How to Show Num Lock & Caps Lock Indicator on Taskbar (11 & 10)

Learn how to add and show Num Lock and Caps Lock status indicators on your taskbar in Windows 11 and Windows 10.

Generally, most keyboards will have indicator lights for special toggle keys, such as the Num Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock. When you toggle the key, the indicator light either turns on or off. The indicator light lets you know the status of the key at a quick glance. However, what if your keyboard or laptop doesn’t have these built-in indicators? Without these indicators, you won’t know the current state of the toggle keys, which in turn leads to small but annoying issues. For example, you might accidentally toggle on the Caps Lock key and start typing in all capital letters.

Thankfully, on Windows 11 & 10, you can show status indicators for Num Lock and Caps Lock on the taskbar. While there is no built-in option, we can use a simple software called TrayStatus to display the current state of any toggle key, such as the Num Lock and Caps Lock.

In this quick and easy guide, I’ll show you the steps to add and show Num Lock and Caps Lock status indicators on the taskbar system tray in Windows 11 and Windows 10. Let’s get started.

Before You Start

• We will use a third-party software to display Num Lock and Caps Lock status indicators on the taskbar.
• Administrator rights are required to install the software.

Steps to Display Num Lock and Caps Lock Status Indicator on the Taskbar

1. Get the TrayStatus app from this page.
2. Double-click the downloaded installer file and install TrayStatus.
3. After installing, open the Start menu by pressing the “Windows” key.
4. Search for “TrayStatus” and click “Open“.
5. Go to the “Status Indicators” tab on the left sidebar.
6. Select the “Show Caps Lock Status” checkbox.
7. Select the “Show Num Lock Status” checkbox.
8. Click the “OK” button.
9. From now on, you will see status indicators for Caps Lock and Num Lock on your taskbar.

Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)

The first step is to download the TrayStatus software. To do that, go to this page and click the download link. After downloading, double-click the installer file and follow the installation wizard to install TrayStatus.

Note: For our use case, the free version of TrayStatus is enough. You don’t have to purchase the paid version.

Note: When installing TrayStatus, select the “Use Trial Version” option from the “License Key Options” prompt. Additionally, ensure the “Launch at Windows startup” checkbox is selected.

After installing the app, open the Start menu by pressing the “Windows” key. Next, search for “TrayStatus” and click the “Open” option. This action launches the TrayStatus app.

Once the TrayStatus app opens, go to the “Status Indicators” tab on the sidebar and then select the following checkboxes under the “Default Indicators” section on the right page.

• Show Caps Lock Status
• Show Num Lock Status

Note: If you haven’t selected the “Start with Windows” option while installing the app, go to the “Options” tab on the left sidebar and then select the “Start with Windows” checkbox.

Click the “OK” button to save the changes.

That is it. From now on, the status indicators for Num Lock and Caps Lock will be displayed in the system tray of the Taskbar. If the num lock and/or caps lock is turned on, you will see filled-in taskbar status indicators.

If the lock keys are turned off, you will see outlined status indicators.

Note: By default, the status indicators might be hidden in the overflow menu. To always display them, open the overflow menu by clicking the “Up” arrow icon on the taskbar system tray and then drag the icons next to the icons on the system tray.

If you have any questions or need help, comment below. I’ll be happy to assist.

Good to know: How to disable the Caps Lock key on Windows.