Policy
Hide the notification area
Microsoft Windows
Policy overview
Key metadata and intent for this policy.
Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows7, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2003, WindowsServer2008, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016, WindowsVista, WindowsXP
This setting affects the notification area (previously called the "system tray") on the taskbar. Description: The notification area is located at the far right end of the task bar and includes the icons for current notifications and the system clock. If this setting is enabled, the user’s entire notification area, including the notification icons, is hidden. The taskbar displays only the Start button, taskbar buttons, custom toolbars (if any), and the system clock. If this setting is disabled or is not configured, the notification area is shown in the user's taskbar. Note: Enabling this setting overrides the "Turn off notification area cleanup" setting, because if the notification area is hidden, there is no need to clean up the icons.
Registry values
How enabled and disabled states update the registry.
| Scope | Registry location | Type | Enabled value | Disabled value | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User | Path Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer Value name NoTrayItemsDisplay | REG_DWORD | HKCU 1 | HKCU 0 |
Policy elements
Inputs and configuration options exposed by this policy.
This policy has no additional user input fields.