Hi all. This question seems so trivial it is hard for me to ask. I've got a Win 8.1 tablet. I go into the Desktop by tapping the corresponding tile. Once there, how do I make the taskbar appear?

In traditional environments (laptop or desktop) I move the mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen and the task bar appears, but I do not have a mouse with my tablet.

I've searched for an answer, but most hits provide links that show how to configure the taskbar or assume that I have a mouse. Any input regarding this is appreciated. Thank you

Maybe you can try to do this in the registry. (first backup it)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects2

                                      modify the 9th hexadecimal number pair

                                      SINGLE OPTIONS:
                                      ---------------
                                      08 = No Settings Enabled
                                      09 = Auto Hide
                                      00 = Show Clock
                                      0A = Always on Top
                                      0C = Show small icons in Start Menu

                                      MULTIPLE OPTIONS:
                                      -----------------
                                      01 = Auto Hide and Show Clock
                                      02 = Always on Top and Show Clock
                                      03 = Always on Top and Auto Hide and Show Clock
                                      04 = Show small icons in Start Menu and Show Clock
                                      0E = Always on Top and Show small icons in Start Menu
                                      0F = Always on Top and Auto Hide and Show small icons in Start Menu
                                      06 = Always on Top and Show small icons in Start Menu and Show Clock
                                      07 = All Options Enabled
                                      0B = Always on Top and Auto Hide
                                      0D = Auto Hide and Show small icons in Start

Thank you for your reply.

As I look at the list of options I don't see any that indicate how the taskbar will be shown by the user. I see that they provide a way to configure the behavior of the taskbar, but not how to show it. Am I missing something? Thanks, Saga

Hi,

Try: 0A = Always on Top

Hi Saga,

We wonder if there is any luck your issue has been resolved, if you found any helpful reply, we will appreciate it if you could mark it as an answer, so it will help other users who have similar issues.

Regards

do not have a mouse with my tablet.

If you have an electronic stylus you have as good as a mouse pointer.  The key is to hover it, just as you would hover your mouse.

Unfortunately users who only have capacitive pens or their fingers can not hover their pointer.  Thus, by design, they can not raise the Taskbar when it is in Auto-hide mode.  Instead they could use their keyboard (or Touch equivalent) and do something like pressing Win-T.

Alternatively, use the Search Settings charm to find and uncheck Auto-hide in your Taskbar Properties.

FYI

Electronic Stylus, such as the Wacom Bamboo Stylus Duo?

Yeah, I've tried hovering with my finger. The screen reacts by painting a grey circle where my finger touches it, but no task bar once I remove the finger. Thanks for your reply. I have been thinking of buying a stylus and have settled for a Wacom model, but I have not decided which one as I need to do some research. Saga

Electronic Stylus, such as the Wacom Bamboo Stylus Duo?

Doesn't look like it.  See the fat nib?  That's a sign that it is probably a capacitive pen, not a stylus, so just more convenient than a finger tip but no better than that electronically.  I think it really matters more about whether your Touch Screen has the two modes--Touch and pen.  What does your OS say in System Properties under Pen and Touch:  (press Win-Pause if you like).  

FWIW I just checked on my Surface RT which is only Touch capable--and whose keyboard doesn't have a Pause key.  For it, under Pen and Touch there is no mention of pen.  Win-x y  (apparently.  Who knew?)

HTH

Mentioning my Surface RT has just reminded me of a ridiculous workaround I devised for it using the Touch Magnifier, as a demonstration of how dependent raising the Taskbar is on a "hover" action.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/1f818862-840f-41a0-8c1d-c3692a2671bc/taskbar-fails-to-unhide-after-autohide?forum=w8itprogeneral#dc78d4e8-97e4-4582-8ef9-baa4e3a81ab7

Hi Saga,

My apologizes, Since your thread type is General discussion, you don't need to mark. if you found any reply is usful, you could change your thread type to question then do a mark. if you want to keep discussing, just maintain the status as the present, Thanks.

Regards

I set the indicated key to 0A, but it still does not have the desired effect. Seems like this should be easy enough to do. I will post any further updates. Any more suggestions are welcomed. Thanks again to everyone. Saga

Hi Saga,

Welcome back and thanks for update, we will appreciate it if you found your solution and share with us.

In traditional environments, we also could do taskbar settings from control penal taskbar and navigation properties.

The registry files and folders should be viewable. Search for the following registry key: HKCUSoftware\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer \StuckRects2.

However, the value called Settings is a REG Binary type. The taskbar and other settings, including icon size and icon placement, should be found within this value. Because this value is written only when the computer logs off, it can be difficult to catch the value. Need to fiddle around with the environment first then export the data and it takes risk.

If the option is not shown in the list and the registry entry doesnt work, as Robert mentioned that we might need program to get that goal.

Since we dont have tablet for testing, if you are using surface, you might get more useful information in surface forum.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?category=surface

Regards

D. Wu

D. Wu, thank you for your reply. Yes, I will share my solution. thanks for the link to the Surface forum. Since my tablet is not a Surface I thought that my question might be taken as "off topic". I will follow up here once I have a definite answer. regards, Saga

Hi Saga,

I tested the registry key on my desktop, 0A doesnt work for me either, but 02 worked.

So I suggest you give it another try.

Note: when you changed the registry key, you need ending and restart explorer.exe from the task manager to apply it.

Regards

D. Wu