How to Restore Missing Features in Windows 10

Windows can be frustrating at times, with each update bringing its fair share of bugs, issues, and vulnerabilities. Often times, important features are lost after a problematic update, making it difficult for you to get the most out of your computer. So if you want to restore some important functions in Windows 10, you have come to the right place. Here, we’ll show you exactly how to restore important features and UI elements that may have been lost on your Windows 10 PC after an update went wrong.

Restore Missing UI Features in Windows 10

Note that some of these features may also be lost after basic settings changes or the installation of certain third-party Windows software. Some of these features are also ‘hidden’ by design when your PC is in tablet mode. Whatever the case, here’s how you can get some of the most important UI elements back when lost in Windows 10.

1. Restore Missing Start Menu in Windows 10

The Start Menu is hidden in tablet mode by default. To get it back you need to switch to desktop mode. To do this before Tap/click the ‘Notification’ icon It’s in the far right corner of your Taskbar, right next to the clock.

Now Switch to desktop mode by tapping/clicking the ‘Tablet Mode’ tileas shown in the screenshot below.

While the above method should work in most cases, it won’t help if the Start Menu is corrupted. To fix this, you need to re-register the Start Menu via PowerShell. For this, Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and click File > Run New Task.

In the popup box, Type ‘powershell.exe’ (without the quotes) and tick the box that says “Create this task with administrative privileges”. Now press ‘OK’. Note that you need to run PowerShell with Administrator privilege for this to work.

In the PowerShell window, copy+paste the code below and press Enter:

Get-appxpackage -all *shellexperience* -packagetype bundle |% {add-appxpackage -register -disabledevelopmentmode ($_.installlocation + “\appxmetadata\appxbundlemanifest.xml”)}

Finally, restart the computer and you should get your Start Menu back.

2. Restore Missing Recycle Bin in Windows 10

The Recycle Bin is another of those UI elements that cannot be used in tablet mode, so you can get it back by switching to desktop mode as described above. If it still does not appear, Go to Start > Settings.

Now select ‘System’ as seen in the picture below.

Now Click on ‘Tablet Mode’ in the right pane and Turn off ‘Hide app icons in Taskbar in Tablet Mode’. This should restore the Recycle Bin to the desktop Taskbar.

To restore the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop, Go to Start > Settings as described above. Now click ‘Personalization’.

Now choose theme’ in the left pane and Click on ‘Desktop icon settings’ towards the bottom of the window.

In the resulting popup, Select the Recycle Bin (and any other desktop icons you want) and click ‘Apply’ or ‘OK’ To apply the new setting

You should now have the Recycle Bin icon on your Windows 10 desktop.

3. Restore Missing Search Bar in Windows 10

The Search Bar next to the Start button can sometimes disappear due to incorrect settings. To restore it, Right click on the Taskbar and check Search > Show Search Box.

This much! The Search Bar should appear right next to the Start button.

4. Restore Missing File Explorer in Windows 10

This File Explorer can also disappear sometimes, taking the entire desktop, including all open windows, Taskbar, Start button, desktop icons and more. To restore it, Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and click File > Run New Task (as described [1] above).

Now Type ‘explorer.exe’ (without quotes) in the popup window. be sure Check the option to create task with admin privileges Before pressing ‘OK’ or Enter.

You should get your full desktop experience back right away without the need to restart your computer.

5. Restore Missing Taskbar in Windows 10

If you can’t see the Taskbar, just check if it’s hidden. To do this, move the mouse pointer to the bottom of your screen. If the Taskbar opens, Check the option that says ‘Lock the Taskbar’. If you don’t see the option here, click on ‘Taskbar Settings’.

In the next window (you can also find it here Settings > Personalization > Taskbar), you will find the option to lock your Taskbar. Change the option to ‘On’ as seen in the screenshot below. You should also turn off the ‘Auto-hide Taskbar in Desktop mode’ and ‘Auto-hide Taskbar in Tablet mode’ options.

The Taskbar can also sometimes disappear when there is a problem with the File Explorer. In this case, restarting File Explorer (see [4] above) should take care of the problem.

6. Restore Missing Notification Area Icons in Windows 10

Clock, volume, network etc. If the Notification Area icons, including the bottom right, disappear, they can be restored quite easily. To do this, Go to ‘Taskbar Settings’ (as described [5] above), scroll down and click ‘Turning system icons on or off’.

Now open all the icons you want in the taskbar notification area and turn off anything you don’t want.

If the icon you want to restore is not listed above, go back using the back arrow in the upper left corner of your window and ‘Choose which icons appear on the taskbar’. I hope you will find your icon there.

7. Restore Any Built-in Windows Tool Using System File Checker

In rare cases, the methods described above may not work, or you may want to restore a function that cannot be easily restored. In such cases, you need to run System File Checker Check if any critical system files are corrupted with (SFC).

To do this before Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) File > Run New Task (as described [1] above). Now type cmd.exe and check the box that says ‘Create this task with administrative privileges’.. Now press Enter.

This should open Command Prompt as seen in the screenshot below. Write the code below and press Enter:

sfc /scannow

The SFC tool should automatically replace the corrupted system files with the original ones. It will also notify you of such integrity violations after the check is complete. Note that this is a nuclear option that should restore functionality, but without any customization it will be the default version for that build.

Easily Restore Missing UI Elements in Windows 10

With our tutorial above, you can easily restore missing features and UI elements on your Windows 10 PC. So, if your computer is missing one or more of the familiar features in Windows 10, give the above methods a try and let us know your experience in the comments below.