Windows 7 - System Icons - Enable or Disable

**Brink**

How to Enable or Disable Windows 7 Notification System Icons

Information

This will show you how to enable or disable the Notification Area System Icons for all user accounts on the computer. These are the Clock, Volume, Network, Action Center, and Power (battery) icons in the bottom right corner of the taskbar.

Note

When disabled, these icons are grayed out in System Icons and will no longer appear at the Notification Area.

When enabled, these icons can be turned on and off at will in System Icons and will appear in the Notification Area if turned on.

Tip

Check to make sure that the system icon is turned on.
Check to make sure that the system icon is not hidden.
Make sure that the drivers and devices that are for the system icons are installed and working properly. They will not work if the device or driver does not.
Sometimes to simply log off and log on, or restart the computer, will enable the missing notification icons again. You should try this first.
Sometimes resetting the Notification Icons will clear the problem.
Sometimes on a laptop, you can shutdown the laptop and remove the battery pack, reconnect it, and power the laptop back up to get the Power (battery) icon back or ungrayed.

EXAMPLE: System Icons
NOTE: When disabled, the system icons will be grayed out and cannot be turned on and off by all users on the computer.

OPTION ONE

Through Local Group Policy Editor

1. Open the all users, specific users or groups, or all users except administrators Local Group Policy Editor for how you want this policy applied.

2. In the left pane, click on an expand User Configuration, Administrative Templates, and Start Menu and Taskbar. (See screenshot below)

3. For the Clock Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove Clock from the system notification area and click on Edit. (See screenshot above)
A) To Disable the Clock Icon - Select (dot) Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

B) To Enable the Clock Icon - Select (dot) Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

4. For the Volume Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove the volume control icon and click on Edit. (See screenshot below step 2)
A) To Disable the Volume Icon - Select (dot) Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

B) To Enable the Volume Icon - Select (dot) Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

5. For the Network Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove the networking icon and click on Edit. (See screenshot below step 2)
NOTE: To make sure that this icon works properly you should also have the Network Connections, Network List Service, Network Location Awareness, and Network Store Interface Service Services set to Started and Automatic.
A) To Disable the Network Icon - Select (dot) Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

B) To Enable the Netwok Icon - Select (dot) Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

6. For the Power (battery) Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove the battery meter and click on Edit. (See screenshot below step 2)
NOTE: This will remain grayed out, even when enabled, unless your computer is a laptop or has a UPS battery backup connected to it.
A) To Disable the Power Icon - Select (dot) Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

B) To Enable the Power Icon - Select (dot) Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

7. For the Action Center Icon - In the right pane, right click on Remove the Action Center icon and click on Edit. (See screenshot below step 2)
A) To Disable the Action Center Icon - Select (dot) Enabled and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

B) To Enable the Action Center Icon - Select (dot) Disabled or Not Configured and click on OK. (See screenshot below step 8)

8. When done, close the Local Group Policy Editor.

9. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to fully apply.

OPTION TWO

Using a REG File Download

1. To Enable the Action Center Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Enable_Action_Center_Notification_Icon.reg

2. To Disable the Action Center Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Disable_Action_Center_Notification_Icon.reg

3. To Enable the Clock Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Enable_Clock_Notification_Icon.reg

4. To Disable the Clock Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Disable_Clock_Notification_Icon.reg

5. To Enable the Network Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Enable_Network_Notification_Icon.reg

6. To Disable the Network Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Enable_Network_Notification_Icon.reg

7. To Enable the Power (battery) Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Enable_Power_Notification_Icon.reg

8. To Disable the Power (battery) Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Disable_Clock_Notification_Icon.reg

9. To Enable the Volume Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Enable_Volume_Notification_Icon.reg

10. To Disable the Volume Icon
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Disable_Volume_Notification_Icon.reg

11. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.

12. Right click on the downloaded .reg file and click on Merge.

13. Click on Run, Yes, Yes, and OK when prompted.

14. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to fully apply.

15. When done, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

holandrand · 12-21-2011

I have Windows 7 Home - all my system icon on/off buttons have been grayed out except for the clock. Weird thing is - ever since the icons disappeared from my taskbar I can only connect to my home wireless network. I cannot connect to public networks that I previously could.
I have tried system restores, virus checks (nothing found) Microsoft fix it download, and manually fixing it per their directions. I saw you said this tutorial will not work for Windows 7 Home - could you direct me to a tutorial for my OS?
Thanks! Hollie

**Brink** · 12-21-2011

Hello Hollie, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Only OPTION ONE will not work in Home Premium since Home Premium doesn't include the "Local Group Policy Editor" feature.

However, you will be able to use OPTION TWO to hopefully enable the grayed out system icons instead.

holandrand · 12-21-2011

Thanks for the quick reply; unfortunatley I forgot to mention that Option 2 was another thing I'd already tried. I did try it again, saving the downloads to the desktop, opening/running them, and restarting my computer. All to no avail. I slightly suspect a virus, except for the fact that my 2 virus scanners have found nothing.

**Brink** · 12-21-2011

Hollie,

Could you post a screenshot of this window to see if anything may standout as a cause.

holandrand · 12-21-2011

Here you go. When I click "restore default icon behaviors" nothing happens.

**Brink** · 12-21-2011

Hmm, do you have all the drivers for these devices installed?

Do you have a older restore point dated before this started to use?

holandrand · 12-21-2011

Yes, I've tried restoring it back to a little over a week before I noticed the problem. I must've had the drivers at one time, but I wouldn't know how to find out if I still have them.

I just found the drivers, and they're all working properly. I updated my wireless card driver and restarted my computer, but nothing has changed :0(

**Attendant** · 12-26-2011

Hey there. After running the "enable" registry files above for each of the icons I had to run "gpupdate /force" from an elevated command prompt:

1. Click the Start button.

2. Type CMD in the "Search Programs and Files" box at the bottom of the Start menu and press ctl+shift+enter at the same time. Answer "Yes" when it asks.

3. In the black window that opens type "gpupdate /force" and press enter. This will give you:
"User Policy Refresh Complete"
and
"Computer Policy Refresh Complete"

you may or may not have to restart for it to take affect.

Since you've done a System Restore, I recommend re-running the reg files to enable the icons and then perform the actions I have suggested.

Hope this helps,

Mike

**Brink** · 12-27-2011

Hello Mike, and welcome to Seven Forums.

That command will only update/refresh group policy for the REG files, restarting the computer or logging off and on at step 14 in the tutorial will update group policy from what the REG files set though.

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