Steam Icon not displaying correctly

[AviatorxDuck]

I've combed the entire internet to try every solution to my problem,
I cant seem to start my steam without this stupid blank window icon showing up next to the Steam icon in my taskbar, I dont even know why its starting a new window in the first place.
but whenever I pin the blank icon to my taskbar it gives an error

Problem with shortcut
The Drive or network connection that the shortcut "steam.ink" refers to is unavailable. Make sure that the disk is properly inserted or the network resources is available, and then try again.

can anybody help? thanks

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

If you run Steam at Startup, the Registry can cause blank icons. I found mine that had the path all wrong and had used %...% instead of ".." in the registry path which caused a breakage.

The easiest way to fix the issue if it is on the Startup section is simply go to Steam Client settings < Interface tab and uncheck "Run Steam When PC Starts" reload Steam and recheck the thing if you want. That should fix the startup issue.

If you do not Run Steam from PC startup, you may have to go directly into the registry to fix the issue in a few spots to check for any broken or misnamed file pathways, which I have a list (and an article) to follow.

There is also always SFC Scan and DISM that could possibly help.