At a glance

Tray Icon Manager watches for newly registered notification area (system tray) icons and marks each one as always show the first time it appears. Windows often hides new icons by default; this small utility brings back the familiar behavior of showing them without overriding an icon you have already set to hidden or visible.

Use it as a regular desktop app with a tray menu, or install the same executable as a background Windows service. No separate installer is needed.

Features

New icons stay visible: Newly registered notification icons are automatically set to always show, restoring the classic always-show behavior.
Your choices stay yours: Icons already customized in Windows Settings are left alone. Promotion can also be paused from the tray menu.
Desktop app or service: Run the same executable with a tray menu, or install it as a per-user background service.
Clear stale icon settings: Reset saved show/hide settings for the current Windows account, with an optional registry backup and confirmation.
Six languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Simplified Chinese and Japanese, with automatic Windows language detection or manual selection.
Lightweight and self-contained: Native Windows C++, with no .NET runtime or Visual C++ Redistributable dependency.

Download

Download the self-contained 64-bit ZIP for Windows 10 or Windows 11. Extract it and run TrayIconManager.exe; it runs without special privileges. Administrator approval is requested only when installing or removing the optional background service.

Download Tray Icon Manager 1.0.0.0 (x64)

For setup, tray-menu options, service use and troubleshooting, see the online manual. The source code and license are available on GitHub.

Requirements and license

Windows 10 or Windows 11, 64-bit.
No .NET runtime or Visual C++ Redistributable is required.