Windows 10 KB5003214 causes the taskbar to turn black and no icons are displayed

Microsoft recently released the cumulative update preview to Windows 10 20H1, 20H2, and 21H1. The cumulative update number is KB5003214.

As the cumulative update preview, Microsoft will not directly push it to users for installation, but if the user clicks the check for updates button, it will be automatically installed.

This is also the reason why we always do not recommend you to click the Check Update button because it is very likely that you may accidentally install cumulative updates that are not stable.

And these cumulative updates with a test nature usually have various unknown problems, such as the latest update that causes the system tray area to fail to display icons.

At present, some users in Microsoft’s official forums are reporting issues related to the latest cumulative update, and most of them are black in the taskbar.

Under normal circumstances, the area on the right side of the taskbar is the system tray area that will display icons of programs with background running functions to help users minimize the corresponding programs. After installing this update, the tray area turns black and no program icons are displayed.

After testing, some users found that if the news and interest function is turned on, the probability of abnormality is higher, but this function is also turned on by default.

Therefore, if you also encounter this problem, you can try to disable the news and interest modules. If the problem can be solved after disabling it, you no longer need to uninstall the cumulative update. Some users also appear in the taskbar search box and the network connection icon on the right.

Because the tray area is abnormal, it may squeeze the position of the taskbar, causing the search box on the taskbar to display half or completely, which is also related to the system zoom.

If the device resolution is high and the system automatically turns on the high-resolution screen zoom and adaptation, it may occupy more space and cause the search box to display abnormally.

The reason for the disappearance of the network icon is not yet clear. It stands to reason that the network icon also belongs to the taskbar area, and the entire taskbar area should disappear.

However, some users have tested that the problem can be solved by uninstalling this cumulative update, so if you encounter the above problem that cannot be solved, it is recommended to uninstall the update directly.

Via: windowslatest