How to turn on or off System Tray icons from Taskbar on Windows 10

Do you want to show less icons in the System Tray or some system icons are missing? If so, use these steps on Windows 10.

Windows 10 System Tray icons settings
Windows 10 System Tray icons settings
  • To turn Windows 10 System Tray icons on and off, open Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Turn system icons on or off, and then decide the icons that should appear in the Taskbar.
  • On Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Select which icons appear on the Taskbar, you can decide whether icons from apps and specific features appear in the System Tray will remain hidden in the overflow menu.

On Windows 10, the System Tray is that area in the bottom-left corner of the Taskbar, and it includes a number of system icons to access different features and options, and you can always decide which ones to show or hide.

The System Tray can show three types of icons, including system icons (such as Action Center, Clock, Volume, Network, Power, and Microphone), features icons (such as Windows Update, Location Notification, OneDrive, etc.), and icons for apps that support this feature and can run in the background.

However, if the System Tray gets too crowded, Windows 10 includes a few settings to specify which icons should appear in the Taskbar.

In this guide, I’ll teach you the steps to decide which icons appear in the Taskbar on Windows 10.

Turn Windows 10 system icons on and off from Taskbar

To show or hide icons from the Taskbar’s System Tray on Windows 10, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings on Windows 10.

  2. Click on Personalization.

  3. Click on Taskbar.

  4. Under the “Notification area” section, click the “Turn system icons on or off” option.

    Windows 10 notification area options

  5. Turn on or off the system icons (such as Clock, Volume, Network, etc.) to show or hide them from the System Tray.

    Windows 10 System icons settings

After you complete the steps, the settings will apply, and the System Tray will only show the icons you left enabled.

Turn Windows 10 apps icons on and off from Taskbar

To add or remove system icons from the Taskbar notification area, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings (Windows key + I).

  2. Click on Personalization.

  3. Click on Taskbar.

  4. Under the “Notification area” section, click the “Select which icons appear on the Taskbar” option.

    Windows 10 notification area options

  5. Turn off the toggle switch for the icons you don’t want to see in the notification area. 

    Windows 10 apps and features icons settings

Once you complete the steps, the icons for features and apps you turned off in the Settings app will no longer appear in the Taskbar. If you want to show all icons always, turn on the “Always shows all icons in the notification area” toggle switch.

However, using this method, you’re not removing the icons. Instead, you will be moving them to the overflow menu (up arrowhead). If you want to remove an app icon from the System Tray, you can look into the app settings to turn off the icon from the Taskbar. Usually, you right-click the icon on the notification area and select the corresponding option.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert and founder of (est. 2010). With over 21 years as a technology writer and IT Specialist, Mauro specializes in Windows, software, and cross-platform systems such as Linux, Android, and macOS.

Certifications: Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), VMware Certified Professional (VCP), and CompTIA A+ and Network+.

Mauro is a recognized Microsoft MVP and has also been a long-time contributor to Windows Central.

You can follow him on YouTube, Threads, BlueSky, X (Twitter), LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].