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Thunderbird shortcut disappears from taskbar after TB update and computer restart

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I have set up TB for an elderly friend. After each time TB self-updates, the next time he restarts the computer, the TB shortcut (which was pinned to the Windows taskbar) is gone from the taskbar. Any TB shortcuts on the Desktop disappear as well. After the update but before the restart, the shortcuts are still there and functional. If no TB update happened, a restart does not affect the shortcuts. This has been going on though about 4 or 5 updates, with the same behavior each time.

He's not computer savvy enough to go find it in the Start menu or pin it to the taskbar again from the Start menu. How can I prevent this annoying disappearance of the shortcuts? This same problem does NOT occur with Firefox when it updates.

He's running Windows 10 (1903), if that matters.

I have set up TB for an elderly friend. After each time TB self-updates, the next time he restarts the computer, the TB shortcut (which was pinned to the Windows taskbar) is gone from the taskbar. Any TB shortcuts on the Desktop disappear as well. After the update but before the restart, the shortcuts are still there and functional. If no TB update happened, a restart does not affect the shortcuts. This has been going on though about 4 or 5 updates, with the same behavior each time. He's not computer savvy enough to go find it in the Start menu or pin it to the taskbar again from the Start menu. How can I prevent this annoying disappearance of the shortcuts? This same problem does NOT occur with Firefox when it updates. He's running Windows 10 (1903), if that matters.

All Replies (2)

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I would recommend rebuilding the icon cache, if it's never been done:

https://www.howtogeek.com/232779/how-to-rebuild-a-broken-icon-cache-in-windows-10/

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I appreciate the suggestion, and I will try it next time I'm over at his house.

However, I was under the impression that the icon cache only dealt with icon images, not the underlying shortcuts themselves. I didn't think that would help with shortcuts that are, by all appearances, gone/deleted.