Microsoft has killed the classic Notification Area Icons dialog

The Redmond software giant continues to kill the legacy Control Panel in Windows. This process has started in Windows 8, where Microsoft first introduced the modern PC Settings app. The latter has evolved into the Settings app in Windows 10 and 11. With each iteration, more and more classic Control Panel applets disappear, and become a page of Settings. With Build 25915 (Canary), you cannot open classic Notification Area Icons dialog.

The classic Notification Area Icons applet allows customizing what icons Windows 11 shows in the system tray. You can enable or disable the speaker icon, network, and battery. Also, you can hide some of the third-party apps behind the overflow panel, or make them always visible.

The legacy dialog is extremely useful for those who restore the classic taskbar and Start menu on Windows 11. When you enable the legacy UI in Windows 11, the applet was your primary way to manage tray icons.

But starting in Windows 11 Build 25915, the applet has been removed. So if you are using ExplorerPatcher to customize the OS, you need to find some alternative solution.

Eventually, Microsoft will completely remove the legacy Control Panel and all its options. The Settings app in Windows 11 already includes replacements for most classic options, so only a few left.

Thanks to @PhantomOfEarth

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

One thought on “Microsoft has killed the classic Notification Area Icons dialog”

  1. It looks like something else changed in Aug-08: I can no more have black color for desktop icons font, even I use solid color desktop. Using of high contrast themes still working for now…

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