In Windows, the notification bell icon is a visual indicator that alerts us to updates, events, and system/ application notifications. It is located within the Taskbar at the bottom right corner of the screen. In this post, we will share how to remove the notification bell icon from the taskbar in Windows.
Notification Bell serves a wide range of purposes, including:
- System updates: Whenever new OS and application updates are available, they notify us of them for viewing and installing.
- Application Notifications: The bell notifies the system of new messages, updates, and events for the applications installed in the system.
- System Alerts: Important events and alerts of the device, like security alerts, network connection changes, as well as battery level warnings ( for laptops) can also be found under these notifications
We can click the notification bell icon to view these events and take necessary actions.
How Do I Remove The Notification Bell Icon On The Taskbar In Windows?
Removing the Notification Bell icon on the Taskbar would involve changing the system settings as detailed below:
- Remove the Notification Bell icon using System Settings
- Modify Windows Registry
- Change Local Group Policy
1] Remove the Notification Bell icon using System Settings
- Open the Settings app by pressing the Windows + I key.
- Under Settings, click on the System option in the left pane, followed by Notifications on the right.
- Uncheck the Show Notification Bell icon option to remove it.
2] Modify Windows Registry
Alternatively, the notification bell icon can also be removed by making due changes to the Windows Registry as detailed below:
- Open the Run Dialogue box and type regedit before pressing Enter.
- In the Windows Registry, navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced "ShowNotificationIcon"=dword:00000000
- Set the last digit of the DWORD (32-bit) value for the ShowNotificationIcon dword to 0 to hide the bell icon.
- If the ShowNotificationIcon DWORD doesn’t exist, create it and then assign the value as explained in the above step.
- Save the changes and exit the registry.
3] Change Local Group Policy
Relevant changes made in the group policy can also remove the bell from the Taskbar by following the below-mentioned steps:
- Open the Run dialogue box by pressing the Windows+R keys together.
- Type gpedit.msc and click OK to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
- If you want to enforce the removal for all users who log in to the system, navigate to
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar.
- If the icon removal is for a specific user or group, then navigate to:
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar
- On the right pane of the Start Menu and Taskbar within the Local Group Policy Editor, double-click on Hide the Notification area to edit it.
- Click on Disabled in the next window, followed by OK to save the change made.
- Close the Policy Editor window and restart the system for the changes to take effect.
