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How do I hide tray icons of other applications/processes (from my app)?

Answer 1

+3 A:

The API does not expose access to other apps' icons. The only option is to subclass the system tray itself to intercept the window messages that Shell_NotifyIcon() sends to it so you can keep track of which HWNDs are registering which icon IDs.

Remy Lebeau - TeamB 2010-08-12 08:22:07

thanks ,see my edit

Omair Iqbal 2010-08-12 09:05:59

There is no way to programmably access the OS's built-in "Hide when inactive" and "Always hide" functionality. Again, the **ONLY** way to access and manipulate someone else's icons is to hook into the system tray's window directly and intercept Shell_NotifyIcon()'s WM_COPYDATA messages (look at http://www.codeproject.com/KB/applications/ShellTrayInfo.aspx for the contents of the message) so you can either access the HWNDs and IDs of each icon so you can make your own calls to Shell_NotifyIcon(), or else to simply block the messages so the icons do not reach the system tray at all.

Remy Lebeau - TeamB 2010-08-13 02:12:56

thanks that was the sort of answer i was looking for, arent messages like WM_COPYDATA part of windows api?also the example is in c++(which i dont know:-() do you have a link to a delphi example

Omair Iqbal 2010-08-13 07:56:50

WM_COPYDATA is a general-purpose message for passing arbitrary blocks of data between windows. The fact that Shell_NotifyIcon() uses it internally is a private implementation detail that Microsoft is free to change in the future without affecting code that uses Shell_NotifyIcon(). But for the time being, it uses WM_COPYDATA and has been for a long time. And no, I do not have a Delphi example of the earlier article I mentioned.

Remy Lebeau - TeamB 2010-08-16 23:36:51

Answer 2

A:

If you're in charge of the computer you're running on, then you just right click the icon and disable it manually. Presumably this writes some settings in registry (use procmon to find out), so you can automate it through Active Directory.

If you're not in charge, meaning it's not yours and just some random computer, and your app voluntarily decides to go ahead and hide icons it doesn't like, then no, there's no API to do that, and screw you for even trying. It's up to user to decide when he wants to hide the icon, not to your super cool program.

himself 2010-08-12 12:30:29

What if someone wants to write an application that manages tray icons, for instance let users choose what to show when/where,.. screw him too?

Sertac Akyuz 2010-08-12 14:13:09

That application is already written. It's called Explorer. There's interface in it for showing/hiding icons and when/where to show them. Any enhancement that is not part of Explorer already is by definition unstable because it must rely on undocumented features and tricks like windows-searching to make Explorer do what it's not supposed to do. So it's a bad idea anyway. Still, doing it on user permission IS possible because the app can just elevate itself to admin and then do all those dirty tricks. For malicious app, thankfully, this won't work.

himself 2010-08-12 14:46:53

@himself - First, while later OSes are a lot flexible about this, former ones are not. Second, shell customization is not unheard of. I see lots of users using 3rd party software that change the appearance/behavior of this or that. Third, explorer is the default shell but there are others, and they implement the functionality of the systray... I'm sure I am not able to think of each and every valid use. The point is, while it is nice for someone here not wanting to help creation of malicious code, it is not easy to be in a position to judge.. Hence I objected to the tone of your answer.

Sertac Akyuz 2010-08-12 16:04:18

@Sertac Akyuz: thank you so much for putting some sense in him

Omair Iqbal 2010-08-13 09:04:32

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How do I hide tray icons of other applications/processes (from my app)?

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