In Windows 11 22H2, you can disable all app icons in the notification area.

Every time Microsoft releases a new version of Windows 11, it publishes an extensive changelog detailing new features, changes, fixes, and known issues. Sometimes new updates contain undocumented features and experimental features that Windows Insiders discover on their own. The ability to disable all app icons in the notification area is one such change that is raising eyebrows.

Windows 10 and 11 allow users to show or hide application icons in the lower right corner of the screen. If you have less free space, you can remove apps from the notification area or keep all icons on the taskbar for more convenience. Alternatively, Windows Settings lets you choose which apps are always located next to the clock and which are hidden in an "overflow" menu behind a button with an up-arrow icon.

Windows 11 22H2, an upcoming feature update for Microsoft's latest operating system, apparently has a third option: disabling all icons in the notification area and removing the overflow menu. You can find the new toggle in Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Other System Tray Icons . Turn off the "Hide Icon Menu" option to remove all apps from the notification area. Disabling the icon menu leaves only the default indicators: clock, volume, battery, network connection and input language.

Some may take it for granted that disabling icons in the notification area would worsen the user experience by removing options like Safe Eject Media or the OneDrive status indicator. Additionally, you won't be able to close some apps if they don't appear in the lower right corner of the screen, for example. However, you can remove all unnecessary icons and leave the icons you need most. In short, the new feature lets you make your taskbar cleaner without the need for an extra expandable menu. It's also a neat alternative to fix bugs where the system brings back icons that were previously hidden from the taskbar.

It seems that Microsoft introduced the option to hide the icon menu during the development of Windows 11 22H2. The initial version of Windows 11 doesn't have such a feature, and the release notes for development builds don't mention it. What Microsoft has mentioned is that the company has no plans to bring back the option of moving the taskbar. According to Windows engineers, this is not an important feature, although it is the top-rated request in the Feedback Hub.

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