Missing System Icons from the TaskBar

Not realizing how useful this can still be today, I had to dig up my OneNotes of Ole' and dust off this tidbit of info.

Background

I normally run into this behavior when performing assessments of Windows-based kiosk workstations or virtual desktops - blank spaces or missing icons from the notification tray. Occasionally, there might be a missing system icon, like the Volume or Network icons.

If this is occurring on the system icons, you may even determine that you won't be able to enable them within Settings, e.g.:

Resolution

Delete the following registry entries from the affected user's personal registry hive.

HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify\
- IconStreams
- PastIconsStream

Log off the user and log back in to validate.

Note

If you wish to validate without logging off and on, you can also terminate the current desktop's EXPLORER.EXE process and manually restart it.