One thing I don’t understand is why the latest Windows Live Messenger has to take up a space in the Windows 7 taskbar area? In Vista and XP, whenever you click the Windows Live Messenger’s X button at the top right, it doesn’t really terminates the program but instead it minimizes to the notification area or some people call it the traybar. But in Windows 7, when you click the X button, the messenger icon is still showing in the notification area and also takes up a space in taskbar which I find it annoying! Other than being annoying, I’m sure some of you wouldn’t want your boss to see that you have Windows Live Messenger running at taskbar.
In Windows 7, they have this new feature where you can pin programs to the taskbar so when you easily launch your most frequently used programs. However this is not the case for Windows Live Messenger in Windows 7. IF Windows Live Messenger is being auto pinned to taskbar, you should see “Unpin this program from taskbar” instead of “Pin this program to taskbar. After doing a little research, I’ve found out how to easily remove Windows Live Messenger from the taskbar and just leave it only in notification tray area.
Just follow the few simple steps below on how to remove Windows Live Messenger from taskbar. Before you start, make sure that Windows Live Messenger is not running. Simply right click on Messenger and select Exit.
1. Click on the Windows 7 Start Menu button
2. Click on All Programs and look for Windows Live Messenger shortcut.
3. Right click on Windows Live Messenger shortcut and select Properties.
4. Go to Compatibility tab.
5. Check “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and select Windows Vista (Service Pack 2).
6. Click OK to close the Windows Live Messenger Properties window.
Now when you run Windows Live Messenger, sign in and click the X button, it will only show the messenger icon at notification area but nothing at Taskbar. A good tip to keep your taskbar neat.
Thank you kindly, Raymond. This has been an annoyance for a while and I don’t feel I know enough about compatibility to experiment with things like this on my own system. I love that people like you are willing to share your knowledge without expectation of compensation. I hope I pay it forward as much as I receive.
That is perfect! Thanks a lot!
thank you!
Great! Just what I needed!
BRILLIANT!
Thank you for that tip! It was really annoying to have that on my taskbar!!! :DDDD You’re a genius!
muchas, muchas gracias!!!
saludos de tijuana
Thank you for this trick. Question: How can I have incoming messages pop up full on the screen instead of just appearing, flashing in the task bar?
Thank you for that, it was really annoying me and now it’s gone!
Thanks Man. I was looking for the solution from quite sometime. Great Tip.
OMG, youre awesome! THANK YOU VERY MUCH… I did this to my Skype too.
thanks buddy
por fin he eliminado esa maldita pulga que me picaba en el cuello desde que me pase al 7
thanks a lot
FENOMENAL…!
I just got a new laptop with Windows 7 and there is no shortcut in All Programs. How do I find it?
Thanks Ray!
You just saved my girlfriend’s sanity!
Thank you Raymond, I just installed W7, and found it so annoying that Windows Live didn’t pin on the notification area. Your post helped me !
Great! It works with Skype too! Thx!!!
Thank you very much… it helped me…
Works for Skype as well,
Thank you so much…
Thanks for this.
I had the same problem with the last release of SKYPE.
Great Tips! Thanks a lot
Hey, that solves one of the irritations that I’ve encountered ever since I moved to Windows 7! You are really a great help, Raymond. Thanks!!
just what I was looking for. Thanks :)
THANX RAY
nice tips.. thanks…
@ JawadKho
Yes, it does. Google it.
I was fortunate enough to win one of the defense wall give aways. Thanks Ray
Fantastic tip. Works like a charm! Ty!
Great idea but I used to it now I wish Skype minimized to the taskbar now :D
I don’t need Messenger, didn’t opt for it, and don’t have any problem with it.
It’s nice to know Raymond shares knowledge from his personal experience. I’m not an IT guy, just a layman day-worker, but I have also learned a lot from personal experience with mainly Windows.
Many of Raymond’s experience shared with us I have already encountered and learned on my own “explorations” (resulting in ten or more formats every year), but the bulk of what he writes about still amazes me.
Good job Raymond!
Thank you very much.
Thanks Raymond, this is a great tip!
Great job. I hate it when wlm takes 2 spots in my taskbar, now not even one if i “X” it. Great job Ray. never crossed my mind the compatibility thing could do this, this is very useful for other things too now.
This is a gr8 tip! I’m not using Windows Live Messenger but had the same problem with Skype 4.20.141 Beta and this tip worked for me – the skype icon is gone from my Windows 7 task bar!
thanks a lot Raymond, this thing was killing my nerves
While it’s an old tip, it works on any compatibility mode. I’ve thrown it into XP SP3 and it does the same thing lol. So long as it runs on the OS can run it, it will work fine.
this is old tips for vista…. and i think this tips raymond show last year…:(
Nice tip. Tnx Ray. good work.. :)
@Ravi Gupta: If you’ve been around long enough, you should know that I write stuff based on my personal experience with computers and not to race against other bloggers.
Call me outdated, slow or stale if you want, but believe it or not, I just got fed up of the Windows Live Messenger stuck in my taskbar today.
I knew about this a while ago, it’s really useful. Nice share for those who didn’t know…
Nice tips :)
This tip has been floating around the net since the day of Windows 7 lanch. Most unlike Raymond, this is a very stale tip.
Great Tips that I am searching for. Thank you so much Ray !
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!! You’ve just saved place in my taskbar! ;)
thanks very much.
Great,tx Ray! :D