Missing Sound Icon On Windows 10 Laptop

Missing the volume icon in the operating system WIndows 10? In this article, you will learn how to solve the problem in a few steps when the volume icon does not appear in the notification area. So, how to quickly return it to the taskbar?

What to do if the volume icon is not displayed

The volume icon has disappeared, what should I do? Such questions often arise among users of the Windows 10 operating system. Unfortunately, the latest version of Microsoft is not immune from errors, and one of the most common problems is when the volume icon disappears. Fortunately, it can be easily returned back.

But before moving on to solving this problem, we recommend that you read the article that describes why there are problems with sound in Windows 10 and how to solve them. The problem with the disappearance of the volume control icon may also indicate much more significant errors with sound on your computer.

Checking that the volume control icon is on

If the volume icon does not appear in the Windows 10 notification area, then you can easily fix this system error. First, check to see if accidental changes to the settings led to its disappearance.

To do this, go to the Settings window (for example, using the Win I keyboard shortcut), and then go to the System section. In the left pane of the menu, click on the item “Notifications and Actions”.

Then open one of the two links from the list:

  • Select the icons displayed on the taskbar;
  • Turn on or off system icons.

You need to check both links. In each of the screens, you need to check whether the Volume icon is activated (position On). If not, move (activate) the slider that is responsible for displaying the icon in the Windows 10 notification area. After that, close the Options window. Changes will take effect instantly.

But most likely the above actions will not help and you have to go the other way to return it to the Windows 10 taskbar.

How to return the sound icon through the local group policy editor

Launch the local group policy editor. You can find it using the Windows 10 search bar.

In the left pane of the editor menu, open the following items:

User configuration Administrative Templates Start menu and taskbar.

Then in the main editor window open the tab “Hide volume control icon”. After opening a new window, change the default settings for this function to “Off”, then click on the Apply button, OK and closes the local group policy editor.

As in the previous step, the changes take effect instantly.

How to return the sound icon through the registry editor

Consider another way. For this purpose we use the registry editor. Type regedit in the Windows 10 search bar and click on the appropriate entry in the box for the results found.

In the panel on the left side, go to the following path:

Missing Sound Icon On Windows 10 Laptop

On the right side of the window, look for the IconStreams and PastIconsStream parameters. Then right-click on each and in the drop-down menu, click on the “Delete” item. After we exit the editor. For the changes to take effect, you need to restart the explorer.exe process (Explorer) in the task manager. To enter the task manager, right-click on Start and in the window that appears, select the appropriate item. Then we go to the Processes tab and look for the explorer.exe entry, right-click on it and select “End Process“. The dispatcher window does not close.

After this operation, all the shortcuts from the desktop will disappear.

Then go to the “File” tab and select “New Task (Run)”. Enter explorer.exe in the line and confirm by clicking on “OK”.
After such actions, all the shortcuts are returned to the desktop, including the volume icon on the Windows 10 taskbar. If suddenly the icon does not appear, you should restart the computer.

If you have any problems with the recovery icon. let us know in the comments.