I'm not sure if this is the right topic to put this in, but I found a way to restore the Quick Launch bar in Windows 8.1 and thoughy it might be useful to post it in case anyone might be interested. Either way, here are the instructions.


  • Right-Click the Language Bar & "Restore the Language Bar" to remove it from the Task bar
  • Right-Click the Taskbar, go to Properties, and select "Use Small Icons", then Deselect "Lock the Task Bar".. and be sure Task bar is on the Bottom, and Task Bar Buttons are set to "Combine when Taskbar is Full"
  • Right-Click it again and go to Toolbars, then click "New Tool Bar"
  • Paste this in and hit enter: %appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch or browse to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch
  • Drag the Dotted lines to the left of the words 'Quick Launch' in your new tool bar, and drag it all the way to the left towards the start menu.. drag it so all the open icons are smashed down and they will eventually appear on the other side -- Just smash it through the Smart Button... (you may need to disable other toolbars first, if you have them)
  • Now grab the dotted lines by the Notification area (where any open folder/program icons will be crowded) and drag it all the way back towards the left until you leave just the space you need for your Quick Launch icons
  • Right-Click the dotted lines in front of the Quick Launch and De-select both "Show Text" and "Show Title"
  • Right-click the Task bar and Lock it
  • Drag your floating Language bar back onto the task bar
  • Unpin all your other items from the task bar and drag their icons to the quick launch barYou can now add any new items to the task bar by dragging and dropping them, or creating new shortcuts for items and dropping them there.. just like the good old days

    *Tip: If you have a large monitor or Dual Monitors, its usually best to unlock the task bar and drag it upwards to make two levels so you have more space for icons in quick launch, however this may cause custom task bars to show up differently than intended.


Sincerely,
Darkwater409

P.S. If you don't have the language bar on your task bar, then you can skip the language bar part and continue on from there. The language bar itself is not needed for this to work.