Tray Control

The Windows system tray works to provide easy access to a series of running programs. Some apps choose to offer systray functionality as a quick way to access certain features, but too many such programs can make for a cluttered system tray, which is undesirable.

In that case, the only option would be to close the respective software to free up your system tray. That may well be out of the question for some workflows, which is why Tray Control might be of use. It enables you to hide certain application icons from your system tray, so that everything can look neat and tidy.

A solution such as this one can prove to be worthwhile if you're more particular about your system tray. The program itself is easy to work with, taking a what you see is what you get approach with everything. The main interface gets to the point by displaying the programs currently present in your systray, which you can hide by simply checking the box next to their icon.

The change is near instantaneous, and any hidden icons will stay hidden. There's also a TaskBar section, where users can hide certain running programs from the taskbar. It should be noted that it will also hide them from your view — much like minimizing them.

Users are able to change an app's icon, as well as view some information about the respective software by double-clicking it from the program's interface.

The program behaved a little erratically at times. Pressing the Hide all or Autohide buttons would randomly change the interface language to Russian, which persisted even after restarting the program.

Another problem is related to how slow the program is to update. For instance, if you opened any programs after launching this one, and later wished to hide them from your taskbar, you'd have to restart TrayControl for it to recognize them. If the programs had been running prior to opening TrayControl, they would be recognized without a problem, however.

TrayControl is a program that might be worth a try if you're looking to have more control over your systray, but even so, the general instability of the program might make it hard to cooperate with it.