Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10  

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    Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10

    Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10

    How to Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10
    Published by Category: Performance & Maintenance
    26 Jan 2020
    Designer Media Ltd

    How to Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10


    The notification area is located at the right end of the taskbar, and it contains app and system icons that provide status and notifications about things like incoming email, updates, and network connectivity.

    Sometimes the notification area icons cache may get corrupted causing the icons to display incorrectly or distorted, and still show icons of uninstalled apps in Notification Area Icons settings. When this happens, the notification area icons needs to be deleted in the registry to reset and automatically recreate it.

    The notification area icons cache for each user account is located as the IconStreams and PastIconsStream binary values in the registry key below.

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify

    This tutorial will show you how to reset the notification area icons cache to fix any corrupted icons and remove any old icons from the taskbar notification area for your account in Windows 10.


    EXAMPLE: Taskbar notification area icons
    Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10-taskbar_notification_area_icons.png


    EXAMPLE: "Select which icons appear on the taskbar" in Settings
    Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10-select_which_icons_appear_on_the_taskbar.png



    Here's How:

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

    Reset_Notification_Area_Icons_Cache.bat

    Download

    (Contents of .bat file for reference)

    Code:
    @echo off
    
    set regPath=HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify
    set regKey1=IconStreams
    set regKey2=PastIconsStream
    
    
    echo.
    echo The Explorer process must be temporarily killed before deleting your notification area icons cache. 
    echo.
    echo Please SAVE ALL OPEN WORK before continuing.
    echo.
    pause
    
    
    echo.
    taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F
    echo.
    FOR /F "tokens=*" %%a in ('Reg Query "%regpath%" /v %regkey1% ^| find /i "%regkey1%"') do goto IconStreams
    echo Registry key "IconStreams" already deleted.
    echo.
    
    :verify-PastIconsStream
    FOR /F "tokens=*" %%a in ('Reg Query "%regpath%" /v %regkey2% ^| find /i "%regkey2%"') do goto PastIconsStream
    echo Registry key "PastIconsStream" already deleted.
    echo.
    goto restart
    
    :IconStreams
    reg delete "%regpath%" /f /v "%regkey1%"
    goto verify-PastIconsStream
    
    :PastIconsStream
    reg delete "%regpath%" /f /v "%regkey2%"
    
    
    :restart
    echo.
    echo.
    echo You will need to restart the PC to finish resetting your notification area icons.
    echo.
    CHOICE /C:YN /M "Do you want to restart the PC now?"
    IF ERRORLEVEL 2 goto no
    IF ERRORLEVEL 1 goto yes
    
    
    :no
    echo.
    echo.
    echo Restarting explorer.... 
    echo.
    echo Please remember to restart the PC later to finish resetting your notification area icons.
    echo.
    start explorer.exe
    pause
    exit /B
    
    :yes
    shutdown /r /f /t 00

    2 Save the .bat file to your desktop.

    3 Close and save anything that you are working on before proceeding. The next steps will involve killing explorer and restarting the PC.

    4 Run the .bat file.

    5 If prompted, click/tap on Run to approve. If you like, you can unblock the .bat file to no longer get the Run (Open File - Security Warning) prompt.

    6 Follow the instructions in the command prompt to reset your notification area icons. If you do not restart the computer now, you will need to later to finish resetting your notification area icons. (see screenshots below)

    Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10-reset_notification_area_icons_cache_command-1.png
    Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10-reset_notification_area_icons_cache_command-2.png


    That's it,
    Shawn






  1. Posts : 30
    Win 10
       #1

    Thanks, this worked for me too. Seems like one or another of these odd problems pop up every day in Win 10 - weird stuff that I haven't seen in 20+ years of using Windows.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 68,654
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #2

    I'm glad it could Weamish. :)
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 7,871
    Windows 11 Pro 64 bit
       #3

    I just used this to clean up my new Windows 10 upgrade installation - very useful and quick. Note your antivirus may block it from running and you may need to enable the bat file to run from your antivirus program.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 2
    Windows 10
       #4

    Brink, why don't we just delete the values for IconStreams and PastIconsStream (or the items themselves)? Of course, after backing up the registry...
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 68,654
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Hello CDPlayerKC, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)

    That's what the .bat file does for you. The .bat file kills explorer, deletes those two registry values, then restarts explorer.
    Last edited by Brink; 22 Dec 2015 at 11:27. Reason: typo
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 2
    Windows 10
       #6

    Thanks
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 68,654
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #7

      My Computers


  8. Posts : 19
    Win 10 Pro
       #8

    Is there a way to delete Uninstalled apps from the notification list?


    This tutorial shows how to delete icons for uninstalled apps from the taskbar. Uninstalled apps can also show up in Show Notifications from these Apps. Many people have this problem, but I have been unable to find a solution. This link on the Microsoft website gives more details.

    I have uninstalled both Copernic search and Lookeen search but they still show up. Do you know of a way to delete them from this list?

    Thanks
    Reset Notification Area Icons in Windows 10-notify-list.jpg
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 68,654
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Hello braincamp,

    Unfortunately, not without breaking live tiles of apps pinned to Start.
      My Computers


 

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