How to Show Network Icon on Taskbar in Windows 7, 8 or 10
You might be wondering where the network connection icon in your notifications tray went to. When this happens, you usually have an internet connection but cannot see the Wi-Fi signal bar, the ethernet icon, or the connection status icon. In some other cases, you cannot access the internet and there’s no icon to access the Network and Sharing Center.
This can be caused by several reasons: it’s either the network connection status icon is missing, the network service isn’t running, or an issue from Windows Explorer. In most cases, the missing icon can be brought back by enabling it in the notification tray settings. If that doesn’t work for you, you can try the other methods provided in this guide.
Method 1: Enabling the Networking Icon to Appear in the Notifications Area
- Right-click on the taskbar and select ‘ Properties ’
- On the Taskbar tab, click on ‘ Customize ’ under the ‘ Notification Area’ segment.
- Click on ‘ Turn system icons on or off ’
Also, make sure under Icons and Behaviours , ‘ Network ’ matches with ‘ Show icon and notifications ’
- Locate ‘ Network ’ under the System Icons and select On from the drop-down menu of Behaviours
- Click OK to exit.
Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10:
- Right-click on the taskbar and select Settings
- Scroll down to the Notification area section and select ‘Turn system icons on or off’’
- Look for Network and toggle the switch next to it on .
Method 2: Restarting the Network Services
- Look for the following services
- Make sure these services are started by right-clicking on the service name and then clicking Start .
Method 3: Restarting Windows Explorer
- Launch the Windows Task Manager by using the keyboard combinations Ctrl + Shift + Esc or right-clicking on the taskbar and then selecting ‘Task Manager’
- In the ‘Processes or Details’ tab, find ‘Explorer’
- Right-click Windows Explorer or explorer.exe and then select Restart . In Windows 7 select End Process.
- Click on File > Create New Task/New Task
- Type explorer.exe in the field and then press enter.
Method 4: Resetting the Icon Cache
- Right-click on an empty space on your desktop and choose Display Properties
- Depending on the layout of your Display properties, find the Color Quality from 32 to 16 bit
- Click Apply, change it back to 32 bit, and then restart your computer.
Method 5: Using the Registry
Proceed with this step only if you’ve tried the earlier methods or you’re conversant with the Windows registry.
- Press the Windows + R , type ‘ regedit ’ to open the registry editor, and then hit Enter.
- Navigate to the following registry key HKEY_LOCAL-MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network
- Under this key, locate the Config entry, right-click on delete it. Don’t panic if you didn’t see this entry, it’s perfectly fine.
- Restart your computer. The config entry will automatically be reconstructed during a reboot.
If you don’t see Config, ignore this method because it is for those who have their settings customized manually or by a third party program.
Method 6: Forcefully Restarting Explorer.exe and Changing Registry
If none of the above methods work, as a last resort, we can try deleting some registry keys and force restarting Explorer.exe from the command prompt.
- Press Windows + R, type ‘command’ in the dialogue box, right-click on the result and select ‘Run as administrator ‘.
- Now, execute the following commands one by one: REG DELETE "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /V HideSCANetwork /F REG DELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" /V HideSCANetwork /F taskkill /f /im explorer.exe start explorer.exe
- Now try accessing the network icon and see if the issue is resolved.
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Missing network icon on the Windows notification area
By default, the network icon found in the Windows notification area (systray) is often turned off and not visible. To enable and show the network icon, follow the steps below for your version of Windows.
Windows 11 does not allow you to hide the network icon in the Windows notification area. Because the icon is never disabled, it should never need to be re-enabled.
Windows 8 and 10
If using Wi-Fi, make sure Airplane mode is disabled on your computer before proceeding with the steps below. See: How to enable or disable Airplane Mode.
- Press the Windows key , type taskbar settings , and press Enter . Alternatively, you can right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar settings .
- On the right side of the Taskbar Settings window, scroll down to the Notification area section, and click the Select which icons appear on the taskbar link.
- Click the toggle to the On position for the Network icon.
- On the right side of the Taskbar Settings window, scroll down to the Notification area section, and click the Turn system icons on or off link.
Windows Vista and 7
- Right-click the taskbar and select Properties in the pop-up menu .
- In the Taskbar and Start menu Properties window, click the Customize button in the Notification area section on the Taskbar tab.
- Under Icons , find the Network entry. To the right of that entry, under Behaviors , make sure Show icon and notifications is selected in the drop-down menu .
- At the bottom of the window, click the Turn system icons on or off link.
- For the Network entry under System Icons , select On in the drop-down menu to the right.
- Click the OK button on each open window to save the setting changes and close the windows.
Windows XP and earlier
- Right-click the My Network Places or Network Neighborhood icon on the desktop and select Properties . If this icon is not available, open Network Connections from the Control Panel .
- In the Network connections window , right-click the network you want to view the network icon for and select Properties . For example, right-click "Local Area Connection" and select Properties .
- Finally, in the properties window, check the Show icon in taskbar when connected or Show icon in notification area when connected box at the bottom of the window.
Related information
- Information about the Windows notification area (systray).
- Network and network card help and support.
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How to Show Network Icon on the Taskbar in Windows 10 & 7
The network icon is enabled by default on your taskbar.
- The network icon should appear by default on your taskbar on Windows 7.
- Sometimes, users cannot find the network icon on their Windows 7 taskbar anymore.
- Find out why your network icon is gone and what to do to make it visible once more.
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Typically, the network or wireless icon appears in the taskbar/notification panel of your PC’s display (even when there is no internet connection or activity).
However, at times, due to one reason or the other, the icon disappears from your Windows 7 taskbar and you cannot use it anymore.
There are a few ways to show the network icon in Taskbar on Windows 7 again.
How can I show the network icon on the taskbar on Windows 10?
- Click on the ‘Windows’ icon to open the ‘Start’ menu.
- Click on the Settings icon in the ‘Start’ menu.
- Close the window.
- Check if the network icon is now displayed in the taskbar.
How can I show the network icon on my taskbar in Windows 7?
- Check the Hidden Panel in the Taskbar
- Reconfigure the Taskbar to display the Network icon
- Restart Windows Explorer
If your Windows 7 network icon is missing, you can retrieve it easily by checking the hidden panel with minimized applications. If it’s there, just drag it back to the Taskbar.
If that’s not the case reconfigure the taskbar in System settings or restart Windows Explorer. Read in detail about solutions below.
1. Check the Hidden Panel in the Taskbar
Most times, the network is actually hidden and not missing. When this happens, the user (or a third party) has probably dragged the network icon into the hidden bar.
To get it back, all you have to do is to drag and drop the icon from the hidden panel back to its original location.
To do this, follow the steps below:
- Expand the hidden panel in your taskbar. It is typically denoted by a triangular arrow (facing up).
- In the hidden bar, locate the network/Wi-Fi icon.
- You are all set!
Note: This method applies to both Windows 10 and Windows 7
In the event that the network icon did not display in the taskbar and the hidden panel, you can try the next method to resolve the issue.
2. Reconfigure the Taskbar to display the Network icon
If the network icon is not showing up in the Windows 7 taskbar, it is possible that your system has been reconfigured to remove the icon from the taskbar. This could have been done by a third party or even by yourself, unintentionally.
You can reconfigure your taskbar to re-enable the network icon in just a few steps, as shown below.
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1. Navigate to the taskbar area and right-click on it.
2. Select Properties from the displayed options.
3. Go to the Taskbar section and navigate to Notification Area .
4. Click on Customize .
5. In the right-hand window, click on Select which icons and notifications appear on the taskbar .
6. Now, navigate to Icons and locate the Network option.
7. Go to the Behaviors subsection (beside Icons), and click on the Show icon and notifications drop-down menu next to ‘Network’.
8. In the menu, select On .
9. Follow the on-screen commands to finish up the process.
10. Exit the program and check if the problem is resolved. If not, you can try the next method.
3. Restart Windows Explorer
To run this procedure, follow the steps below:
- Right-click on the ‘taskbar’ area of your screen.
- In the ‘ Task Manager ‘ window, go to the Processes
- Locate and right-click on Windows Explorer /exe .
- Follow the prompt commands to finish the process. This should fix the issue.
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If the above methods could not resolve the issue, you can try and reconfigure the taskbar display in “Registry Editor (Regedit)” and/or the “Group Policy Editor (gpedit)”. The latter – gpedit – is, however, only applicable (for fixing this particular error) on Windows 10.
We have a dedicated in-depth article on what to do if the Wi-Fi icon is missing on Windows 10 that you can check out.
We hope you managed to show the network icon on your Windows 7’s taskbar following our guide. Let us know in the comments section below whether you have any questions.
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How to Fix Network Icon Missing From Taskbar In Windows 10
By: Waseem Patwegar
Is the Network or Wireless icon missing from the taskbar on your computer? You will find below the steps to fix the problem of Network Icon Missing from Taskbar in Windows 10.
Network Icon Missing From Taskbar In Windows 10
With default Windows 10 settings, the Network or Wireless Icon should always remain visible on the Taskbar and indicate the status of network connection on your computer.
Whenever your computer is connected to the internet, the Network icon automatically refreshes itself to indicate the current active status of internet connection.
Similarly, when your computer gets disconnected from the internet, the Network icon should update itself to indicate a disconnected network connection.
If the Network or Wireless icon is missing from the taskbar on your computer, you should be able to restore the missing Network icon by using troubleshooting steps as provided below.
1. Check System Tray
It is possible that the Network or Wireless icon is hidden in the system tray.
1. Click on the System Tray icon > if the Network icon is available, drag the network icon and drop it on the taskbar.
If you do not find the network icon in system tray, follow the next troubleshooting steps.
2. Check Wireless Icon Settings
Follow the steps below to make sure that Network icon is Turned ON and allowed to appear in Taskbar on your computer.
1. Click on the Start button and click on the Settings icon.
2. On the Settings screen, click on the Personalization icon.
3. On the next screen, scroll down and click on Taskbar in the left pane. In the right-pane, click on Turn system icons on or off link.
4. On the next screen, move the toggle next to Network to ON position.
5. Go back to Taskbar screen by clicking on the back-arrow and click on Select which icons appear on the taskbar link.
6. On the next screen, make sure that toggle next to Network is turned ON .
The above two troubleshooting steps should help fix the problem on your computer.
3. Resume or Turn ON Network List Service
Follow the steps below to Turn on Network List Service on your computer.
1. Right-click on the Start button and click on Run .
2. In the Run command window, type services.msc and click on OK .
3. On the services screen, check the status of Network List Service. If it is not running, right-click on Network List Service and click on Start , Resume or Restart option in the contextual menu.
After resuming Network List Service, the Wireless Icon should appear on the taskbar of your computer.
4. Restart Windows Explorer
Follow the steps below, If the Wireless Icon is visible in the taskbar, but it is not updating itself to show the status of Network connection on your computer.
1. Right-click on the Start button and click on Task Manager .
2. On the Task Manager screen, select Windows Explorer entry under ‘ Processes’ tab and click on the Restart button.
Note: If you do not see Windows Explorer entry, open any Folder on your computer and this will bring up the Windows Explorer entry in Task Manager.
Once Windows Explorer service Restarts, you should find the Network icon updating itself to show the status of network connection on your computer.
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Unable to find the Wi-Fi icon in the bottom-right corner on the taskbar of my computer
There is no Wi-Fi icon in the bottom-right corner on the taskbar of the computer.
This may happen because the registry list related to the network has been deleted or modified, resulting in the network icon disappearing or being hidden.
- Check whether you are connected to a campus network and have installed NetKeeper. If so, refer to http://consumer-tkb.huawei.com/weknow/index.html#!a/detail.html?contextNo=zh-cn00706777 .
The page varies depending on the OS. The actual page prevails.
- Disconnect the computer from the power supply and press and hold the Power button for 10 seconds to restart the computer.
- If the issue persists, right-click the Windows icon and then the Settings icon, go to Device Manager > Network adapters , right-click Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9560 then click Disable device . Right-click Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9560 again and click Enable device .
Note: The Wi-Fi driver of the AMD-based computer is Realtek 8822CE Wireless LAN 802.11ac PCI-E NIC.
- On other computers that support network access, download the network adapter driver from the Huawei/Honor official website, copy the driver to the computer using a USB flash drive, and then reinstall the network adapter driver to try again.
- If the issue persists, back up your important data, restart your computer, and press and hold F10 or press F10 consecutively multiple times to restore the computer to its factory settings.
Please note that restoring the computer to its factory settings will clear all data in the C drive, including personal files downloaded in Desktop , Downloads , and Documents . Please back up any important data on the C drive before restoring the computer to its factory settings. If the issue persists, back up data and bring your computer and proof of purchase to a nearby Huawei Customer Service Center for assistance.
- Email Feedback
- Service Center Location
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Windows Taskbar is freezing when connected to WiFi
I have an issue everytime my laptop connected to corporate network using WiFi or LAN Cable. The issue start happening on 22nd June 2022, everytime my laptop connected to corporate network using WiFi or LAN Cable, the taskbar start freezing while working or after laptop is locked and repeating sometimes.
My laptop specification: Thinkpad T490 OS : Windows 10 Pro 21H2 Build 19044.1706 RAM: 8 GB WLAN Driver: Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX201 160Mhz
However several laptop with diffrent specification are experiencing this issues also. We have tried to update the wireless driver and rollback the windows security update on June but the issue still persists. Please help and advice on this. Thank you.
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Try open start and search for feedback and open the Feedback Hub app and report this issue. Try uninstalling network driver and restart your PC and see if the problem persists?
Hello MrGall,
This Taskbar issue is commonly related to the management of services in the taskbar. The usual problematic app is the "News and Interest" as it will update information over the network. Please try the next:
Turn off News and Interest:
- Right click on the taskbar
- Hove to the News and Interest
- Click on Turn off
- Check if the issue still persist
If the issue still persist is would be recommended to send a Feedback to Microsoft including the details of the latest drivers (version, manufacturer) as well the last Cumulative Update installed. You can open a message to Feedback Hub by pressing Windows key + F.
Additionally, this behavior may be interesting to the manufacturer of these models affected, since it may help them to detect an issue with their drivers.
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Wi-Fi icon not showing or missing from Taskbar in Windows 11/10
Wi-fi or network icon missing from the taskbar, 1] check if the icon is hidden.
The taskbar shows a specific number of icons at a time and hides the rest to keep things neat. It could be that there is no problem with your system, but the Wi-Fi icon is only hidden too. Before exploring any complex troubleshooting steps, confirm that the Wi-Fi icon isn’t hidden.
2] Enable the Wi-Fi icon on the taskbar
3] enable the wi-fi icon in the group policy editor.
Select the Disabled option on the new window and hit the OK button to save and close the window.
4] Reinstall the wireless adapter drivers
5] restart windows explorer, 6] restart network services.
Let us know if anything here helped you.
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Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10: · Right-click on the taskbar and select Settings · Scroll down to the Notification area section and select 'Turn system
On the right side of the Taskbar Settings window, scroll down to the Notification area section, and click the Select which icons appear on the
In this video tutorial, I will show you guys how to solve Network icon missing from your Windows 10 Desktop or Laptop taskbar.
If the network icon is missing from the taskbar in Windows 7, check the hidden panel, reconfigure the taskbar, or reset Windows Explorer.
Right-click the taskbar and select Properties. Properties · Select the Taskbar tab --> Customize under the Notification area. Taskbar and start menu properties
If Network or Wireless Icon is missing from Taskbar in Windows 10, check the System Tray and check the settings for Taskbar icons on your computer.
Swipe down on the Taskbar screen to the Notification area, then click Turn system icons on or off. Check whether Network has been turned off.
Hello, I have an issue everytime my laptop connected to corporate network using WiFi or LAN Cable. The issue start happening on 22nd June
I know network icon was combined with the sound icon and it was ... on how to pin or add quick settings icons to the taskbar in Windows 11.
One of the most clicked icons is the Network icon. Without this icon being on your taskbar, you'd have to go to the Network settings in Control