Create System Tray Shortcuts for Programs in Windows

Do you like to create shortcuts for programs but don’t like cluttering up your Taskbar or your Start menu? We found a free tool, called Windows Tray Icons Creator that allows you to put shortcuts to programs in your system tray.

Download Windows Tray Icons Creator:

• Executable file: http://www.door2windows.com/wp-content/downloads/WTIC.exe
• Zip file: http://www.door2windows.com/wp-content/downloads/WTIC.zip

NOTE: Windows Tray Icons Creator works in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Windows Tray Icons Creator does not need installation. If you downloaded the .zip file, unzip the file first, and then double-click the .exe file to run the program.

NOTE: If you are using Windows Vista, you may see the following dialog box. Click Continue andWindows Tray Icons Creator will open and work just fine. We did not experience this error in Windows 7.

The icon for Windows Tray Icons Creator is added to the system tray. Click the icon to open the program.

For this example, we will create a shortcut on the system tray to access the Registry Editor. On theWindows Tray Icons Creator main window, enter a name for the shortcut in the edit box for Tray Icon 1 in the Mouse Hover Tooltip column. Click the icon button in the Icon column.

The Select the icon dialog box displays. Navigate to the .ico file you want to use as the icon for the shortcut and select the file. Click Open.

NOTE: We extracted an icon from the regedit.exe file to get our icon. To do this, see our post, Easily Extract Icons from Program Files.

The full path to the regedit.exe file is inserted into the edit box for Tray Icon 1 in the Mouse Click Action column.

NOTE: Windows Tray Icons Creator must be running in the system tray for any shortcuts you define to be available. The easiest way to make sure your shortcuts are always available is to have Windows Tray Icons Creator run when Windows starts. To do this, select the Run Everytime Windows Starts Upcheck box.

You may see the following Unhandled exception dialog box display. Click Continue and the check box will be selected (there will be a check mark in the box).

Click the Hide button to minimize Windows Tray Icons Creator to the system tray.

NOTE: Be sure you don’t click Close. That exits Windows Tray Icons Creator and any shortcuts you created will not be available on the system tray.

When you access the system tray, the shortcut you created is available, using the icon you specified. Clicking the icon opens the program.

If you don’t want to have to open the system tray every time you want to start your program, you can take the shortcut out of the popup system tray and place it in the system tray on the Taskbar. To do this, open the system tray and click the Customize link.

The Notification Area Icons screen on the Control Panel displays. Scroll down in the list of system tray icons until you find the Windows Tray Icons Creator icon for the program you added. There will be at least two items for Windows Tray Icons Creator. The one you want to change has the Mouse Hover Tooltip you entered listed below Windows Tray Icon Creator, as pictured below. The one without any name below it is the icon for the Windows Tray Icons Creator program itself. Select Show icon and notifications from the drop-down list.

To close the Control Panel window, click OK.

You can now access the shortcut for your program directly on the system tray without having to open it first.

To remove a shortcut you added to the system tray, delete the text from the Mouse Hover Tooltip andMouse Click Action edit boxes and leave them blank.