[Fix] No Border in Task Manager Window, How to Get Menubar, Titlebar and Tabs Back?

It’s one of the most irritating, most annoying and most frequently asked problems in Windows. Many times when you open Task Manager by right-clicking on Taskbar and selecting “Start Task Manager” option or by pressing “Ctrl+Shift+Esc” keys together, you notice that Task Manager window doesn’t have titlebar, menubar, tab bar, minimize, maximize and close buttons. It looks like following screenshot:

Missing_Border_Task_Manager.png

Did you ever wonder why does it happen and how to fix this problem?

Advertisement

Actually its not a problem, in such situation Task Manager is running in “Tiny Footprint Mode“. Its a special mode of Task Manager and its by design and sometimes you apply this mode accidentally.

To fix this problem, just double click on the window border and your Task manager will be back in normal mode. You’ll be able to see menubar, titlebar and other buttons.

You can again change the normal mode to Tiny footprint mode by double-clicking on the border.

Also Check:

How to Fix “Task Manager has been Disabled by your Administrator” Problem in Windows?

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. really thanx for releasing such a great pressure…& also i learn a new thing ….

  2. Thank you!!!!! Thank you!!!!! Thank you!!!!! I thought I was going to have to reinstall Windows . . . you saved me a lot of trouble.

  3. Ditto on the God Bless You! This has been driving me nuts… it went to small mode on all my computers.
    Thank you for posting!!!!!!

  4. thank you thank you, been trying to figure out how to close the Task Manager without restarting the computer for weeks. This simple fix worked instantly restoring Task Manager to all its splendor. Thank you

  5. Thank you!
    My tabs in “task Mgr.” disappeared a while ago……to know how simple this was to fix….irks me I didn’t inquire sooner!
    Great Help!!!

  6. Thanks for publishing this – i couldn’t work out where my menubars had gone – thought I had a virus and other websites seemed to suggest this was a big problem – you re the only one who published the solution – many thanks

  7. Great, many many thanks, your a star, I thought I would have to re install windows to get it back. Top man!

  8. Thank you so much – this solved my issue right away. Very simple, yet you’d never know…

    Scott
    10/4/2014

  9. Thank you very much for the info. I was able to restore the Task Manager back to its normal view. I accidentally bumped my mouse and got the Task Manager into this “no border view” At the moment I don’t know what happened and do not know how to restore it until I found your instruction. It works! You save my day! Thanks again!

  10. Thank you, this problem has annoyed for weeks and weeks, I thought I had done something stupid, the answer was so basic, I am so relieved to have everything back to normal again.

  11. worked like a charm. who in the world would have thought of doublee-clicking on the edge of the window. 🙂 Thanks a bunch

  12. Task manager was minimized to half of what it was with no tabs or anything except the top screen with the green cpu usage screen. I hit something by accident, and drove me nuts searching other web pages that could not give me a solution like this site. Everything is back to normal, thank you so much.

  13. Thanks sooo much! I accidently hit something and had no idea what I hit to make it do that. Your help is much appreciated. =)

  14. Thank you so much! I frequently have to end chrome/firefox as a PROCESS to get it to truly kill it and couldn’t with this happening!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NOTE: Your comment may not appear immediately. It'll become visible once we approve it.