TrayIconGuard

Keep every notification-area (system tray) icon visible on Windows 10/11 — and keep it that way. One native executable (~1 MB), zero dependencies, zero telemetry.

Download the latest release Knowledge base (wiki) Source code

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The problem it solves

Windows remembers tray-icon visibility per icon and forgets it constantly: every time an application (re)registers its notification icon, Explorer recreates HKCU\Control Panel\NotifyIconSettings\{id} with IsPromoted = 0 — and the icon drops back into the ^ overflow flyout. One-shot .reg tweaks decay within hours.

TrayIconGuard writes the same store the Windows Settings toggle uses, then keeps a RegNotifyChangeKeyValue watcher on it: as soon as Explorer hides a promoted icon, the guard restores it (typically well under a second). Per user, no admin rights, no telemetry.

Install in three steps

1. Download TrayIconGuard.exe (or the zip with docs and installer helpers) from the latest release.
2. Right-click the exe → Properties → Unblock (Mark-of-the-Web) → OK.
3. Run it. The first-run wizard asks for the install scope — Only for me (no UAC), For all users (one UAC prompt) — or pick just run once for portable use.

Verify your download: Get-FileHash .\TrayIconGuard.exe -Algorithm SHA256 and compare it with the sha256 field of update/stable.json.

Highlights

• Event-driven guard — RegNotifyChangeKeyValue + debounce, optional polling, pause/resume
• Visibility modes — Full, Custom (your per-icon choices), Compact (only TrayIconGuard)
• Per-icon control — promote/hide/exclude, wildcard exclusions, drag-reorder
• Modern Fluent UI — Light/Dark/System themes, accent colours, Per-Monitor-V2 DPI, keyboard-first
• Headless too — --watch, --status --json, --promote-all, stable exit codes 0/1/2/3
• Self-updating — SHA-256-pinned feed in this repository; CI pins the feed from the released bytes
• Safe by construction — HKCU only, standard user, snapshots before destructive operations
• 30 languages with per-string English fallback and OS-language auto-detect

Command line at a glance

TrayIconGuard.exe                     # tray-resident GUI
TrayIconGuard.exe --minimized         # start hidden in the tray
TrayIconGuard.exe --promote-all       # fix everything now, then exit
TrayIconGuard.exe --watch             # headless guard (Task Scheduler / GPO logon script)
TrayIconGuard.exe --status --json     # machine-readable state for RMM/monitoring
TrayIconGuard.exe --check-update      # ask the feed whether a newer version exists
TrayIconGuard.exe --uninstall         # remove shortcuts, autostart and the installed copy

Full list: Command-Line Interface · exit codes · --install-machine for elevated fleet installs.

Documentation

Guide	What’s inside
Getting Started	first run, the wizard, portable vs installed
How Tray Visibility Works	the registry mechanics, the decay problem, the do-not-touch list
The Guard Watcher	event-driven re-promotion, debounce, polling fallback
GUI Pages Guide	every page of the app
Command-Line Interface	all flags, exit codes, automation recipes
Configuration Reference	settings.json and registry values, in full
Self-Updater Guide	the feed contract, SHA-256 pinning, verification
Security and Privacy	what the program touches, threat model
Installation and Deployment	per-user and machine scope, Task Scheduler, RMM
Troubleshooting	the failures we have actually seen and their fixes
Comparison with Alternatives	TrayIconGuard vs registry scripts, StartAllBack, ExplorerPatcher, Windhawk
Building from Source	mingw-w64 cross-build and native MSVC
Localization and Themes	30 locales, adding a language, theming
Architecture	module map, threading model, IPC
Changelog and Versioning	release history and the publication contract
Roadmap and Ideas	what is planned next
FAQ · Glossary	quick answers and vocabulary

Security & privacy

• Registry: per-icon visibility under HKCU\Control Panel\NotifyIconSettings; machine scope only through the explicit, UAC-elevated --install-machine path.
• Network: the update feed and the release asset it points to — HTTPS only, the binary is verified against the feed’s SHA-256 before it is applied.
• No telemetry, no auto-install. The automatic update check is opt-in, at most once per 24 h, and only shows a balloon notification.

Reporting a vulnerability: see SECURITY.md.

License

PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0 — free for noncommercial use; commercial licensing: contact the author.

Mikhail Deynekin · icons@Deynekin.com · Deynekin.com · GitHub

_{TrayIconGuard is not affiliated with Microsoft. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.}