When Windows Explorer (Explorer.exe) crashes or restarted, is there a script to restore the missing system tray icons?

Almighty1 · Mar 13, 2025

garlin said:
Do you use Start All Back or another UI mod?

No, no UI mods used.

Almighty1 · Mar 13, 2025

Try to apply this tweak

Code:

rem 1 - Launch folder windows in a separate process
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v "SeparateProcess" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

rem 0 - All of the components of Windows Explorer run a single process / 1 - All instances of Windows Explorer run in one process and the Desktop and Taskbar run in a separate process
reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer" /v "DesktopProcess" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f

Will try that a bit later. Am I correct the default is 0 for the first one and the second one, the default is the key does not exist which is the same as 0?

Almighty1 · Mar 13, 2025

nuspieds said:
Really? It didn't fix or cleanup anything? The after picture was the same as the before picture?

If so, that is odd because I had this issue, too: Both duplicate and incorrectly-named entries and that cleanup trick worked like magic for me.

Yep, okay, so I was right about the processes still running and, yes, you are correct in that it doesn't help if you are unable to click on an icon to perform a given task.

My shortcut is simply for a time-saver: Two clicks and it's done. :) Also, when my docking issue was really bad such that it happened practically every time I docked, I had setup a task to run the script each time I docked. Eventually, the situation improved to where the occurrence was rare, so I switched to manual and now, knock on wood, I haven't needed it in ages.

I am not 100% certain since I tried it a few months ago and the list of entries may have gotten shorter but the duplicates were there and it will grow again after each reboot since I usually do reboots every few days as on a notebook even with 32GB of ram, eventually the system will lag after a few days of uptime. With 24H2, it lags even within a few hours. Even if there wasn't the lag since I am running 24H2 Beta Insiders and the system had always been Beta since before Windows 11 RTM, there are the weekly Beta Insider builds which requires a reboot.

It's not unable to click on a icon, the icon is not there after explorer.exe is started again.

They are all within 2-3 steps or clicks. I like System Informer because I can watch the processes getting killed and restarted and see the old PID gone and the new PID show up. The only problem with shortcuts and the @Brink method is that the Explorer.exe has to actually still be responding and running for those options to even be available. The SystemInformer method is similar to the Task Manager opened, Explorer does not even have to be running and you can start the Explorer.exe process. Same can be said with the command prompt/powershell method as those need to be opened first since if Explorer.exe is not running as a process, you cannot windows key + R to open it because those only work when Explorer.exe is running.

I am not sure what it's called but I remember in earlier builds of Windows 11, the notification tray basically refreshes which is like a lighter version of a crash as it will still show the taskbar and hidden system tray missing for like 0.5 second before it shows again which I remember some people call it a Explorer crash but for those, the icons are all there and none disappear at all. Then there is the other type which we are talking about where it's no different than killing and starting explorer.exe again, a few icons will go missing and it's always exactly the same ones. For all we know, maybe the programs that have the problem are just poorly written which is why only they have the issue.

nuspieds · Mar 13, 2025

Almighty1 said:
I am not 100% certain since I tried it a few months ago and the list of entries may have gotten shorter but the duplicates were there and it will grow again after each reboot since I usually do reboots every few days as on a notebook even with 32GB of ram, eventually the system will lag after a few days of uptime. With 24H2, it lags even within a few hours. Even if there wasn't the lag since I am running 24H2 Beta Insiders and the system had always been Beta since before Windows 11 RTM, there are the weekly Beta Insider builds which requires a reboot.

It's not unable to click on a icon, the icon is not there after explorer.exe is started again...

Ahh, yes, you are correct: The fix is not permanent for me, either, and the mess in the tray icons list always returns.

And, yeah, I know...what I meant was that since the icon is no longer there, you are not able to click on it to perform a given task, and that just adds to the frustration.

Almighty1 said:
...For all we know, maybe the programs that have the problem are just poorly written which is why only they have the issue.

I agree and that led me to do some checking and here are some interesting observations from my system:

There are a few apps that I use which do not have a background process running and an icon in the system tray. These apps, of course, do not appear in the system tray apps list. However, when I do certain tasks in those apps, the tasks are performed in the background and the app icon temporarily appears in the system tray. Once the task has completed, the icon disappears from the system tray. This behavior is correct, as I have no need to interact with the app via the system tray/its background process.
When reviewing the system tray apps list again, however, the app icon is now present.
The duplicates in my system tray apps list are all of the same, old 32-bit clipboard utility program. I doubt that this is a coincidence.
The cleanup performed by @Brink's script removes the temporary system tray icon apps from the list (as it should) so that when it finishes, all I truly have in the list are those that have startup background processes and with which I interact via the system tray.

Almighty1 · Mar 15, 2025

nuspieds said:
Ahh, yes, you are correct: The fix is not permanent for me, either, and the mess in the tray icons list always returns.

And, yeah, I know...what I meant was that since the icon is no longer there, you are not able to click on it to perform a given task, and that just adds to the frustration.

I agree and that led me to do some checking and here are some interesting observations from my system:

There are a few apps that I use which do not have a background process running and an icon in the system tray. These apps, of course, do not appear in the system tray apps list. However, when I do certain tasks in those apps, the tasks are performed in the background and the app icon temporarily appears in the system tray. Once the task has completed, the icon disappears from the system tray. This behavior is correct, as I have no need to interact with the app via the system tray/its background process.

When reviewing the system tray apps list again, however, the app icon is now present.

The duplicates in my system tray apps list are all of the same, old 32-bit clipboard utility program. I doubt that this is a coincidence.

The cleanup performed by @Brink's script removes the temporary system tray icon apps from the list (as it should) so that when it finishes, all I truly have in the list are those that have startup background processes and with which I interact via the system tray.

Actually I wanted to correct myself, I actually ran @Brink's script a month ago trying to fix a different issue, it is not with the system tray icons but the icons on the right of the start menu as basically, I can have 1-3 programs that open after logging in to Windows that does not show their own icons. Sometimes all the programs have their correct icons so it's either 0 icons with problems or 1-3 icons that is incorrect and the problems is with Throttlestop, Counter Control v1.2 which is from the same author as Throttlestop, Dell Fan Management. Dell Fan Management has a handles resource leak but the author has abandoned the project since he no longer has a Dell computer and is using a Mac now but it's needed for the fan to work correctly. But anyways, this is what the icon looks on the task bar when it happens so either I have 0 icons with the problem or up to 3:

This is actually happening right now and the fix is to restart the process and it will always show the correct icon as follows:

So not sure if that's an icon cache issue or if the icon cache size has reached it's limits.

From reading your #1 is interesting since how did the icon get to the system tray if there is no processes running? Can you share the names of the apps?

As for the others, perhaps the list actually does disappear and later returns after each reboot?

dacrone · Mar 15, 2025

Almighty1 said:
Actually I wanted to correct myself, I actually ran @Brink's script a month ago trying to fix a different issue, it is not with the system tray icons but the icons on the right of the start menu as basically, I can have 1-3 programs that open after logging in to Windows that does not show their own icons. Sometimes all the programs have their correct icons so it's either 0 icons with problems or 1-3 icons that is incorrect and the problems is with Throttlestop, Counter Control v1.2 which is from the same author as Throttlestop, Dell Fan Management. Dell Fan Management has a handles resource leak but the author has abandoned the project since he no longer has a Dell computer and is using a Mac now but it's needed for the fan to work correctly. But anyways, this is what the icon looks on the task bar when it happens so either I have 0 icons with the problem or up to 3:
View attachment 128298

This is actually happening right now and the fix is to restart the process and it will always show the correct icon as follows:
View attachment 128299

So not sure if that's an icon cache issue or if the icon cache size has reached it's limits.

From reading your #1 is interesting since how did the icon get to the system tray if there is no processes running? Can you share the names of the apps?

As for the others, perhaps the list actually does disappear and later returns after each reboot?

not a permanent fix, but you could just run a batch at startup to launch those, kill the processes and launch them again. won't be more than a couple of seconds difference and will make your icons show... just until a real solution is figured out

nuspieds · Mar 16, 2025

Almighty1 said:
Actually I wanted to correct myself, I actually ran @Brink's script a month ago trying to fix a different issue, it is not with the system tray icons but the icons on the right of the start menu as basically, I can have 1-3 programs that open after logging in to Windows that does not show their own icons. Sometimes all the programs have their correct icons so it's either 0 icons with problems or 1-3 icons that is incorrect and the problems is with Throttlestop, Counter Control v1.2 which is from the same author as Throttlestop, Dell Fan Management. Dell Fan Management has a handles resource leak but the author has abandoned the project since he no longer has a Dell computer and is using a Mac now but it's needed for the fan to work correctly. But anyways, this is what the icon looks on the task bar when it happens so either I have 0 icons with the problem or up to 3:
View attachment 128298

This is actually happening right now and the fix is to restart the process and it will always show the correct icon as follows:
View attachment 128299

So not sure if that's an icon cache issue or if the icon cache size has reached it's limits.

From reading your #1 is interesting since how did the icon get to the system tray if there is no processes running? Can you share the names of the apps?

As for the others, perhaps the list actually does disappear and later returns after each reboot?

My guess is that it is a cache issue because, on my Work laptop, my icons are stored on OneDrive and whenever I boot and OneDrive is not yet fully synced, I get those "unknown" Taskbar icons; once fully synced, however, all is well and there are no issues.

As we both stated before, the list grows over time, but here is the current list of my apps in the system tray apps list and for which there are no startup background processes:

R-Wipe & Clean
ClipMate
Macrium Reflect

nuspieds · Mar 16, 2025

dacrone said:
not a permanent fix, but you could just run a batch at startup to launch those, kill the processes and launch them again. won't be more than a couple of seconds difference and will make your icons show... just until a real solution is figured out

No, because, first and foremost, it is not a startup issue; if Explorer crashes and restarts on its own or if I am forced do to it, then I run into these issues.

dacrone · Mar 16, 2025

nuspieds said:
No, because, first and foremost, it is not a startup issue; if Explorer crashes and restarts on its own or if I am forced do to it, then I run into these issues.

for starters, i quoted @Almighty1 and you should read the 2nd line of that quote. LOGGING IN.
secondly, if you make a .bat to do what i stated, it is not limited to running at login/startup. you double click and it will run at any time. as a matter of fact, create a scheduled task to trigger on the event id of explorer crash/start and it will run automatically for a restart too.

Almighty1 · Mar 16, 2025

dacrone said:
not a permanent fix, but you could just run a batch at startup to launch those, kill the processes and launch them again. won't be more than a couple of seconds difference and will make your icons show... just until a real solution is figured out

Yes, that would work but then using SystemInformer which is already running when I login, I can just manually restart those processes since it was more curiosity as @Brink did say this was actually a known ongoing bug in the other thread here.

Almighty1 · Mar 16, 2025

nuspieds said:
My guess is that it is a cache issue because, on my Work laptop, my icons are stored on OneDrive and whenever I boot and OneDrive is not yet fully synced, I get those "unknown" Taskbar icons; once fully synced, however, all is well and there are no issues.

As we both stated before, the list grows over time, but here is the current list of my apps in the system tray apps list and for which there are no startup background processes:

R-Wipe & Clean

ClipMate

Macrium Reflect

It's not a cache issue but a ongoing bug according to @Brink when I asked here, atleast for the taskbar icon issue.

The only one of the three I use is Macrium Reflect and there are 3 processes running, one being a service but I do not have system tray icons for it.

Looks like in my list I posted before, it is toggled off. I wished there was a way of looking at that list and figuring out which item for each duplicate is the one that is the current toggle as the list is so long I don't even know if each one is a repeat or not.

Almighty1 · Mar 16, 2025

dacrone said:
for starters, i quoted @Almighty1 and you should read the 2nd line of that quote. LOGGING IN.
secondly, if you make a .bat to do what i stated, it is not limited to running at login/startup. you double click and it will run at any time. as a matter of fact, create a scheduled task to trigger on the event id of explorer crash/start and it will run automatically for a restart too.

Forgot how to write batch files other than the simple ones but can you provide a example as that would also work for the issue in the OP since I already know the exact processes other than Nvidia Control Panel that requires killing and starting again and so maybe just one process as a sample and even a made up name and a way for the Nvidia Control Panel to open will work. And how exactly does one do the scheduled task to trigger on the event id of explorer crash/start to run automatically for a restart? Thanks!

dacrone · Mar 16, 2025

Almighty1 said:
Forgot how to write batch files other than the simple ones but can you provide a example as that would also work for the issue in the OP since I already know the exact processes other than Nvidia Control Panel that requires killing and starting again and so maybe just one process as a sample and even a made up name and a way for the Nvidia Control Panel to open will work. And how exactly does one do the scheduled task to trigger on the event id of explorer crash/start to run automatically for a restart? Thanks!

should be able to get by with something as simple as:

Code:

@echo off
cd "C:\path\to\program\exe"
taskkill /f /im program.exe
start /f /im program.exe

cd "C:\path\to\program\exe"
taskkill /f /im program.exe
start /f /im program.exe

...add as many as needed

exit

i believe Explorer crashes would be event ID 1000

**Also.. figured out the NVIDIA system tray icon refresh:
in that batch, you need to have the line:

Code:

taskkill /f /im NVDisplay.Container.exe

and the next line:

Code:

"%ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps\NVIDIACorp.NVIDIAControlPanel_8.1.967.0_x64__56jybvy8sckqj\nvcplui.exe"

Code:

for /R "%ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps\" %%I in ("nvcplui*.exe") do @if /I "%%~nxI" == "nvcplui.exe" "%%I"

Shoutout to @garlin for the nvcplui.exe location that i was having trouble finding
.https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/217571-nvidia-control-panel-executable-file-location.html

i'm just going to add the nvidia lines to my actual restart explorer batch since its part of my system anyways. then if something crashes, just context menu > restart explorer and everything will restore... in case that idea appeals to you as well.

garlin · Mar 16, 2025

The problem with using the absolute path is the folder has a specific version number.

Windows gets around this by using an app shortcut (which is the same from PowerShell's Get-StartApps):

Code:

start shell:AppsFolder\NVIDIACorp.NVIDIAControlPanel_56jybvy8sckqj!NVIDIACorp.NVIDIAControlPanel

dacrone · Mar 16, 2025

garlin said:
The problem with using the absolute path is the folder has a specific version number.

Windows gets around this by using an app shortcut (which is the same from PowerShell's Get-StartApps):

Code:

start shell:AppsFolder\NVIDIACorp.NVIDIAControlPanel_56jybvy8sckqj!NVIDIACorp.NVIDIAControlPanel

good call. wasn't thinking. fixed. thanks.

nuspieds · Mar 16, 2025

dacrone said:
for starters, i quoted @Almighty1 and you should read the 2nd line of that quote. LOGGING IN.
secondly, if you make a .bat to do what i stated, it is not limited to running at login/startup. you double click and it will run at any time. as a matter of fact, create a scheduled task to trigger on the event id of explorer crash/start and it will run automatically for a restart too.

dacrone said:
not a permanent fix, but you could just run a batch at startup to launch those, kill the processes and launch them again. won't be more than a couple of seconds difference and will make your icons show... just until a real solution is figured out

So you quoted someone else and that means I am not permitted to state my opinion? But had I agreed with your suggestion, I am sure you would not have posted the above. I was not shooting down your suggestion; rather, just letting you know the full context of the issue and why your suggestion wouldn't be a real, temporary fix.

My point was that the issue being encountered was either with random crashes/restarts of Explorer.exe and/or manual forced closures and restarts of Explorer.exe; therefore, running a batch file to kill and restart processes at startup is not going to be viable. However, as I had stated, in my situation with the desktop issue, my automated task of closing and restarting Explorer.exe upon unlock from the login screen worked well as a temporary solution for that specific issue and it was only after the issue occurred much less frequently that I switched it to manual.

But we're still left with the mess in the system tray apps list and I, for one, do not want to kill and restart app processes because (a) I might not know the full command line parameters to start those processes and, most importantly, (b) the apps aren't the issue and they are running fine; rather, it's Explorer.exe. As a result, even when I had my temporary fix for my desktop issue, that's why I still eventually ended up doing a reboot sooner rather than later.

dacrone · Mar 16, 2025

nuspieds said:
So you quoted someone else and that means I am not permitted to state my opinion?

you inferred that. i did not imply that.

nuspieds said:
But had I agreed with your suggestion, I am sure you would not have posted the above.

nuspieds said:

in my situation with the desktop issue, my automated task of closing and restarting Explorer.exe upon unlock from the login screen worked well as a temporary solution for that specific issue and it was only after the issue occurred much less frequently that I switched it to manual

Click to expand...

correct, as i would not have responded at all had you simply made a comment instead of stating that the message intended for someone's stated problem was incorrect when it was not directed toward you or your issue to begin with. you already stated your fix, thus my non-reply to your issue.

nuspieds said:
I was not shooting down your suggestion; rather, just letting you know the full context of the issue and why your suggestion wouldn't be a real, temporary fix.

i'm not getting into a flamefest on here. nor am i going to argue. i stated facts directed toward another member's issue and it is what it is.

nuspieds said:
But we're still left with the mess in the system tray apps list and I, for one, do not want to kill and restart app processes because (a) I might not know the full command line parameters to start those processes and, most importantly, (b) the apps aren't the issue and they are running fine; rather, it's Explorer.exe.

this has been an issue since AT LEAST windows xp, hence programs like TrayMgr and others that preserved tray icons throughout explorer crashes. it is not explorer that is the issue, but rather the programs themselves. they have to be designed to persist through crashes and if they are not designed to do so, they have to be restarted/refreshed, which is why a reboot fixes your issue (and also why killing/restarting processes does the same without a reboot).

nuspieds · Mar 16, 2025

dacrone said:
...i'm not getting into a flamefest on here. nor am i going to argue. i stated facts directed toward another member's issue and it is what it is....

Neither am I and I more than recognize that you are trying to help. No one says, "Try to do <x> in the meantime until a permanent solution is found," if they are not trying to help.

Just keep in mind, however, that I am experiencing the exact same issue as that other member. The only thing new I added was that I have a separate and unrelated issue that is solved by manually closing and restarting Explorer.exe, which results in the same original issue; hence, the reason I naturally chimed in, even though you were quoting his response.

Also, regarding the task I had setup to run my batch file to restart Explorer.exe upon unlock from the login screen, as "great" as it was, I only considered it "great" when my desktop issue was practically occurring 99.99% of the time when I unlocked.

That is, it wasn't an instantaneous process and as soon as things improved and the desktop issue occurred less frequently, I became annoyed at the time it took to close and relaunch Explorer.exe; that's why, eventually, I switched it to manual execution.

dacrone · Mar 19, 2025

Almighty1 said:
1. CCleaner64.exe which is CCleaner
7. pdf24.exe which is PDF24 Creator

Beta Test Time.

Extract the contents of the attached .zip to C:\temp (so should be C:\temp, not C:\temp\temp (because the .zip is named temp too))
import the scheduled task (be sure to change the user account to your username. LEAVE all other aspects alone)
run .reg to create context menu entry
restart explorer.exe - make sure pdf24 and ccleaner icons are not showing in system tray
use context menu entry to refresh tray icons.
pdf24 and ccleaner should reappear

let me know and i will continue with the rest of the programs you have listed.

*i am still playing with the scheduled task to run on trigger. have tried Event IDs 1000, 1001, 1002 and 4798 in relation to explorer terminate/start processes and none have triggered the script yet. still playing with it, so the trigger on the scheduled task is empty at the moment. use context menu to trigger it in the interim*

Almighty1 · Mar 30, 2025

dacrone said:
should be able to get by with something as simple as:

Code:

@echo off cd "C:\path\to\program\exe" taskkill /f /im program.exe start /f /im program.exe cd "C:\path\to\program\exe" taskkill /f /im program.exe start /f /im program.exe ...add as many as needed exit

i believe Explorer crashes would be event ID 1000

**Also.. figured out the NVIDIA system tray icon refresh:
in that batch, you need to have the line:

Code:

taskkill /f /im NVDisplay.Container.exe

and the next line:

Code:

"%ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps\NVIDIACorp.NVIDIAControlPanel_8.1.967.0_x64__56jybvy8sckqj\nvcplui.exe"

Code:

for /R "%ProgramFiles%\WindowsApps\" %%I in ("nvcplui*.exe") do @if /I "%%~nxI" == "nvcplui.exe" "%%I"

Shoutout to @garlin for the nvcplui.exe location that i was having trouble finding
.https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/217571-nvidia-control-panel-executable-file-location.html

i'm just going to add the nvidia lines to my actual restart explorer batch since its part of my system anyways. then if something crashes, just context menu > restart explorer and everything will restore... in case that idea appeals to you as well.

Sorry for the late response. Was busy and also upgraded notebook from 32GB to 64GB during this time as 24H2 was way more slower and laggy than 23H2.
I noticed the apps in question with the wrong icon are all started by Task Scheduler.

As for the Nvidia System Tray Icon, earlier today I had the crash and right clicking on desktop and then NVIDIA Control Panel does not always work as
under the Desktop menu, the "Show Notification Tray Icon" sometimes cannot be toggled and the check remains while the "Display GPU Icon in Notification Area" can be toggled but when the first one doesn't work, the second one doesn't seem to do anything either and I remember it had something to do with the Container process except there are 2 services with NVIDIA Container in the name, Display and Local. I forgot which is which now but one of them in Services when you restart it will bring up the icons in the Notifications Area again.

When Windows Explorer (Explorer.exe) crashes or restarted, is there a script to restore the missing system tray icons?

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