Filed under: Windows
How to disable the Windows system tray
by Brad Linder Feb 15th 2008 at 5:00PM
- Open the run programs dialog box (either by hitting Win+R or finding the Run icon in the Windows Start Menu)
- Type "regedit" to open the Windows Registry Editor
- Find this section: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
- Create a new DWORD Value by right-clicking and selecting new DWORD or clicking Edit, then New, then DWORD
- Name your DWORD Value NoTrayItemsDisplay
- Set the value to 1
You can restore your system tray either by changing the value to 0 or by deleting the entry. On some systems, the entry may show up in more than one place so if at first you don't succeed, make sure to search your registry for "NoTrayItemsDisplay" to make sure you've deleted every instance.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Todd said 5:21PM on 2-15-2008
Epic fail. So after that nasty registry hack you are left with two clocks, that don't even display the same time?
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Brad Linder said 5:23PM on 2-15-2008
On the off chance that that wasn't a joke, the screenshot is supposed to represent a before and after image. Maybe I should have made that more clear.
Christian said 6:05PM on 2-15-2008
I like learning these simple secrets of cleaning up the desktop.
I for one don't mind it at all as I like to know every detail fo which program is running. I hate finding hidden apps so I even made sure my system tray shows everything it can. I guess I'm a weird person liking to keep watch on things.
Thanks for the great tip nonetheless.
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CreepersCreek said 6:15PM on 2-15-2008
If You're running XP, you can just download the TweakUI Powertoy from Microsoft. Once installed, just select the "Taskbar and Start menu" preferences and uncheck "Show taskbar notification icons".
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Night Elve said 6:17PM on 2-15-2008
Or you can: Start / Run / Type "msconfig" / Services
And very carefully uncheck all those programs you don't them to start when Windows starts.
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Night Elve said 6:18PM on 2-15-2008
Correction:
Start / Run / Type "msconfig" / Startup ***
Night Elve said 6:20PM on 2-15-2008
Geez what's wrong with me.
you don't want them***
muyiwa said 11:21AM on 2-16-2008
Actually u don't really want to do that...because you might end up disabling critical windows startup processes or perhaps processes the pc manufacturer placed in there to tweak the pc (a la volume control...e.t.c)
John Welch said 7:52PM on 2-15-2008
So what you're essentially doing here is being lazy and not clearing applications out, or disabling them on windows startup?
What happens if you minimise applications that have the ability to minimise to tray?
Whilst it may be useful for some people, it definately isn't for me. I have many, many applications installed on my computer, but I manage the ones that are open and I don't let any applications run on startup (bar antivirus and applications like that).
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Dave A. said 12:41AM on 2-16-2008
Hear, hear.
I have a number of programs that have the "Minimize to System Tray" feature, too. It reduces Taskbar clutter and makes everything take up a fraction of the visual space.
Plus, you can choose to make certain icons always hidden from view so that your Tray is very small. You don't even need to do risky Registry surgery!
Do this:
Right click on the clock > Properties > Customize...
and you can set icons to always hide, always show, or hide when not used for a while.
zach said 1:33PM on 2-16-2008
Does anyone know how the button bar can reappear?
The problem is that in a sudden neither the properties can help ....
If someone knows any idea from the registry...
I am not wanting to re- install windows ...
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brian said 1:50PM on 2-16-2008
Are you trying to get back the taskbar? All you have to do is delete the newly created DWORD Value and log off then log back on.
zach said 2:11PM on 2-16-2008
Brian:
the dword there says 0000
do u think that setting to 0001 can work?
Shiba said 10:04AM on 2-17-2008
Hey just wanted to let you know, the part that says "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer" is cut off for me, The only way I was able to read it was to double click the line and copy/paste it. I'm using Firefox v2.0.0.12
I don't think I would use this though, I always set programs to minimize to the tray instead of the taskbar, they take up way less room there. Theres even an app somewhere that allows you to minimize anything to the tray, although I haven't bothered installing it again since my last format.
This could be pretty useful at school/work though. A lot of people are catching on to what those icons actually are, and I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate all the downloading :P
What happens if the program only minimizes to tray and you do this though? You have to find the exe/a shortcut every time you want it to pop back up? If I was using it for the above use I wouldn't really be able to put it anywhere easily accessible.
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