Windows 10 is far more aesthetically pleasing than any of its predecessors. Usually, the taskbar adds to the aesthetics, having the taskbar hanging when you’re in fullscreen mode can be annoying. 

So if your taskbar is not going away when you’re in fullscreen mode, here’s how you can fix that. 

Restart your PC

As always, try rebooting your machine to see if it fixes the issue. Rebooting is a simple way to fix a lot of seemingly random issues.

Use the F11 keyboard shortcut

Windows 10 has an inbuilt shortcut for going fullscreen. Just press F11 on your keyboard, and that should do the trick. 

Look for updates

If you’re running an out of date build of Windows 10, chances are there are a few things broken on your system. Here’s how you can look for updates for your PC.

Step 1: Press Windows key  + I to go to Windows settings. Click on Update & Security. 

Step 2: Click on the Check for updates button to check for any updates available for your system, Install any updates immediately, restart your PC and try again. 

Also read: How to fix ‘Realtek HD Audio Manager Missing’ in Windows 10?

Autohide the taskbar

There’s a feature in Windows 10 that autohides the taskbar after some time. Once hidden, the taskbar can only be revealed by moving the pointer in the taskbar’s direction. Follow these steps to autohide the taskbar.

Step 1: Right-click on the Taskbar and click Taskbar settings.

Step 2: Set the Automatically hide the taskbar settings according to your preference. 

Also read: How to run your laptop with a closed lid and use an external monitor?

Notification badges

When an app sends a notification, it pops up on the app’s icon. While this shouldn’t affect fullscreen mode, considering Windows automatically enables Focus Assist every time you’re in fullscreen, sometimes it can unhide the taskbar.

You can try reinstalling such apps or outright disabling notifications from them to resolve the issue.

Also read: How to change date and time in Windows 10?

Restart the Windows Explorer

Restarting Windows Explorer can fix many weird, random glitches in Windows, including the taskbar not going away in fullscreen mode. Here’s how.

Step 1: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager.

Step 2: Find Windows Explorer in the list. Right-click it and then click on Restart. 

Alternatively, you can press and hold Ctrl+Shift and right-click on the taskbar. You’ll see an option Exit Explorer. Clicking this will have the same effect as the steps above. 

Also read: How to disable Google’s Software Reporter tool?

Uncheck Hardware acceleration on Chrome

If you’re having this issue while using Chrome, you might have Hardware Acceleration to blame. Head over to chrome://settings/system. Make sure that the hardware acceleration setting is turned off.

Also read: How to fix the ‘WiFi connected but no internet access’ issue?

Reset Chrome

Another thing that you can do to fix this issue on Chrome is to try and reset the browser itself. 

Step 1: Head over to chrome://settings/reset. Click on Restore settings to their original defaults.

Step 2: Chrome will show you a warning prompt. Click on Reset Settings, and your browser will reset to default settings. 

If this fails and the issue persists, then most likely what you’re facing is a Chrome specific issue. We recommend switching browsers at this point to avoid this issue. 

Also read: How to open Windows 10 Startup folder location?