The Notification Area (System Tray)

The Notification area (also known as the System Tray) contains shortcuts to programs which run in the background (i.e. programs which are started automatically by your computer to provide essential functions like anti-virus checking), and to important status information (such as remaining battery power on a laptop).

Clicking on one of the icons usually opens the program (in a few cases, it might bring up a menu which contains an option for opening the program). So, for example, if you want to adjust the volume, clicking on the speaker icon opens the volume control window.

Shows how to adjust the volume.

How to Show Inactive Icons

Generally, inactive icons are hidden, and can be shown by clicking the arrow symbol at the left-hand side of the area.

Shows how to show inactive icons in the Notification area.

How to Show Program Options

Right-clicking on any of the icons brings up a menu with other options for that program. The contents of the menu depend entirely on the particular program which has been selected.

Shows how to display program options in the Notification area.

How to Remove Icons from the Notification Area

Generally, you don't need to do this. However, when you install new programs, they often add their own icon here. If you do want to remove remove them, open the menu options as described above, and look for an option named "Exit" or "Quit" (in the example above, this option was named "Exit Quickstarter").

If no such menu option exists, or if you remove it but it reinstates itself the next time you log on, then the only way to get rid of it is to uninstall the program, which we'll cover in a later section. Be aware though that this removes the program entirely from your computer, not just the icon from the Notification area.

<-- Previous Page

Open Programs

Next Page -->

Customizing the Taskbar