Member Avatar for EAMON

Can anyone help please, a friend of mine has somehow managed to double the height of his taskbar, also date and time are permanently displayed. I tried for hours trying to revert the taskbar to it's original size, I can drag it up to 4 times original size, or down so that it's not seen. My friend also managed to move the task bar so that it ran vertically on the right hand side of the monitor, I resolved this just by using System Restore as he told me straight away. This time he was too apprehensive to ask me as he doubled the height the very next day, and left it 3 weeks to tell me, so System Restore wont go back that far, I tried. It would help if he new how he moved it in the first place, but he tells me he hasn't a clue!
Any suggestions to restore to original size would be gratefully accepted. Thanx,
Eamonn.

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Thread recap: reports the taskbar can be dragged to many times its normal height and the usual unlock/drag trick (per ) did not fix it; suggested a fresh user profile. Below are a few practical diagnostics and safe fixes that are different from the ideas already tried.

Check display scaling and resolution first. A nonstandard DPI (large fonts) or an odd resolution will make the taskbar taller. On older systems this is under Display Properties -> Settings -> Advanced -> DPI; on newer Windows look for Display scaling in Control Panel/Settings. Apply the normal (96 DPI / 100%) and log off to see if the taskbar returns to single-row height.

Restart Explorer and test in Safe Mode to isolate the cause. Use Task Manager to stop and restart explorer.exe (File -> New Task -> explorer.exe) and see whether the bar resets. Booting to Safe Mode (press F8 on startup) will load a minimal shell; if the taskbar is normal there, a third-party toolbar or shell extension is the likely culprit. Disable recently added shell utilities (ObjectDock, WindowBlinds, toolbar add-ons) or use msconfig/Autoruns to trial-disable startup items.

If the problem is per-user configuration corruption, reset Explorer’s saved layout (advanced). Back up the registry or create a Restore Point first. Removing Explorer’s per-user layout entries (the Streams/StreamsMRU data under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer) forces Windows to rebuild taskbar/toolbars on next logon. Only perform this if comfortable with regedit and after exporting the key.

If none of the above helps, the new-user account approach suggested by is a reliable fallback because it proves whether the issue is confined to that user profile.

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Member Avatar for tayspen

Hi, to change where the taskbar is located simply click it and hold. Then drag it to the bottom of the screen. To change the size, right click it and make sure Lock taskbar does not have a check by it. Then but your mouse on the top of the taskbar, and drag down. Let me know if that does it.

Member Avatar for EAMON

Hi, to change where the taskbar is located simply click it and hold. Then drag it to the bottom of the screen. To change the size, right click it and make sure Lock taskbar does not have a check by it. Then but your mouse on the top of the taskbar, and drag down. Let me know if that does it.

Thankyou Tayspen, I have already tried your idea and all I can manage is either doubling the size yet again, or reducing it so that the taskbar isn't visible on screen.
Eamonn.

Member Avatar for gemini4

Create a new user profile for your friend. The new account should have all the settings allright. From what you're saying here might be the user settings that became corrupt.

Member Avatar for EAMON

Hi Gemini4, thanx for your suggestion. I will try it out and think it will work. Always the easy solutions are the best and am kicking myself for not thinking of it myself.
Eamonn.

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