Command Prompt to Scan and Fix Corrupted Files

Corrupted files in the system can cause many issues in Windows, and the flickering taskbar might be one of them. You can use the command prompt to scan for such files and repair them.

Follow these steps:

Press Windows key + Q and search for Command Prompt
Right-click and select Run as Administrator.
Enter the following command:
sfc/ scannow

Now your system will run a system checkup for corrupted files. If found, the system will automatically fix them. Now check if the issue is still there.

Run Disk Image Check

Sometimes the issue with the system files can also cause a flickering problem. You can easily scan system files for errors like this and fix them using the DISM tool.

To perform this operation:

Press Windows key + Q and search for Command Prompt
Right-click and select Run as Administrator.
Enter the following command:
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

It will take some time to complete the process. After completion, reboot your pc and check if the error is solved or not.

Scan for Malware and Virus Using Windows Defender

Though the Windows defender regularly scans the PC for malware and viruses sometimes it can miss something. Or the problem may arrive after the scan is completed. In this case, you can manually run the scan to identify the issues.

To scan your system using Windows Defender, follow these steps:

Press Windows key + I to open Settings
Go to Privacy & Security and select Windows Security
Click on Virus & threat protection
On the new window, click on the Quick scan button

Note: Besides Quick scan, there are also other types of scan you can choose, such as Full Scan, Custom Scan, and Offline scan. You can click on the Scan options to run a specific type of scan.

It will take some time to complete the scan. After completion, select the threat and click on take action if any threats are found.

After the defender takes appropriate actions against the threat, check if the error is resolved or not.

Find and Remove Problematic Apps

You might have installed some third-party application recently that is interfering with the UI and causing the flickering issue.

Boot Windows in Safe Mode

You can run the Windows in Safe mode to find if a third-party application is causing the issue.

In safe mode, Windows only use a limited set of files and drivers. Hence, if the flickering taskbar error is not present in the safe mode, a third-party app is causing the problem.

To boot the WIndows in safe mode, follow these steps:

Press the Windows key + R to open Run
Type msconfig in the box and click Ok
Select the Boot tab
Under the Boot, options check the Safe boot box and click OK

Restart your PC to enter the boot mode. Now check if the flickering issue still exists. If it does, then it’s confirmed that the problem is caused by third-party software.

If the issue still exists, then move on to the next fix.

Remove the Problematic Apps

If a third-party application is causing the flickering taskbar issue, you need to uninstall that problematic app. To uninstall the apps

Press Windows key + I to open settings
Select Apps > Apps & features
Identify the recently installed apps
On the right side, corresponding to the app, click on the three dots to bring down a menu
Select Uninstall and confirm

Now the application will be removed from the PC. Uninstall all of the recently installed apps until the problem is solved.

Update or Roll Back Display Drivers

Outdated display drivers can cause various issues with the PC’s display. The flickering taskbar issue is one of them. Updating the display drivers can solve the problem. To update your drivers:

Press the Windows key + X to open the start menu context
Select Device Manager
Expand Display adapters
Right-click on a display adapter to bring the drop-down menu.
Select Properties and switch to the Driver tab. Check when it was last updated.
If the driver is old, click the Update Driver button and click on “Search automatically for drivers.”
Install any available updates

But if the driver was updated recently, click the Roll Back Driver button to return to the older version.
Rollback

Now reboot your system and check if the issue is resolved. If the issue is still there, move on to the next fix.

Create a New User Account.

Some issues can only be limited to a specific user account. If you already have another user account, try signing in using that account and check if the problem is resolved.

But if you don’t have another user account, you can create one. Here’s how:

Press the Windows key + I to open settings
Select Accounts
Click on Family & other users
On the Other users section, click on Add account button
Enter the Microsoft account details and click Next.

Note: If you don’t have a Microsoft account, click on “I don’t have this person sign-in information” to create an account. And if you don’t want to sign in using a Microsoft account, click on “Add a user without a Microsoft account” and enter the details to create an account.

After the account is created, you need to change the account type to an Administrator account to provide Admin privileges to that account.

To change a standard account into an administrator account, follow the steps below:

Go to settings and select Accounts
Click on Family & other users
Then click on the new account to bring a drop-down menu
Now click on Change account type
Switch from Standard user to Administrator and click Ok.

Reboot the PC and sign in using the new User account

If the issue is resolved, the old User Account was the culprit. Keep using the newly created account to avoid the problem or solve the issue with the old one.