The other day, I found the “Docked in Taskbar” feature greyed out on my Windows 11 laptop. At first, I thought it was just once in a while glitch and would go away with cosmetic tinkering. But much to my frustration, the greyed-out issue didn’t go away, leaving the taskbar almost crippled on my notebook. As someone who heavily relies on pinning or docking apps for hassle-free access, the problem peeved and prickled me to the point where I could not tolerate it any longer. As always, my old-fashioned tinkering brought me success, helping me discover some really effective ways to fix the “Docked in Taskbar” greyed out on Windows 11. If this issue has derailed your workflow as well, now is the perfect time to take it for a task so that it will no longer plague your PC. Keep reading to…
Fix Docked in Taskbar Greyed Out on Windows 11
So, what causes the Docked in Taskbar to become unresponsive and start ill-functioning? Based on my personal experience, these are the main reasons why this taskbar issue crops up –
- Taskbar locked
- Explorer process glitch
- Group policy restrictions
- Registry misconfiguration
- Corrupt system files
- Outdated Windows version
- User profile corruption
In most cases, you can drive the greyed-out issue away by blocking the path of the above-mentioned culprits. So, we are going to pace the solutions around these villains and look for ways to sort them out.
1. Soft Reset Your PC
There is a lot to like about the soft reset as it lets you eliminate the temporary files and miscellaneous software glitches in a jiffy! This is precisely what you need to take control of the out-of-the-blue issues that tend to grip your PC into unexpected trouble out of nowhere.

2. Check Taskbar Settings
If the taskbar settings on your PC have been misconfigured, Windows may block docking certain items. Therefore, take a close look at your taskbar settings and reset them to get rid of the misconfigurations.
- Press Win + I to open Settings on your Windows device.
- Choose the Personalization tab in the left sidebar and click Taskbar.
- Scroll down to Taskbar behaviors and make sure features like hiding the taskbar or auto-hide mode are disabled in order to ward off confusion.
- After that, turn off the taskbar options.
- Restart your PC > return to the taskbar settings and re-enable all the disabled toggles.
3. Restart Windows Explorer
Windows Explorer (aka explorer.exe) is responsible for managing the taskbar, Start menu, and File Explorer. That means if any of these features tend to misbehave, restarting the Windows Explorer works to resolve the issue. You guessed it! I’m going to use this very solution to refresh the taskbar and restore the missing option.
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager on your PC.

- Under the Processes tab located in the left sidebar, choose Windows Explorer.
- Right-click on the Windows Explorer and choose Restart.
- After that, wait for a few seconds and check if the “Docked in Taskbar” option is available.
4. Enable Taskbar Customization via Group Policy (For Windows Pro & Enterprise)
Whether your PC is managed by an organization or the group policy has been configured to enforce restrictions, the “Docked in Taskbar” might be disabled by policy. Activating the taskbar customization will let you restore access.
- Press Win + R to launch the Run dialog.
- Now, input
gpedit.msc
in the text field and press Enter. - Head over to:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar
- Find the “Prevent users from customizing their taskbar” option.
- If this option is active, double-click on it and choose Not Configured or Disabled.
- Finally, click Apply > OK and then reboot your PC.
5. Modify Registry Settings
The Windows Registry is designed to restore system settings, including taskbar configurations. For times when certain keys are missing or configured wrongly, modifying the registry settings helps bring the malfunctioning taskbar back on track.
- To get it done, press Win + R > type
regedit
, and press Enter. - Now go to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
- Next, find the TaskbarSizeMove on the right panel. If you find it missing, right-click an empty space and select New.
- After that, select DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it TaskbarSizeMove.
- Then, you need to double-click it and set the Value data to 1.
- In the end, restart your PC and find out if you have managed to get the better of the issue.
6. Check If the Taskbar is Locked
Windows provides a pretty neat way to lock the taskbar so that you can prevent unwanted changes. If you have locked the taskbar on your PC, it might be causing the issue.
- To do so, right-click on the Taskbar.
- If Lock the taskbar is checked, click it to unlock.
- Next up, try docking the item again.
7. Update Windows
Outdated Windows versions might be at variance with taskbar customization. Hence, updating Windows may let you flush out this frustrating issue.
- To update the software, press Win + I to launch Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates.

8. Reset the Taskbar to Default
It’s worth mentioning that if the previous configurations or the malicious third-party apps have tweaked the taskbar settings, resetting it to default can be the right solution to
- Launch Command Prompt as administrator.
- Run the below-mentioned command to reset the taskbar settings and then reboot your PC –
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
9. Create a New User Account
Be warned that if your current user profile has been corrupted due to the influx of misconfigurations or too many misconfigurations, your taskbar settings might be too restricted to work properly.
To circumvent this situation, create a new user account with the default settings which you can fine-tune from scratch.
- Fire up the Settings app on your PC > Accounts > Other users.

- Select Add account.
- Now, select Add a user without a Microsoft account.
- After that, create a new username and password.
- Then, log into the new account and figure out if the “Docked in Taskbar” option is now available.
10. Run the System File Checker (SFC) and DISM
Be warned that the corrupted system files can affect the taskbar settings and make it behave weirdly. Running the SFC and DISM scans can let you repair these files.
- Press Win + S > type cmd > Right-click on the Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
- Then, you need to input the following command and press Enter:
sfc /scannow
- Next, allow the scan to complete without any hindrance and let it repair the errors automatically.
- Next, run the following DISM commands one by one and then reboot your Windows device
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
11. Perform a System Restore
Did the taskbar issue start after a recent update or change on your PC? If you are nodding in the affirmative, performing a system restore can be worth trying as it can let you revert your PC to a working state.
- Press Win + R > type
rstrui
, and press Enter. - Then, click Next and select the preferred restore point when the taskbar was working, and then go through the instructions to complete the restore process.

Wrapping up…
That’s about it! Hopefully, one of these solutions has worked in troubleshooting the “Docked in Taskbar” option being greyed out problem on your Windows 11 device. More often than not, you can resolve this issue by restarting Windows Explorer and fine-tuning your taskbar settings or group policies. So, give them a go first up before opting for the relatively radical tips like the system restore.