It’s possible that an app icon is flashing because the app is showing an important alert. Here are a few things you can try to fix the problem. If the icons on the taskbar are flashing or flickering, it isn’t normal. Taskbar icons can show some app activity but they’re generally static meaning the icons are never animated themselves unless there is activity to show for the app. Taskbar icons flashing & flickering on Windows 10 The taskbar can also show other toolbars and the system tray, while given its own separate name, is really just a part of the taskbar and not a separate UI element.

a download that is in progress or a badge that tells you there are unread messages.

For some apps, like Chrome, the icon may also show activity e.g. The taskbar hosts two types of icons pinned app icons, and icons for apps that are currently open. Microsoft may have tried to push the Start menu on Windows 8/8.1 as an alternative app launcher but most users prefer to use the taskbar when they need to open a frequently used program. The taskbar is one of the oldest UI elements on Windows 10 and it hasn’t changed much over the years.