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The Bluetooth icon on the laptop disappeared: how to add it to the tray next to the clock [instruction]

User question

Hello.

Help! I lost the Bluetooth icon on my laptop, and now I can't connect my phone in any way.

Previously, it was always displayed in the tray - in the lower right corner, next to the volume icon and the clock. And now no! When and why he disappeared - I don't know ...

Anastasia, Moscow.

Hello.

Most likely, you just have disabled the display of the icon in the properties of the adapter (you could have accidentally clicked ...), or the adapter itself is turned off (on the same laptops, there may be special function keys for this, and they can also be accidentally touched ...).

Be that as it may, in this article I will give the answer to your question in the form of step-by-step instructions (so that it is clear what and where to look at, how to turn it on 👌).

The information will be relevant for Windows 7, 8, 10 ...

👉 Help!

If you have lost some other icons in the tray (volume, language, network, etc.), I recommend that you familiarize yourself with this note.

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How to turn on Bluetooth and add its icon to the tray

👉 STEP 1: check if the drivers are installed

First you need to open device Manager (how to do it) and see if you have a "Bluetooth" tab in it, if your adapter is displayed in it (is there a yellow exclamation mark next to it, indicating the absence of a driver).

As an example, on the screen below (👇) I presented 2 possible scenarios for the development of events;

  • left: everything is in order, the driver is installed;
  • on the right: there is no driver, and above all - it must be downloaded and installed.

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👉 Help!

For automatic driver updates, I recommend using the special. utilities.

Device Manager - check if the driver is installed

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👉 STEP 2: Check if the Bluetooth adapter is turned on

Next, I recommend disabling and re-enabling in Device Manager Bluetooth adapter (see the screen below 👇). This helps in cases where the adapter hangs due to incorrect operation / shutdown.

Disable / Enable Bluetooth Adapter

If you are using Windows 10: then you must also go to Windows settings (for this use the combination Win + i) in the section "Devices / Bluetooth and Other Devices" and move the slider to on. (example below 👇).

Windows Settings - Turn on Bluetooth

Some laptops have special keys for turning on the Bluetooth adapter (and there are often indicators / LEDs next to them).

If you have such indicators, make sure they are included!

Bluetooth buttons and indicators on laptop

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👉 STEP 3: open all network connections (adapters) Windows

The easiest and most universal way to do this (and for different versions of Windows) is:

  1. press the keyboard shortcut Win + R (the "Run" window should appear);
  2. enter commandncpa.cpl and click OK. See example below (👇).

    ncpa.cpl - View all network connections

It should open Windows Windows Control Panel, tab "Network and Internet \ Network Connections" .

If the drivers for the Bluetooth adapter are installed and it is enabled, it should be displayed in this tab (as in my example in the screenshot below 👇).

Network connections tab

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👉 STEP 4: check the properties of the Bluetooth adapter - enable the icon

Now you need to open properties "Bluetooth network connection" (you may call it a little differently). See example below (👇).

Bluetooth adapter properties

Then you need to go to the tab "Bluetooth" and open parameters (see the arrows in the example below 👇).

Bluetooth parameters

Next, check the box next to "Show Bluetooth icon in notification area" and click OK.

Show Bluetooth Icon in Notification Area / Window Screenshot

Immediately after that, the cherished blue icon should appear in the tray ... In some cases, by the way, it can be hidden as unused (see example below 👇).

The badge has appeared!

By the way, at the beginning of the article, as an example, I indicated that the Bluetooth icon could have been deleted by accident: it is not so difficult to do this, just press the right mouse button on it ...

Here's how to remove the Bluetooth icon from the notification area

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👉 STEP 5: if the icon does not appear - restart the explorer

In some cases (after enabling the display of the icon, see step 4), it does not appear in the tray (although it should). It's all about the incorrect operation of the explorer (it sometimes happens that it does not display some elements in the notification area).

What can be done in this case:

  1. use a combination of buttons Ctrl + Shift + Esc in order to open Task Manager ;
  2. then find the process "Conductor" (or "Explorer" if you have an English version), right-click on it and restart .

To open the task manager - press Ctrl + Shift + Esc

After that, usually all the icons start to show (at least the ones that are included ...).

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👉 Supplement!

If all of the above did not help, the Bluetooth adapter may have become unusable.

You can try to buy an external adapter (plugged into a USB port) in Chinese online stores (it costs just a penny).

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That's all for now ...

Additions, as always, would be welcome ...

Good luck!

👋

First publication: 01/08/2019

Adjustment notes: 09/15/2020

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