How to show all system tray icons on Windows 10

The system tray is a little section on the Taskbar where system icons such as the speaker, network, and action center icons appear. Of course since it’s Windows 10, Microsoft doesn’t keep this space to itself. Any app that wants to can add an icon to the system tray and you can access said app from this icon. Sometimes apps run entirely in the system tray, and other times, their icons are merely indicators that show they are running.

Since the system tray is supposed to be a small section of the taskbar, it stands to reason that not everything can fit there. It’s limited in size and all icons that can’t fit there are sent to the overflow menu. You can drag an icon out of it and have it show permanently on the system tray if you want but the default behavior is to send the new/extra icons into the overflow menu. If you want to change this default behavior and show all system tray icons, you can by changing one little setting.

Show all system tray icons

Open the Settings app and go to the Personlization group of settings. Select the Taskbar tab and scroll to the Notification area section.

Under this section, click the ‘Select which icons appear on the taskbar’ option.

The next screen will show you a list of apps that can/have added icons to the system tray. At the very top of this list is a switch called ‘Always show all icons in the notification area’. Turn it On, and the system tray will automatically expand to show you every single app icon, including the ones in the overflow menu.

This change will also effect new apps that are installed. So any new apps that want to run in the system tray or that want to add an icon to it, will automatically be added next to the other icons. There will be no overflow menu.

This does have its downside; you get less space for app icons on the taskbar. For some apps, such as those that show CPU temperature or RAM usage, having the icon visible all the time is necessary. For others, it isn’t. You can trim this list by hiding unnecessary icons from the system tray altogether. In the list of apps, turn the switch off next to an app that you don’t want in the system tray. All your icons will still be present but the ones you don’t need will not be hidden in the overflow menu.

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Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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