Remember the days when Windows and a lot of third-party applications used to bombard you with annoying balloon messages in the taskbar? In the majority of instances, these pop-ups did not offer any useful information. For example, Windows XP regularly informs users about downloaded updates that are ready for installation.
In order to turn off these notifications, users must manually edit the Windows registry– a task that is complex and potentially dangerous. Fortunately, Microsoft heard the outcries of its customers and integrated a switch that allows them to easily turn off all of the annoying notifications and hide all of the icons. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to go about doing this in the Windows 7 taskbar:
- First of all, when such notifications pop up, click on the pop up icon.
If this does not appear, click on the arrow in the taskbar and then on “Customize”. - In the next window, you will see a list of all of the applications that display taskbar notifications. To block unwanted notifications, click on “Show icon and notifications”, and select the “Hide icon and notifications” setting. To hide the icon, click on “Only show notifications”.
- Hit “OK” when you’re done. If you select “Turn system icons on or off”, you can select which of the standard Windows 7 taskbar icons (such as the clock, network connections, volume, battery life and Action Center) you want to see.You can also hide certain icons without actually going to this settings dialog. Simply click on an icon, drag it on to the little arrow, and it will disappear. Click on the arrow again to see all of the icons.
Whew! That was easy. With Windows 7, you are finally in control of the notifications and icons that appear in the taskbar.
