Hi William,
I can imagine how frustrating that is, especially since it only happens in tablet mode and seems to come and go on its own. The fact that it shows up again when you use the Snipping Tool is actually a really helpful clue, so thanks for pointing that out.
To better understand what’s going on, could you help confirm a couple of things?
- Does this happen every time you switch to tablet mode, or only after using the device for a while?
- When the icons disappear, is the rest of the taskbar still responsive (e.g., Start button works)?
- Have you noticed if it happens after rotating the screen or changing orientation?
- Are you using any custom display scaling (Settings > System > Display), or the default recommended setting?
In the meantime, here are a few things you can try that often help with this kind of taskbar/UI refresh issue:
1.Restart Windows Explorer
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager
- Find Windows Explorer, right-click it, and choose Restart
2.Toggle tablet taskbar behavior
- Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors
- Turn off and on anything related to tablet optimization or auto-hide (if available)
3.Check display scaling
- Go to Settings > System > Display
- Try switching scaling to another value, then switch back
4.Update or reinstall graphics driver
- Try Windows Update > Optional updates or the Surface driver package
5.Quick system file check
- Open Command Prompt as admin and run:
sfc /scannow
While my initial response may not fully resolve the issue, I truly appreciate your cooperation as we work together toward identifying the most effective solution. Thank you so much for your understanding.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.