Officially known as the notification area, the system tray (systray) is sometimes called the shell notification area and taskbar status area. It is part of the Windows 95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, and 11 operating systems.

This section of Windows displays small icons enabling a user to know what is currently loaded in the computer’s memory. The systray is on the bottom-right side of the screen and is next to the current time.

Do I need the systray to be loaded?

Yes. In early versions of Windows, if you End Task the systray process or stopping the process, it would cause problems for programs, including Windows. This program is very small and should not cause any issues with any other software on your computer.

This page is only about the Windows notification area, aka systray, and does not have questions about the Windows Taskbar, see: Issues and questions related to the Windows taskbar.

I have a systray icon that I do not want to load each time my computer starts

When a program is running in the background, it may show a notification icon each time the computer starts.

The systray.exe should only be loaded from c:\Windows\System32 directory. If this file is trying to load from somewhere else, it is likely malware trying to disguise itself as being the systray.

To disable this program depends on the program associated with the icon. However, many programs can be adjusted by right-clicking the icon and clicking Properties or Settings and disabling the icon or the automatic startup.

  • How to remove TSRs and startup programs.

How to hide and view systray icons

  • How to choose which items show in the notification area.

Missing Network icon on systray

  • Missing network icon on the Windows notification area.

Systray icons

There are thousands of different icons that can be listed in the Windows Notification Area, we’ve taken the time to list a few of the more common icons. Some of these sections also list more than one icon because the developer of the program has changed the icon over time.

Hovering the mouse cursor over a systray icon gives you information about that icon.

  • See the notification area definition for additional information and related links.
  • Microsoft Windows help and support.