notification-areataskbarwindowswindows 10
I am trying to find a way to minimize an app into the system tray instead of it taking up space on the taskbar.
Back in the day, there was PowerMenu app which added Minimize to Tray to menu items right next to Move/Size/Minimize/Maximize. Unfortunately that doesn't work with Windows 10 anymore.
I've also tried RBTray which appears to only work with explorer windows.
Is there a way to minimize applications to the system tray?
First make sure that your taskbar is not locked.
Now you can drag the top of the taskbar to resize it.
This will increase the number of row used by the System Tray icons.
Before:
After:
Note:
I discovered the solution by trial and error / accident.
Google-fu suggested that this registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
was related to numerous Tray related problems so I looked there and found a REG_DWORD entry labelled:
NoAutoTrayNotify
which was set to 1. I changed it to 0 and restarted Explorer et voila my system tray starts working again. I've no idea how this got set in the first place, but I'm happy now anyway.
This link tells us "This setting determines whether the items are always expanded or always collapsed." which sort of suggests it should be controlled by the Win10 option "Always show all icons in the notification area", but toggling that option had no effect for me - even with Explorer restarts.
Best Answer
The app RBtray works well for explorer windows. It does not work with the Whatsapp Desktop version. After installing, it allows you to minimize almost any window to the taskbar instead of the system tray.