The Windows 10 taskbar offers a search bar where you can click and type to instantly search for anything on Windows 10. You can quickly get focus by pressing the Windows key and start typing right away; However, if the search bar or the taskbar icon is missing, this article shows how to recover the search bar on Windows 10.
Windows 10 search bar is missing
Most of the time the search bar or icon is hidden and you may feel like it is missing. So follow the tips to activate and display the search bar or icon.
- Activate the search bar from the taskbar
- Disable small taskbar buttons
- Change the primary monitor
- Change the position of the taskbar
- Run the SFC / DISM tool.
Finally, there’s a better way to access search, and all it takes is a keyboard shortcut to bring it up! The latest version of Windows 10 detached Cortana from search, and even though Cortana is turned off, it doesn’t affect search. We will talk about this at the end of this article.
1]Activate the search bar from the taskbar
Sometimes the search box or icon is only hidden and you need to activate it to make it appear on the taskbar.
- Right click on the taskbar
- Click on Search
- Check Show search icon or Show search box
Depending on what you enable, the search option should instantly appear in the taskbar.
2]Disable small taskbar buttons
If you’ve enabled the search bar in the taskbar option but still only see the search icon, here’s how to fix it.
- Right click on taskbar and select taskbar settings.
- Find and turn off the option: use the small taskbar buttons
Once disabled, you should see the Cortana search box if you’ve selected the Show Search Box option in the taskbar menu.
3]Change the primary monitor
If you have multiple monitors and you cannot see the search bar, your current monitor is not the primary monitor. While Windows 10 supports the taskbar on all screens, the search bar is reduced to the search bar in the rest of the screens except the primary monitor.
If you can’t see the taskbar at all:
- Right click on taskbar and click on taskbar settings
- Locate the multiple screens section
- Switch to Show taskbar on all screens
Change the main display:
- Open Windows Settings (Win + I) and go to System> Display
- Click the Identify button. If it is anything other than “1”, it is not your main screen
- Select the monitor you want to make your primary display
- Scroll down to find the Multiple Display section and check the box that says – Make this my primary display.
If the Search box option is enabled in the taskbar settings, you should be able to see the search box immediately. If it’s a search icon, you can change it by following the first method in the list.
4]Change the position of the taskbar
The taskbar can be repositioned to any side of the screen, and when placed anywhere except the bottom, the search bar turns into a search icon. This happens despite the search bar option checked. So if you want the search bar to come back, you have to set the taskbar to the bottom.
5]Run the DISM / SFC tool
If none of these things work, there is likely corruption of the system files. As a last option, run the SFC and DISM tool to fix any corrupted system files, then reboot to see the changes. Follow our in-depth guide on how you can run these commands on PowerShell or the Command Prompt with administrator permission.
Start Windows search using the keyboard shortcut
Although the search bar makes it easy to view, it is easily accessible using a hotkey. You can choose to hide the search bar from the taskbar and start the search using Win + S. It instantly displays the search box and you can start typing.
Hope this article helps you get the search bar back on your Windows 10 PC.
