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how to remove icon from overflow hidden icon menu thing on system tray in the taskbar

Anonymous
2026-05-22T20:12:08.37+00:00

Windows 11 Pro, 25H2, OS 26200.8457 All updated

On the right hand side of the taskbar. in the system tray area of that taskbar, three items from the left of the clock and date, is an arrow pointing up. This might be called the overflow menu or hidden icon menu. When that arrow is clicked a number of icons appear. Some of those icons take long to load at system startup. How are unwanted icons in the overflow menu or hidden icon menu removed?

If the cursor is placed on one of those icons, neither a right click or left click enables that icon to be moved out of the overflow menu or hidden icon menu. It the icon is right clicked and quit is chosen the icon goes away. When the computer is rebooted, the icon appears.

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Windows for home | Windows 11 | Desktop, Start, and personalization | Task Bar
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  1. Emma1-N 7,625 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-23T02:54:44.5066667+00:00

    Welcome Lab,

    I understand how frustrating it can be when you want to remove or prevent certain icons from appearing in the system tray overflow (the hidden icon menu) on Windows 11, especially those that reappear after reboot. 

    Before proceeding, I’d like to clarify a couple of points:   

    • Are the icons coming from third‑party apps (for example: VPN, cloud sync, hardware utilities)? 
    • Do you want to completely stop them from appearing, or just prevent them from being hidden in the overflow menu? 

    In the meantime, you can try the steps below to troubleshoot the issue:  

    Option 1: Change system tray icon visibility settings  

    • Go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar 
    • Expand Other system tray icons 
    • Toggle OFF the apps you do not want to appear in the overflow menu 

    Option 2: Disable app startup behavior  

    • Go to Settings > Apps > Startup 
    • Turn OFF the apps whose icons you do not want loading at startup 

    Option 3: Use Task Manager startup tab  

    • Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc > go to Startup apps 
    • Disable unnecessary apps 

    Option 4: Restart Windows Explorer  

    • Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc 
    • Find Windows Explorer 
    • Right‑click and choose Restart 

    Note: Icons shown in the overflow menu are controlled by the apps themselves. If an app is set to start automatically or run in the background, its icon will return after reboot unless its startup behavior is disabled or the tray icon option is turned off inside the app. 

    Please feel free to reply to this post if you need any further assistance. I will be happy to assist you. 

    P.S: If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".      

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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