With default settings, network/wireless icon, volume icon, and battery icon (if PC comes with a battery) appear on taskbar in Windows 10. Like other icons, at times, the volume icon might go missing from the taskbar.
Of course, you can adjust the speaker volume even if the volume icon is missing by either using hotkeys on your keyboard or by opening volume mixer (type adjust system volume in search to get volume mixer).
But for many, the taskbar looks incomplete without the volume icon. If the volume icon is not showing up in the taskbar, you can easily restore it in a few minutes.
If the volume icon is not showing up in Windows 10 taskbar or system tray, follow the given below solutions to restore the missing volume icon to Windows 10 taskbar.
Method 1 of 5
Check if the volume icon is hidden
You can skip this method if you have already tried it before coming here.
Step 1: Click the small up arrow icon located on the taskbar to view all hidden icons.
Step 2: If the Volume icon is appearing here, simply drag and drop the icon back to the taskbar area.
Method 2 of 5
Restart the File Explorer
Step 1: Open Task Manager by right-clicking on an empty spot on the taskbar and then clicking Task Manager.
Step 2: If you see the limited version of the Task Manager, as shown below, click More details to view the full version.
Step 3: Under the Processes tab, look for Windows Explorer entry, right-click on it and then click Restart option to restart the File Explorer. Restarting File Explorer will also restart and refresh icons on the taskbar.
And if you can’t see Windows Explorer entry under processes, open up This PC or Quick Access to see Windows Explorer in Task Manager.
Check if the volume icon is showing up now.
Method 3 of 5
Turn on the volume icon in Settings
Step 1: Open Settings app by clicking its icon in the Start menu or using the Windows logo + I hotkey.
Step 2: Navigate to Personalization > Taskbar.
Step 3: Under the Notification area, you will see a link labeled Turn system icons on or off. Click on it to view the current status of system icons.
Step 4: Turn on the volume icon if it’s turned off. And if it’s turned on, please follow the directions in the next method.
If the volume icon is grayed out, follow directions in Method 4 or 5.
Method 4 of 5
Check if the volume icon is disabled in Group Policy
This method applies to only Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 10.
Step 1: Type Gpedit.msc in Start menu or taskbar search box and then press Enter key. Click Yes button if you see the User Account Control dialog to open Local Group Policy Editor.
Step 2: In the Group Policy Editor, navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start menu and Taskbar.
Step 3: On the right-side, look for the policy named Remove the volume control icon and double-click on it to open its properties.
Step 4: Finally, choose the Disabled option and then click the Apply button. That’s it!
Method 5 of 5
Use Registry to enable missing volume icon
Step 1: Type Regedit in taskbar or Start menu search box and then hit Enter key. If you see the User Account Prompt, click the Yes button to launch the Registry Editor.
Step 2: In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Step 3: On the right-side, look for HideSCAVolume entry, double-click on it, change value date to 0, and then click OK.
Click Yes button when you see the following warning dialog to restore the volume button.
Method 4 FTW says
If icon disappeared for absolutely no reason, method 4 should work for you. That helped in my case. I think method 5 should do the same if you are on Windows 10 Home as you can’t use Group Policy with it. The most notable feature in this case is that “Volume” icon is disabled in “Turn system icons on and off” and impossible to enable (option is greyed-out).Method 1 is impossible. Also explorer.exe (method 2) or even PC restart won’t help you at all. I suspect that my case has been caused by Microsoft PowerToys update process as it is the last thing I used which modifies system before I noticed that the icon is gone ;(.
All other plebs just usually have broken explorer.exe instance which simply stops showing some taskbar icons. It needs explorer.exe restart (method 2) to usually fix it. At least partially as some taskbar icons may still won’t show up. You can achieve the same thing just by re-logging (sign out -> login) to your Windows account. That should be slightly better solution as almost all things will restart instead of single explorer.exe. Windows restart would be the ultimate solution for it.
Plato says
Method 2 worked for me. Thank you for sharing!
sityinto says
Change Display Settings > Custom Scaling >
My volume icon disappeared when using 110%.
Michael Craddock says
Just sent 2 comments. First one had some incorrect info in it so I corrected it and sent it again. The first one is showing a date/time stamp of 11/3/19, 3:52AM; second one 3:54AM. Disregard the one with time stamp of 3:52AM.
Michael Craddock says
None of these methods restored my volume icon in the system tray. When I tried method 3 of 5 above, it was showing the volume icon as being on. I thought that maybe if I turned it off and then back on, the volume icon would appear. However, when i turned the volume icon off, my networking icon disappeared. When I turned the volume icon setting back to on, instead of the volume icon appearing, the networking icon reappeared. When I turned the networking icon off, the networking icon disappeared. When I turned it bakc on, the networking icon reappared.
I then did all of the remaining recommended methods, and went back to the settings to turn the volume icon on, but the same thing happened as before.
Somehow, as far as this particular setting goes, Windows thinks the volume icon is my networking icon. I have already run the “sfc /scannow” function from the command prompt as an administrator to check for any corrupt system files, but it didn’t find any.
Running Windows 10 Pro version 1809 on a home built PC
Jay Vee says
Thank you.
KitS says
NONE of these worked for me!
The big question is, why should we have to be doing all this stuff, it’s meant to be an IMPROVEMENT on Win 7, and instead it’s total garbage!
Precious Sweetheart says
I got the sound icon back with method 2. Thank you so much for your very clear and helpful instructions!
Have a good day!
Robert says
number 3 worked for me
somebody says
Thanks!
Tara says
I got my volume icon back with Method 2, thank you so much!!!
James Pittman says
I have followed the directions here and none work. When I opened regedit with this HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
When I get to policies there is no Explorer to open. It stops at policies so what can I do now
Clay says
For anyone that didn’t find a fix in the article, you may want to look at your display options. Right click desktop>display settings>scale and layout. In the drop menu, set to 100% and apply. This should get the icon back.
Annette says
Method 2 worked quickly! Thank you
Daniel says
Great article, very helpful.
Thanks a lot!
Mihael says
None of the methods worked. Where the Volume icon is suppose to be is instead blank space.
Anne says
Method 2 worked perfectly thanks!
Tom says
thanking you…Tom
Mr. Tomato says
Thanks a lot! Restarting the File Explorer was the solution.
Doug says
Worked for me using Method 2. Xcellent simple directions. thank you —
Larry says
Worked quickly….thanks
soskic71 says
Method 2: Rclick on taskbar >> task manager >> Rclick on Windows_Explorer,>>restart … works perfect. Thanks!
Sdg says
I too thank you. Method 3 worked for me.
Nice to have very clear instructions.
John says
Method 2 works fast.. Thank you..
Chong Sin For says
Method 2 worked for me. Thank you!
Richard says
Many thanks. It works!
Electronic-Arts says
Nice