KB5003637 update is causing printer problems and breaking the taskbar in Windows 10

This month's Patch Tuesday updates are proving problematic once again. Yesterday we wrote about KB5003637 causing problems for apps accessing event logs, and now it appears that this very same update is causing problems with not only printing, but also the updated taskbar in Windows 10. Affected users complain of broken, vanishing and corrupt icons in the taskbar and notification area.

If all of this sounds a little familiar, it's because it is very much the same problem caused by KB5003214 last month. There's a key difference this time around, however. While KB5003214 was an optional update, KB5003637 is one that is automatically installed.

See also:

• KB5003214 update for Windows 10 is causing taskbar problems -- but there's a simple fix
• Microsoft warns that KB5003637 update for Windows 10 may prevent apps accessing event logs
• Not interested in Windows 11's Sun Valley look? Give Windows 10 an old-fashioned makeover with RetroBar

KB5003637 is not only causing taskbar icons to disappear from sight, but also the date and time. Icons are not just vanishing from view, there are also complaints from users that icons are corrupted and positioned so they overlap.

The update has also been reported to cause printing problems with the Print Spooler constantly falling over itself.

Thankfully, as Windows Latest point outs, there are a few fairly simple solutions. The first is to uninstall KB5003637, but as the update includes security fixes, this may well be something you want to avoid. The second option is to disable the newly added News and interests bar (just right-click an empty section of the taskbar and select News and interests > Turn off.

The problems with the taskbar occur on systems that are not using the default display scaling settings. While not ideal you have adjust this in order to make on-screen items larger. You can also fix the issues by dropping scaling back to the recommended setting of 100 percent -- just head to the Display section of Settings and select 100% (Recommended) from the first drop-down menu under the Scale and layout heading.

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