Add a new bug affecting taskbar auto-hide functionality to the list of issues in Windows 11 KB5025239, the latest update for the operating system. In addition to buggy autohide functionality, it appears the cumulative update broke the taskbar for some people, but that doesn’t seem widespread.
Windows 11 users have reported that the operating system’s April 2023 update appears to have impacted the functionality of the taskbar autohide feature. For those unaware, Windows 11’s taskbar allows you to automatically hide the taskbar in both desktop and tablet use cases.
This option can be accessed through the “Taskbar” page in Windows Settings under Taskbar behaviors. When the taskbar is hidden, it is not visible on the desktop or when using apps. You can view the taskbar by hovering your mouse over or touching the screen’s bottom edge.
Following the update, some have claimed that the autohide taskbar feature is less efficient, staying visible more often and getting stuck more frequently. Although this has caused some inconvenience, the issue remains isolated. This means only some users are running into taskbar problems.
It is worth noting that Microsoft has already acknowledged a similar issue. In a support document, Microsoft noted that installing Windows 11’s April 2023 Update or later could result in issues with certain features like File Explorer or explorer.exe. The explorer.exe directly affects the taskbar.
This happens when using third-party UI customization apps like ExplorerPatcher and StartAllBack.
These apps, often unlock disabled features or objects in the OS to customize the OS, may cause errors with explorer.exe that can loop multiple times.
However, Windows Latest understands the taskbar autohide issue and the third-party UI customization app problem is likely two distinct issues. You can verify it by installing the latest version of these apps or simply removing them from the system and then checking back the taskbar behaviour.
April 2023 Patch Tuesday is a buggy ride
This month’s cumulative update doesn’t appear to be stable, and users have encountered many issues, including problems with Local Security Authority protection (LSA), disappearing desktop icons, and more.
In some cases, users reported that the update stalled at 5% completion for several hours, and a message repeatedly said, “Updates are underway. Please keep your PC on”. Another user claimed their PC became stuck on the boot screen, displaying the spinning circle animation. Despite leaving the PC in this state overnight, the issue persisted.
Although Microsoft continually works to improve the update experience, such incidents underscore the importance of thorough testing.
