Controlling the Display of System Icons in the Notification Area
Windows has various system icons that can be displayed in the notification area (otherwise known as the systray). If you are using Windows 7 or Windows 8, the available system icons are Clock, Volume, Network, Power, and Action Center. Windows 8 added a sixth possible system icon (Input Indicator) and the latest version of Windows 10 added Location, Touch Keyboard, Windows Ink Workspace, Touchpad, and Microphone for a total of 11 possible system icons. You can easily control which (if any) of these system icons are displayed.
Windows 10
- Type "Turn system icons on or off" (without quotes) in the search box to the right of the taskbar. Windows displays controls for the available system icons in the Turn System Icons On or Off section of the Settings dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Turn System Icons On or Off section of the Settings dialog box.
- Click on the toggle switch to the right of any of the system icons to indicate whether that icon will be displayed (turned "On") or not (turned "Off").
- Close the Settings dialog box.
The new behaviors go into effect immediately
Windows 7 and Windows 8
- Right-click the date and time display at the very right of the systray. Windows displays a Context menu.
- Choose the Customize Notification Icons option. Windows displays the Notifications Area Icons portion of the Control Panel.
- Click the Turn System Icons On or Off link. Windows displays controls for the available system icons.
For each of the available system icons you can click the drop-down list in the "Behaviors" column to indicate whether that icon will be displayed (turned "On") or not (turned "Off"). After you've set the behaviors to what you want, click OK and close the Control Panel if it is open. The new behaviors go into effect immediately.
Author Bio
Barry Dysert
Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." Learn more about Barry...
Starting Windows 10 in Safe Mode
Hopefully you'll never find yourself in a situation where you need to restart your computer in Safe Mode. If you do, ...
Discover More
How To Enable Jump Lists
Jump lists are handy time savers. Some consider them a privacy issue, though. Whichever way you see it, this tip shows ...
Discover More
Permanently Deleting a File
If you have a file that you're sure you want to permanently delete (instead of having it go to the Recycle Bin) it's an ...
Discover More
Locking and Unlocking the Taskbar
You'll usually want your Taskbar locked, but there are times when it must be unlocked. This tip explains how to lock and ...
Discover More
Adding a Toolbar to the Taskbar
Normally the taskbar is used to display icons for currently running programs on your system. Here's how you can go beyond ...
Discover More
Changing How Tasks Appear on the Taskbar
The Windows Taskbar is much more robust than it was in previous versions of the operating system. One of its many ...
Discover More
Comments