How to show VPN active Icon in the Taskbar Notification Area?

Question

It is quite important to be able to see at a glance, if you are connected to the network through a VPN or through an unsecured connection. I cannot find any native setting in Windows 10 which would allow me to see if a VPN is active in the Notification Area. I first have to hover over the Network icon or click on it to see more details.

This question has been asked in similar ways in 2017, but never received a satisfactory solution on Microsoft Community:

• Display VPN connection status?
• Windows 10 - Show VPN on taskbar?

I am not using any third party application to connect to the VPN, but using a native Windows VPN profile (IKEv2 profile from an Algo VPN server).

What is the best way to show an active VPN connection icon in the system tray of the taskbar?

Answer 1

After searching for a while through the various discussions, I realized, that the current editions of Windows 10 (1803) are lacking this functionality.

I eventually came across a small freeware utility, which does exactly what I was looking for. It has been around for a few years and is still compatible with Windows 10:

VPN Connection Indicator

VPN Connection Indicator displays a VPN indication icon in the

traybar. Whenever there is a VPN connection active, the icon changes

to the connected state.

This utility is a standalone executable that is installed (by default)

in the current users startup menu. This means that every time you log

on to your computer this utility is started automatically and is

visible in the traybar.

You can right-click on the icon and select which VPN connection to

monitor (or any if you just want to know of any VPN connection).

The author's website is: http://www.weseman.net/vpnconnectionindicator/

In case this becomes unavailable, it should still be downloadable from MajorGeeks at https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/vpn_connection_indicator.html