Windows: Remove icons from the notification area (taskbar). How to disable unnecessary icons in the Windows 7 Control Panel How to remove Control Panel icons

Those who have already become acquainted with the voice assistant from Yandex, Alisa, noted her sharp mind and pronounced character, which is not typical for a computer program. Users also noticed that when installing the application on their computer, the assistant block occupies most of the taskbar. And this is very inconvenient. For example, many people have icons of their most used programs near the Start icon. But when Alice.Yandex is installed on the computer, then on the taskbar, moving all the icons to the right, a window with quick access to the program is placed. Because of this, there is often a need to remove Alice.Yandex from the quick access panel.

Is it possible to move Alice from the taskbar?

Fortunately, Alice's developers made sure that the wide program block in the taskbar can be customized, so you won't need to move anything. In the settings you can configure 3 types of assistant in the taskbar. To choose a more compact one:


Although the assistant icon is small, there is no way to move it to another position. It installs first from the Start menu icon, all other icons follow it. If you are not happy with the placement of Alice.Yandex on your taskbar, there is no way to remove it and still have it continue to work. The only way out of this situation is to remove the assistant.

How to remove assistant Alice from your computer


In some cases, after uninstalling an application, unnecessary Remote Assistance files and folders remain on your hard drive. They must also be removed, because they take up space and can even cause errors in the system.

  1. Use any program to remove hidden folders and files, and also clean the Windows registry.
  2. You can use the built-in cleanmgr utility for these purposes.
  3. To do this, press WIN+R and enter the command “cleanmgr” in the window that appears.
  4. A window will appear where you need to select one of the logical drives into which your hard drive is divided. He may be alone. In this case, just click "Ok".

Setting up the Alice.Yandex application

For those who have just installed the Yandex program and do not yet know how to use it and how to configure it, it is necessary to describe the main functions. In the open assistant window, there are four tabs at the top left.


By clicking on the gear image below, the settings window will open. Here you can also configure some assistant-related features.

  • In settings you can configure voice activation. It can be disabled so that you can call Alice just by clicking on the icon.
  • Here in the settings you can turn off voice responses. This can be useful in some situations. For example, when your family has already gone to bed in the apartment or there are small children in the house. And if you wake them up, you'll get screwed.
  • You can configure hotkeys for calling the window with Alice, the default is CTRL+~, can be replaced with WIN+~.
  • , which will be used to open Assistant responses if you have several of them on your computer.
  • Here you can change the appearance of the Alice window on the taskbar.

When your desktop is cluttered with a bunch of unnecessary shortcuts and icons, it becomes difficult to find what you really need. Therefore, it is better to keep your desk clean. In addition, often when you need to take a screenshot of your desktop, icons get in the way. But how can you clean your cluttered desktop? To make the screen cleaner, let's get rid of unnecessary unnecessary icons.

Of course, you can simply drag all unnecessary shortcuts to the Trash, but there are two problems with this:

  1. What if we need shortcuts, but we just want to hide them temporarily?
  2. What if there are too many shortcuts, dragging one at a time is inconvenient, and if you delete them all together, you might hit something you need.

In such a situation, you need to act in the following way:


If you need to return everything to the way it was, you just need to perform the same operation, check the corresponding box and all the icons will appear again.

In this simple way we can remove and return icons from the desktop whenever we want.

Note! In the “View” tab, there are several more functional items that can be used to give your desktop a more presentable look. For example, it is possible to organize icons, sort them by name, size, creation date, and so on.

Video - How to remove shortcuts from the desktop

How to remove the Trash icon

Thus, absolutely all desktop icons are hidden, even the Recycle Bin. But what if you needed to hide only the “Trash” and not absolutely all the icons? For many users, the “Trash” is an unnecessary element, because you can always delete a file bypassing the “Trash” using the “Shift+Del” keyboard shortcuts. And the icon on the desktop becomes a nuisance and takes up extra space. So how do you remove it? Here the operation is a little more complicated.


All. After completing these simple steps, the “Trash” will no longer be a constant eyesore. By the way, if you wish, in the same menu you can add other functional icons to the desktop. For example, “This PC” or “Control Panel,” which became difficult for many to find with the release of Windows 10.

Find out more detailed information, as well as consider detailed actions, in a new article on our portal.

How to hide the HomeGroup icon

Another annoying icon that sometimes appears at certain stages of installing new versions of Windows is “HomeGroup”. It cannot be deleted by any standard methods (drag it to the Trash). We'll have to use a more cunning method.


Yes, this is much more complicated than with the same “Trash”, but this is the only effective and reliable way to get rid of the “HomeGroup” icon. After performing this operation, simply press “F5” on the desktop and the icon will disappear. However, the next time the operating system is updated, it may appear again. Then the operation will need to be performed again.

Note! You should delete the “Home Group” very carefully, since this involves working with the registry. If you accidentally delete the wrong line, your system may crash. So, use this method only if you know that you have saved .

How to remove shortcuts from the taskbar

There are also annoying extra icons on the taskbar. Often, some programs arbitrarily add their icons to the panel in order to constantly loom in front of the user’s nose. But they can also be removed and this is done quite easily.

  1. Use the function key to click on an empty space on the taskbar and go to “Properties”.

  2. In the window that appears, you need to go to the “Taskbar” section, then find the “Customize” button and click on it.
  3. You will see a screen that lists absolutely all the icons displayed on the taskbar. Of course, some of them are needed for comfortable work, but many can simply be removed so that they do not get in the way.

  4. The display of icons is adjusted in three positions, depending on whether you want the icon to be displayed, not displayed, or displayed only when you receive notifications from the program.
  5. After you have placed the position you want next to each icon, click “OK”.

Note! It is better not to remove all icons from the taskbar and not even turn off notifications. Know well which ones you need and which ones you don't. For example, it is better not to disable antivirus notifications.

How to remove the shield icon

Very often, users notice that a shield icon appears next to shortcuts and it is unclear where it came from and how to remove it. No complicated machinations are required here. If this icon really bothers you that much, removing it won't be difficult.

The fact is that this icon means that you received the program from an unreliable source. And such files (in theory) can only be launched by the “Administrator”. Therefore, in order for the shield icon to disappear, you need to obtain “Administrator” rights in your operating system once and for all.

This is done as follows:


Now, when you turn on the computer, along with other users, you will be able to select “Administrator”. By logging in through this account, you will have access to all “Administrator” rights and the shield icons will disappear from the shortcuts.

It is worth keeping in mind that you are logging in as a new user, so the desktop will be completely empty.

How to change the shortcut icon

Often users want to change the shortcut icon to some picture to make it look more beautiful. This is quite possible to do, the main thing is to find a suitable picture and then not get confused in the labels. You don’t even need any additional programs; everything is already provided in the operating system.

To change the shortcut icon:


To learn how to change the icon on the shortcut to a picture you like, watch the following video.

Video - How to change the shortcut icon to a picture

Conclusion

As you can see, tidying up your desktop, sorting out icons and shortcuts, and even giving them a more attractive appearance is not at all difficult. Now you can improve the appearance of your desktop whenever you need it.

Installation of additional software, as well as games, etc. follows. After this, more and more icons appear on the Desktop and I personally am annoyed by the fact that arrows are displayed in the lower left corner of these shortcuts and the word “Shortcut” is automatically added.

In order to make your Desktop more beautiful, you can easily disable the display of these arrows and remove the word “Shortcut” by changing the system registry settings.

For those who are not confident in their abilities and are afraid to edit the registry, there are many sites on the Internet that host files with the “.reg” extension. “ , performing the actions I described. After downloading and running the specified files, you will only need to agree to make changes to the system registry.

I will describe and show how to make the necessary changes manually. You must see and know what has been changed and where.

LABEL ARROW

Go to the “Start” button menu, write “regedit” in the search field and left-click on the found executable file regedit.exe.

In the registry editing program window that opens, follow the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - SOFTWARE - Classes - lnkfile

and double-click on the “IsShortcut” parameter on the left side of the editor window. Set the number “0” in the “Value” field and click on “OK”.


Reboot the operating system to apply the changes made. If no changes have occurred and the label arrows remain in place, then move on to the second option. We just completely remove the “IsShortcut” parameter (this option helped me).

The arrows disappeared and began to look like this.

WORD LABEL

Let me immediately note that this change will only affect newly created icons. For all previously created ones, you need to edit all the inscriptions manually. Using the same principle, we go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER - Software - Microsoft - Windows - CurrentVersion - Explorer

and double-click on the “link” parameter.

Replace the number “16” with “00” and click “OK”.

We restart the computer and the newly created icons will be displayed without the word “Shortcut”.

Thank you for your attention, blog reader! For those who want to remove names, the article “” will help. Please share the link to the article with your friends via social networking buttons and leave your comments.

Program shortcuts are indicated by arrows, since the utility executable file itself is not located on the desktop (the shortcut is placed on the desktop for quick access); if you delete it by mistake, the program will not be deleted and the shortcut can be quickly restored.

And if you delete folders or files without arrows, they will be deleted because they are located directly on the desktop.

In general, these arrows indicate referring shortcuts, so it is easier for the user to navigate working with a PC.

Removing arrows from shortcuts using Aero Tweak

AeroTweak is a simple utility that allows you to optimize and speed up Windows. It was developed specifically for Windows 7, but is also well compatible with the new Windows 10. With its help, you can quickly remove arrows on program shortcuts.

You just need to launch the utility, use the tab Windows Explorer and check the box “ Don't show arrows on labels" Take a look at the picture below.

In principle, that’s all, all that remains is to restart the PC. You can download the utility on the developers’ website www.inf.ru.

Removing shortcuts from icons by editing the Windows registry

These two methods are suitable for those who do not like to install and run third-party programs. In this case, you will have to edit the registry manually.

Method No. 1

Open the Execute window using the Win and R keys and specify “ regedit" and press Enter.

In the window that appears, expand the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Click on the section Explorer and create a subsection in it called Shell Icon

Then in it we create “ string parameter" with the digital name 29.

Method No. 2

We also open the registry, in this case we use the branch “ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT».

We expand the tree and look for the Lnkfile folder in it on the left, and look for it on the right side IsShortcut, this parameter is responsible for the arrows on the labels.

Click on this parameter and rename it to IsNotShortcut, save the changes so that it looks like the picture below.

This completes the setup, restart the PC, if everything is done correctly, the arrows on the shortcuts will disappear.

Then we click on the parameter we created and change the string value in it, where in the item of the same name we enter or paste %Windir%\System32\Shell32.dll,-50

Click OK and finish working with the registry. You must restart the system to apply the changes.

Solving the problem using the Vista Shortcut Overlay Manager utility

This program works in Windows 7 and Vista. With its help, arrows are removed from labels and their sizes are changed. Thanks to this utility, you can make your PC desktop more friendly and attractive. Working with it is very simple - select the required item (in our case NoArrow) and click Apply.

Getting rid of black squares instead of shortcut icons

Such problematic situations occur if you have used any Windows tuning program. Less commonly, black squares on labels appear as a result of operating system failures. The root of the problem is icon cache, which contains frequently used information. Changes made by third-party software are recorded in this area, so if you clear it, this problem will disappear.

To solve the problem, you need to use the Windows registry, in which you need to find the corresponding key and correct it. For inexperienced users, this method of eliminating black squares can be difficult and may cause your PC to crash. You can make a mistake and set the wrong parameters in the registry, as a result you will need restore or reinstall operating system.

If you are familiar with your computer, you can make a text file and write the command in it: REGDELETE "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIcons" /ftaskkill/F/I.M.explorer.execd %USERPROFILE%CDappdataCDlocalattrib —hIconCache.dbdelIconCache.db start explorer.exe exit

We change the extension of our file to bat, then you just need to run it, and the problem with black squares on labels will disappear. This method eliminates the need to manually edit the registry. The created file will fix everything on its own and restart the explorer.

Clearing the icon cache using the Icon Cache Cleaner utility

While using Windows, many shortcut icons disappear from the desktop. This problem appears due to icon cache corruption: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\IconCache.db. It contains thumbnails of the shortcuts located on the screen.

With this small and free program you will quickly solve this problem. This utility collects information about all icon cache files in Windows and deletes them.

Download and run the utility (you don’t need to install it on your computer), wait end of scanning program and click delete cache files with thumbnails of icons and other system images.

After a subsequent reboot of the PC, a new cache is created and this problem disappears. To use the program you will need administrator rights. You can download this program from the developers' website.

Resetting parameters on the command line

Launch the run window, specify the cmd command in this window.

In running processes you need to find the line “ Explorer.exe" and forcefully terminate this process.

As a result, everything on the PC monitor will disappear except the “command line” we launched.

In it you need to write or paste the command: del /a %userprofile%/AppData/Local/IconCache.db. Next, we return to the “Task Manager” and select the “File” item, and then “Run a new task” and indicate the process that we completed earlier.

Deleting folders manually

If program shortcuts have disappeared on your computer or they are poorly displayed, then you need to open the path using Explorer: C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Application Data\, delete or move the file to another location on your PC IconCache.db. Then you need to reboot the system.

This is a fairly simple way to solve the problem, but you need to make hidden files and folders of the system visible, just like in the picture below.

Windows 7 Manager utility

You need to open the program, select settings and use the “ System setup" and select the tab " desktop" All steps are shown in the picture below. You can download: https://www.yamicsoft.com/ru/windows7manager/product.html

In general, you can get rid of arrows on labels in various ways; you need to choose the most suitable one. There are both software solutions for ordinary users, and simple system setup for advanced users who try to do everything with their own hands and not install unnecessary software.

These icons indicate the status of certain systems on your computer or provide access to configure settings. The icons vary depending on the programs or services you have installed and your computer manufacturer's settings, but clicking them will not necessarily launch any program. The fact is that many icons in the notification area relate to services, i.e. to programs that run in the background without user interaction. Services typically don't have windows to work with or buttons on the taskbar.

To see the name of any icon, hover your mouse over it. Right-clicking the icon in the notification area will open a pop-up menu with various options. . For example, hovering over the audio volume icon shows the current audio volume level. And when you hover over the network connections icon, information about the presence of a network connection, connection speed and signal strength is displayed.

Double-clicking an icon in the notification area usually opens the program or provides access to configure settings related to it. For example, double-clicking the audio volume icon opens volume controls. Double-clicking the Network Connections icon opens the Network and Sharing Center.

Sometimes the notification area icon will show a small pop-up window (called a notification) to notify you of something.

What are notifications?

Notifications are small pop-up windows that appear in the notification area of ​​the taskbar. They provide various information about the status, progress, and discovery of new devices.

For example, after connecting a new device to your computer, you can see what is shown in the figure.

Click the button Close in the top right corner of the notification to clear it. If you do nothing, the notification will disappear on its own after a few seconds.

To maintain order, Windows hides icons from the notification area when they are not used for a long time. If the icons become hidden, click Show hidden icons to temporarily display them.

The icon for a program in the notification area is not a program. This is essentially just a notification that the program is running. In most cases, you can use this icon to shut down a program or change program-related settings. The most common icons found in the notification area are:

  • Network connection icon. This icon indicates that the computer is connected to a local network or the Internet. You can also use the icon to disconnect from the network.
  • Messenger icon. If you use communication programs such as ICQ or MSN Messenger, the program icon will be in the notification area.
  • Antivirus program icon. If you use an antivirus, the icon for this program is also often located in the notification area.
  • Safely remove hardware icon. If you have a device connected to your computer via a USB port, you can use the corresponding icon in the notification area to safely disconnect the device. This icon will first turn off the device, after which you can disconnect it from the USB port without the risk of damaging the device or losing data recorded on it.

Show all icons in the notification area (system area)

Icons in the notification area that are not used usually do not appear. If you prefer to display all icons (even unused ones), follow these steps.

1. In order to configure the notification area icons of the Windows XP taskbar, you need to right-click on an empty space Taskbars "Properties".

2.In the window that opens, go to the tab "Taskbar" and in Section "Notification area" uncheck the box "Hide unused icons"

Notification area icons will no longer be hidden.

Removing an icon from the notification area

1. Open taskbar and menu properties "Start"( right-click on an empty space Taskbars and select the item in the menu that appears "Properties" - see picture above ). The same action can be performed pressing a button Start, or the key, selecting items Control Panel , and then - Taskbar and Start Menu, but this is in case suddenly the first method does not work

2. In the window that opens, go to the tab "Taskbar" and in Section Notification Area(1) press the button “Customize”(2).

In the new window that opens you will see the entire list of applications whose icons are displayed in Notification areas. You have the opportunity to decide which notification area icons you want and which you don't. Typically, you won't need all the icons in the notification area at once, so it's wise to hide them so that the size of the notification area isn't too large. For each icon, you can select the following options by clicking on the box Behavior to the right of each icon's name.

  • Hide if not active. The icon will only be displayed if the associated program is in use.
  • Always hide. The icon will not appear in the notification area.
  • Always display. The icon will always be visible in the notification area.

An easier way to bring up the same window is as follows: right-click on the clock image and select Configure Notifications. This will open two windows at once, Properties of the taskbar and Start menu and the Notification settings window.

3. To remove icons from Notification areas, select the icon you want to remove, click the drop-down list displayed next to the icon (3), select the command Hide and press the button OK.

Note

If the icon is hidden but you see it again the next time you log into Windows, you may need to uninstall the program to completely remove the icon. Once uninstalled, the program will no longer be present on the computer.

There is also a way completely disable the notification area. After disabling, only the system clock will be displayed in the taskbar. To do this we will have to make some changes to the Windows XP registry.
To run registry editor need to enter the menu Start, select item Execute... and enter the command r in the window that opens egedit and press the button Enter. In the registry editor that opens, look for the key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Here the parameter NoTrayItemsDisplay need to assign a value 1 (dword type).

That's it, now after a reboot the notification area will not be displayed.

Basics of Windows XP: