Notification Area Icons - Reset

How to Reset the Notification Area Icons Cache in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8​

   Information

The notification area is a part of the taskbar that provides a temporary source for notifications and status. It can also be used to display icons for system and program features that are not on the desktop.

This will show you how reset the Notification Area Icons cache to fix any corrupted icons and remove any old icons of uninstalled programs from the Notification area Icons hide or show settings for your account in Windows 7/8 and Vista.

EXAMPLE: Windows 7 and Windows 8 "Notification Area Icons" Before and After Reset




EXAMPLE: Vista "Customize Notification Icons" Before and After Reset





Here's How:

1. Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below.

Reset_Notification_Area_Icons_Cache.bat

Download


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   Note

This .bat (batch) file will confirm with you to kill the explorer.exe process, delete the registry keys IconStreams and PastIconsStream, restart the explorer.exe process, and confirm with you to restart the computer.

2. Save the .bat file to your desktop.

3. Double click/tap on the .bat file to run it, click/tap on Run (if prompted by UAC), and follow the onscreen instructions in the command prompt.
NOTE: If you like, you can stop getting the Run prompt by unblocking the .bat file.

4. This is what you will see if the registry keys IconStreams and PastIconsStream have already been deleted.

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5. This is what you will see if the registry keys IconStreams and PastIconsStream have not already been deleted.

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6. After the computer restarts, the IconStreams and PastIconsStream binary values in the registry will automatically be recreated the next time you make any change to the notification area icons in Windows 7/8 and Vista.


That's it,
Shawn Brink

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Hide or Show System Icons and Notifications in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Turn System Icons On or Off in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Enable or Disable Windows 7 Notification System Icons
• How to Add or Remove the Notification Area from the Taskbar in Windows 7
• How to Change the Action Center Message Settings in Windows 7
• How to Change How Long Windows 7 Notifications Stay Open
• How to Enable or Disable Windows 7 Balloon Notifications
• How to Create a "Notification Area Icons" Shortcut in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Customize the Notification Area Icons in Windows 7
• How to Change How Long a Notification Dialog Box Will Stay Open in Vista
• How to Hide or Show a Notification Icon in Vista
• How to Enable or Disable the Notification Area System Icons in Vista
• How to Show or Hide All Notification Area System Tray Icons in Vista
• How to Enable or Disable Changing "Notification Area Icons" Settings in Windows 7
• How to Reset and Clear All Pinned Items on the Taskbar in Windows 7
• How to Reset and Clear All Taskbar Toolbars in Vista and Windows 7
• Enable or Disable Automatic Promotion of Notification Area Icons to Taskbar in Windows 7 and 8

 

[Brink]

Hello Clair,

Q1) Deleting the registry keys alone will not work. The .bat file also has you restart the computer to apply.

Q2) Yeah, hide is basically just having the icon in the expansion arrow menu instead.

Q3) This will depend on the program developer.

Q4) This also depends on the program developer. Sometimes "Exit" will only remove the icon until the next startup, and sometime for good.

 

[Clairvaux]

Thanks, Brinks. Very clear.

I kept a shortcut to this particular .bat in my Start Menu, just in case it's needed again.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Clair.

 

[Sungsg]

Thanks so much Brink! Worked like a charm!

 

[Brink]

I'm glad it could help Sungsg.

 

[drugo]

hi
does it clean the position of the icons of the system tray?
i have noticed that windows remembers the position of the icon
for example when i load a program windows put the icon of the right corner of the system tray where i have th clock

does it clean where w7 stores these settings?

thanks

 

[Brink]

Hello drugo,

Yes, that will be reset as well, but you can drag them to any order you like again afterwards.

 

[drugo]

Hello drugo,

Yes, that will be reset as well, but you can drag them to any order you like again afterwards.

hi
yes work like a charm!!!
super Brink

 

[Brink]

Great news.

 

[Scoop]

Shawn,

I have a question about your .bat modification and what it does as it relates to my scenario.

I use the hotkey and script program "AutoHotKey" a lot and sometimes I'll have several ahk scripts running in the background that I need to delete (using "Process Explorer", etc) before the scripts complete.

When I delete those script processes, as expected, the "orphaned" icons will remain in my System Tray unless I manually hover the mouse over them. Then they'll disappear from the Tray.

- Does your .bat job remove those orphaned Icons from the Tray?

- Do I need to restart the PC after running the .bat file each time, or can I run the .bat job anytime I need to delete orphaned Icons from the Tray without restarting the PC?

In other words, is a Restart required anytime I'd need to refresh the Tray (remove any orphaned Icons)?

 

[Brink]

Hey Scoop,

Restarting the PC is for recreating the IconStreams and PastIconsStream binary values in the registry.

If simply running the pointer over them is working for you, then it should be fine for only orphaned items in the tray though.

 

[Scoop]

10-4 That got it. Ran your .bat and it cleared the orphaned Icons. I just declined the "restart" prompt in the CMD dialog box.

Thanks & have a great 4th

 

[Brink]

You're welcome. Have a great 4th as well.

 

[kn00tcn]

that I need to delete (using "Process Explorer", etc) before the scripts complete.

When I delete those script processes, as expected, the "orphaned" icons will remain in my System Tray unless I manually hover the mouse over them. Then they'll disappear from the Tray.

- Does your .bat job remove those orphaned Icons from the Tray?

- Do I need to restart the PC after running the .bat file each time, or can I run the .bat job anytime I need to delete orphaned Icons from the Tray without restarting the PC?

In other words, is a Restart required anytime I'd need to refresh the Tray (remove any orphaned Icons)?

why do you need to kill the process rather than sending some sort of quit command to them? (actually i'm not sure how doable that is, the same command that gets sent to open programs during shutdown)

they are orphaned due to the process being killed, not a clean way to exit

i assume they are simply in memory, so i bet restarting explorer.exe (whether that's logging off or rebooting or killing explorer) is all you need instead of totally clearing the cache in reg

 

[f23948]

does it work in windows 8.1 with spring update?

 

[Brink]

does it work in windows 8.1 with spring update?

Hello f23948,

Yes, it still works.

 

[f23948]

thank you Brink

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome.

 

[Mister X]

Does it work on Win 8.1 too?

 

[Brink]

Hello Mister X, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Yep, it will still work in Windows 8.1 as well.