Recover icons and position them where you want

What you need: Windows 10

Time required: 30 minutes

Icons serve two purposes – both make your life easier. First, they are shortcuts to the locations, files and programs you want to use. Second, they can be vital sources of information, particularly when overlaid by graphic indicators. For example, an orange spot on the Windows Update icon in the notification area (next to the clock) tells you that your computer needs to restart.

It’s annoying, therefore, when an icon you’ve come to rely on disappears from your desktop. Finding what it refers to can then take several clicks. If it was showing vital information, you might miss something important.

Here, we’ll explain how you can bring back icons that vanish without a trace, whether they appear on the taskbar, Start menu or desktop.

1 Bring icons back to the taskbar

The most important icons appear on the far right of the taskbar, close to the clock and date. Click the speech bubble here to open the action centre, where you can also find sliders to turn on and off