If you are a minimalist or someone who likes to keep the desktop and taskbar clean, the first and foremost thing you would do is remove all the unnecessary icons. Now, you can easily remove non-system icons from the taskbar system tray. However, what if you want to remove the system icons like the volume, network, notifications, and the show desktop button? Well, in that case, you need to follow this tutorial. For example, I use EarTrumpet for volume control, so I hid the default volume icon in my system tray.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you the simplest way to hide system icons in the taskbar system tray on Windows 11. Let’s get started!
Before You Start
- You need administrator rights to follow the steps.
- To remove system icons from the taskbar system tray, you must install a free, open-source app called Windhawk.
Hide System Tray Icons on the Taskbar on Windows 11
- Get Windhawk from this page.
- Double-click the installer and install Windhawk.
- Press the Start button.
- Search and open Windhawk in the Start menu.
- Click the “Explore” button at the top.
- Search for “taskbar tray system icon“.
- Click the “Details” button under “Taskbar tray system icon tweaks”.
- Click the “Install” button.
- Select the “Accept Risk and Install” option.
- Go to the “Settings” tab.
- Turn ON the icon toggles you want to hide in the system tray.
- Click the “Save settings” button.
- With that, the system icons are hidden/removed in the system tray.
- Close the Windhawk application.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, go to the GitHub page and download the Windhawk installer file. After downloading, double-click the installer file. Next, select the “Standard Installation” option, click “Next“, and follow the on-screen instructions to install Windhawk.
Once the program is installed, open the Start menu, search for “Windhawk” and click the “Open” option. This will open the Windhawk application.
Once it opens, click the “Explore” button at the top. Next, search for “taskbar tray system icon” and click the “Details” button under the “Taskbar tray system icon tweaks“.
Click the “Install” button.
At this point, Windhawk will show a warning message. Click the “Accept Risk and Install” button to install the mod.
Once the mod is installed, go to the “Settings” tab.
Now, turn ON the icon toggles you want to hide. In my case, I’m hiding all the system icons. You can remove the show desktop button on the taskbar via Settings.
For the notification icon, either select “Always” or “When there are no new notifications” option. In my case, I’m selecting the second one as that gives me the best of both worlds.
That is all. The changes appear instantly. You can safely close the Windhawk application.
Wrapping Up — Removing or Hiding System Icons on the Taskbar System Tray
As you can see, while Windows 11 has no built-in options to hide the system icons on the tray, you can use Windhawk to get it done. All you have to do is install the mod and configure it as needed. In fact, you can use the same application to change the taskbar position to the top on Windows 11.
If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.
