Windows 10 taskbar behaving strangely until restarted

Question

Every now and then (once or twice a day), my Windows 10 (1511) task bar starts acting strange:

• Jump lists don't work (i.e. right-clicking on an icon is just ignored)
• Preview doesn't work (i.e. hovering over the icon of a started application is just ignored)
• Search doesn't work (i.e. keyboard input is ignored)

The start menu itself works, right-clicking the start menu works and left-clicking on icons works.

The problem can be "solved" by killing explorer.exe in Task Manager and restarting it. This is a viable workaround, but it's annoying.

How can I fix this or find out what is causing this?

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Additional information (which might or might not be relevant):

• This is an upgrade from Windows 8.1 (which is an upgrade from Windows 8, and which might be an upgrade from Windows 7, I don't remember for sure). I know it's time for a reinstall. I try to avoid it, since it's a development PC with lots of development tools installed.

• sfc /scannow does not report any problems.

• I googled this problem and found a lot of similar problems (but not the same) described in various forum or SU entries. Most of them are answered (if at all) by some "try this" powershell command or external tool recommendation. I don't want to make this problem worse by shotgun debugging. Thus, if you suggest a solution, please explain what it does and why you think that it will solve this problem.