How to access classic notification area (tray icon) options in Windows 10

In Windows 10, many classic Control Panel options were moved to the Settings app. Many readers are asking me constantly if it is possible to have the good old tray icons (notification area) interface from the classic Control Panel. By default, Windows 10 makes you use the Settings app to show or hide app icons from the tray or to customize system icons. If you are interested in using the classic tray icon options in Windows 10, here is what you can do.

In Windows 10, once you click the Customize button in the Taskbar properties, it opens the Settings app at the appropriate page:

On the right side, you will find links to customize icons and select which system icons should be visible in the system tray (notification area).

However, if you want to use the old user interface from Windows 8 and Windows 7 for the same purpose, you need to do the following.

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type the following in the Run box:

   shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}

   

3. Once you press the Enter key, the good old classic interface will appear:

At the moment of this writing, this trick works as expected in the latest Windows 10 build 10240. There is no guarantee that it will be available later as Microsoft wants to kill the classic Control Panel and replace it entirely with the Settings app.

Tip: For faster access to the old dialog, you can create a shortcut on the Desktop and pin it to the Start menu or to the taskbar. Right click on Desktop and select New - Shortcut. Use the following command as the shortcut target:

explorer.exe shell:::{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}

Name it as "Notification Area Icons" and pick the approprtiate icon from the following file:

C:\Windows\System32\taskbarcpl.dll

Finally, right click the shortcut you created and pin it to the Start menu or to taskbar.

You are done.

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