When we install programs many of them clog up our Windows by placing notification icons on the tray. Sometimes this is warranted (Skype, battery status), but in many cases I just don’t see the point (Open Office launcher, nVidia icon). If you go to the respective programs you may be able to remove them, but it may help you to have them there once in a while never the less.
To work around the problem of ugly vs useful (or productive vs pretty), you can hide the notification icons you don’t use. Just right-click the bottom bar in Windows, select “properties” and go to the “notification area” tab. There you can click “hide inactive icons”, this will automatically hide those you don’t use often. he drawback is that when you do use it, Windows will only hide it again after a long time.
If you click customize you can set the properties for any program ever used in the system tray. You can choose between “hide”, “show” and “hide when inactive”. I usually just have Messenger, internet status, volume, clock and battery status show up, this leaves me with a cleaner look and a more organized interface.
Will's Thoughts
at 3:24 pm
There are some software choices to hide icons in the Notification Area (systray) that are better than Windows’ clumsy “hide inactive” option. Sometimes you want to show an icon even if rarely used; other times you want an icon to be hidden and to go back that way after each use.
One solution is PC Magazine’s Tray Manager utility (Version 2, dated 2000). Unfortunately, PC Mag now requires a fee to access their utilities area, but it is possible that it might be available elsewhere (look for TMSETUP.EXE).
Another is TRAYSAVER, available here: http://www.mlin.net/other.shtml. While the author states that this program is “obsolete” under newer versions of Windows (XP in this case), I feel it still has value.
Both programs allow you to selectively hide only the icons that you want hidden, while still permitting right-click access to them. Both programs work in XP - I have no idea about Vista.
Daniel's Thoughts
at 9:30 pm
Thanks for that awesome contribution Will, I will take a look
Hack Your Day - A productivity blog | Always scroll wherever the mouse pointer is's Thoughts
at 3:12 am
[...] over. The only problem is that it sits in the system tray, clogging up space (see post on hiding system tray icons) and it also seems a waste to have an app for such a specific task. It could also include some [...]
How to hide notification icons - www.Tech-Dump.com's Thoughts
at 12:15 pm
[...] News Source: http://hackyourday.com/2007/12/26/how-to-hide-notification-icons/ [...]