The fact that we use the same devices practically every day does not imply that we do not find all kinds of errors or failures that have never occurred before and that we cannot solve. One of the most frequent in Windows 10 is to see that the activity center has disappeared without us having touched anything and without knowing how to show it again.
There are several options to try to make it appear again if you have disabled it or an unexpected crash has occurred. We explain how you can try to make it appear.
What is the activity center?
Let’s go by parts … The Windows 10 Action Center is on the start bar. Generally, although you can change it to the part you want, the bar is at the bottom of the screen of our computer and we will access the Windows activities center by touching the icon that is right in the lower right corner of our computer screen . In this center we will see notifications at the top and a series of shortcuts at the bottom such as activating or deactivating Bluetooth , activating or deactivating the Concentration Assistant or Windows Tablet Mode.
You can also open it from the keyboard, just touch Win + A on the keyboard you use and it will automatically open on the side.
Why is it useful?
It allows us to have the main accesses or connections at hand without having to open anything else or access the configuration. You can activate or deactivate Bluetooth, activate or deactivate notifications or the VPN that you have contracted. You also have a notification log if you have been away and want a quick review or look at everything that has happened in your absence on the computer.
The activity center has disappeared
One of the most frequent problems that we usually see in Windows 10 is that the Action Center suddenly disappears. It is no longer visible and we don’t know how to access notifications or these shortcuts. In that case, there are several steps that we must follow or that will help us to appear.
- In the launch bar, find Settings
- Open Settings and use the search bar
- Type “Enable or disable system icons”
You will automatically see a series of icons and their respective buttons to activate or deactivate. You will see clock, volume, network, Energy, Location … And activity center. Make sure it is activated and visible on the screen. If it was not activated, you already have the solution so that it appears again in the launch bar as usual.
Temporarily disable antivirus
Temporarily disable Windows Defender antivirus to see if this software is blocking the task center.
- Go to Start and open Settings
- From the menu, choose Update & security
- Open the Windows Security section
- Once here, search for Protection against viruses and threats
- Choose Manage settings or Virus and threat protection settings (you’ll see it one way or another depending on the version of Windows)
Once on this screen you will see a series of available options. Turn off the first one: Real-time protection. Tap the switch for this option to turn it off. This is a function capable of searching for malware and preventing it from being installed or executed. Temporarily disable it and see if the Windows 10 Action Center appears like this. Remember to turn your antivirus back on when you’re done.
Restart from Task Manager
Always restarting is usually a good option and you can do it with the task manager. This may fix the problem and it will appear again.
- Tap Ctrl + Alt + Del
- The Task Manager will open
- Go to Processes in the first tab of the pop-up window
- Search for “Windows Explorer” among all processes
- Right click
- A pop-up menu will open
- Choose “Restart”
In a few seconds it will restart. Check if the activity center already appears.
Update
One of the solutions of many users who complain about this problem, who have seen how the activity center has disappeared, has been to update. Updating Windows to the latest version will bring this functionality back to your site. To do this, check if there are any pending updates on your computer with Windows Update.
- Open Settings by tapping on Windows + I
- Go to Update and security
- In the menu on the left, choose Windows Update
- Tap on “Check for updates”
- Update if there are any
After installing them, you may have fixed the problem.
Customize and modify the action center
Modify action center shortcuts
You can choose which shortcuts or quick actions appear here if some modes do not know what they are for or never use them. In that case, follow these steps:
- Tap on the Start button on your computer
- Open the System section in the side menu
- Search Settings from the search engine
- Go to Notifications and Actions
- Choose the option Edit quick actions, at the top
- The notification center will open on the right
- Tap on the corner of each action to remove it
- Choose “Add” and select the one you want to add it
You can delete or add the ones you want or need.
Notifications
You can also choose which senders can send you notifications and which ones cannot:
- Follow the steps above
- Open Notifications and Actions
- Scroll to the bottom of the screen
- Check or uncheck who can send you notifications in the action center
If you touch on the name of each program or sender you can configure the notifications in a more exhaustive way, you will not have to activate or deactivate all or any of them. You can choose how many you want, if it sounds or not, when they are shown, etc.
Beyond senders, you can choose a number of options:
- Show notifications on the lock screen
- Show incoming VoIP calls and alerts on the lock screen
- Show Windows welcome experience after updates and when you log in for what’s new and tips
- Get tips, advice, and tips while using Windows
Customize or remove transparency
Following the previous steps, we can remove the transparency or put a striking color to make this menu more recognizable or easy to find.
- Open Settings from the browser
- Tap on Personalization in the menu
- Choose Colors on the left side of the screen
- Disable “Transparency Effects”
Also from here you can choose a striking color so that the activity center is easily recognizable in case you had not seen it or it went unnoticed until now.
