Skip to main content

Remove past/current items that have been run in your systray

Posted September 2003 by Steve Sinchak

You can see which previous items that have been run or are currently running on your system tray by clicking on Start >> Settings >> Taskbar and Start Menu, tick the box that says "Hide inactive icons" then click "customize". There you will see a list of Current and Past items. If you would like to remove the past items then follow these steps:

  1. Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to the FAQ on how to get started.

  2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\TrayNotify

  3. Delete the keys PastIconsStream and IconStreams

  4. Exit regedit and restart Explorer.

5. To end explorer right clicking anywhere on the systemtray and choosing "Task Manager". Click on the "Processes" tab and find Explorer.exe. Click the End Process button. Your whole systemtray should dissappear.

  1. To restart Exporer, while still in Task Manager, go to the "applications" tab and choose the "New Task..." button. Simply type Explorer.exe and click OK.

Related Posts


If you own a Google Chromecast streaming device, you can easily share a browser tab in Chrome browser or even your entire desktop.  This can be very useful when presenting from your laptop or if you just want to watch something on a big screen that is only on your PC.  The only requirement is you must be on the same network as your Chromecast...

Read More

If you are a fan of minimalist desktop experiences, hiding the desktop icons are an easy way to clean up the Windows interface.  Instead of saving everything to your desktop, use the default profile folders such as downloads and documents.  Actually hiding all the icons on your desktop is a very simple customization hidden in the right-click context menu.  Just right-click on the desktop, select View...

Read More

Google security researchers have published details about a major security flaw found in the SSL protocol that is used to encrypt data transferred between your browser and a web server. SSL is typically used in situations where logon credentials are validated...

Read More

Enabling two-factor authentication is a great way to add an additional level of protection to your Microsoft account.  Even if your password is stolen, your account is still protected because two-factor authetication requires an additional level of verification to log in. Microsoft calls their version of two-factor authentication "two-step verification" and it works by providing you with a random code...

Read More