How to Disable/Turn Off the Notification Area in Windows Taskbar

How to Disable/Turn Off the Notification Area (System Tray) in Windows Taskbar

It is much easier than you think to disable and turn off the notification area (system tray) to hide icons in Windows 10/8/7 taskbar.

Most programs put an icon in the system tray or notification area, located at the far right end of the taskbar, for quick and easy access. However, for some people this is not useful and they would rather free up that bottom-right space. It is possible to turn off and disable the system tray and notification area with a simple registry hack.

Method 1: Registry Editor

1. Click the Start button.
2. In Windows XP, click Run and type regedit, then press Enter. In Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10, type regedit into the Start Search and press Enter.
3. Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
4. Right-click on Explorer, then select New → DWORD (32-bit) Value. Type NoTrayItemsDisplay as the value name.
   (Skip this step if NoTrayItemsDisplay already exists.)
5. Double-click on NoTrayItemsDisplay and set the value data to 1.
6. Log off and log on again, restart Explorer, or restart the computer to apply the change.

To revert: delete the NoTrayItemsDisplay registry key, or change its value data back to 0.

Method 2: Local Group Policy Editor (Windows Pro and above)

1. Run Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).
2. In the left pane, navigate to User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Start Menu and Taskbar.
3. In the right pane, double-click Hide the notification area.
4. Set the radio button to Enabled.
5. Log off and log on again, or restart the computer to apply the change.

Once set, all program, system, and application icons will be hidden. The applications are still running as usual — only the icons are hidden. The clock will remain visible.