It would be a strange moment when volume icon missing on Windows 8 or 8.1 computer and can not be found in the usual place. For some reasons sound icon on the notification area may not appear. This could be possibly by system registry/files corruption or sound driver issues by Windows updates. This guide shows two possible methods to fix volume icon missing issue on Windows 8 or 8.1 and get it back in usual notification area.
There are several methods available to fix the issue and its recommended to try the basic method then move to advanced step. Recently I have faced this issue after upgrading my Windows 8.1 to 8.1 update 1 and one of the following method helped to solve it.
Methods to Show Missing Volume Icon on Windows 8 or 8.1
Method 1: There is no option available in control panel volume settings to show volume icon like earlier operating system. In Windows 8 and 8.1 you can enable volume icon by modifying ‘Turn system icons on or off’ option.
Right click on or near time clock in notification area and select Properties.
Make sure Volume icon is set ‘On’ as shown below, if it were off, make it on to show volume icon.
If the above step hasn’t help, ‘Restore default icon behaviors’ which may bring back the missing icon.
This is the normal procedure to get back the volume icon. In case the Volume icon option ( on/off) grayed out and you can’t change it, then follow the method 2.
Read Also: How to get back missing language bar in Windows 8 or 8.1
Method 2: If volume icon is missing and you can’t enable it from ‘Turn system icons on or off’ area, then that could be an issue with explorer process. The following two methods can solve the issue.
a) Kill the explorer.exe from Processes or Details tab under task manager. Find out all explorer.exe and kill them, make sure no explorer.exe is running in the task manager. After that, on the file menu select new process or Run (or new tasks), type ‘explorer’ and press OK. It will start the new explorer process. That should bring back the volume icon, if it hasn’t, redo the method 1
This method has brought back missing volume icon on my Windows 8.1 computer.
b) Registry modification- Its recommended to take a backup before modifying registry.
Open registry editor in Windows and find out;
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify
More details about modifying above registry value is available here at Microsoft site, please visit.
After modifying registry keys, you need to kill and restart the explorer.exe process to take effect.
I hope one of the above method would have helped you in getting back missing volume icon on Windows 8 or 8.1 desktop/laptop.
Daniel says
Doesn’t work. After every reboot, the volume icon is still gone. Also, that Microsoft registry link is for Windows 7, not 8.1, so the part where it tells you to find in Processes every explorer.exe and kill them, they are no where to be found in Processes. It is ONLY found in Details. Next help please?
Glen says
It worked! Thanks!
I deleted the Explorer.exe and then restarted it. The volume icon is back!!!
Graham Taylor says
Worked for me too! Simply stopping and restarting explorer.exe….nice~
Samithu says
Work done!!! Same here
Mikayla says
Thanks! It worked for me!!
Pony says
Thanks! I hate to press the on or off button to see if my volume is off or on all the time, thanks so much!!
Henry says
Method two worked like a charm. At first it deleted all my tiles on windows 8 and the task bar was completely missing, so, I was immediately upset, but I restarted my computer and everything came back including my volume icon. What a pain in the but finding the answer, but you guys really helped a lot. Thank you!
Petit says
It works, thanks. My volume system icon was greyed out and I couldn’t turn it on. As suggested, I killed and restarted explorer.exe and it magically works. Thank you so much.
Jean Markale says
Thank you thank you!
Method number two worked. Like Henry above, everything disappeared and I’m like, ‘yea it sure did something alright;’ but I pressed Ctrl+Alt+Del to invoke the Task Manager window, then went to File-New Tasks and typed explorer.exe and everything returned, including my missing volume icon.
Thanks again!
Chris D says
Thanks method 2 part a worked for me in windows 8.1
berts says
it worked
ty 
Rose says
worked for me – method 2
thanks
Chris Adams says
method 2 worked for me – thanks
Alexis says
Method 2 worked for me. Thanks!
bar says
omg omg!! thank you so mush.. Method 2 work for me
Nancy says
Thank you for your help. I was beating my head against the wall trying to figure it out. I was also embarrassed because I know a lot about computer’s and this seemed like a simple problem.
Andrea Nobili says
Tnx, method 2 save my day !!! I simply kill explorer process, then I restart it and the volume icon is go back !!! TNX
Morgan says
Why has Bill Gates retired ? Shouldn’t he have waited until he’d got this stuff working ? He should also read …
Why Software Sucks…and What You Can Do About it 21 Sep 2006 by David S. Platt
This missing Volume Control issue certainly does ! One shouldn’t have to mess about with the Registry – or anything else – just to get a Volume Control visible
Trista says
Thanks so much it really worked. I had to do the second step to bring it back
Greg says
Method 2 worked first go