Workaround to Hide and Minimize Windows Live Messenger Icon/Button to Notification Area (System Tray) in Windows 7
When running Windows Live Messenger, aka MSN Messenger of latest version (as installed Windows Live Essentials 2009) in Windows 7, the main Messenger Contact window, display picture, and all chat or conversation windows now have full fledged button or icon on Windows Taskbar, even when minimized, instead of placing main WLM Contacts window icon in system tray or notification area.
In previous Windows Vista, XP or Server operating system, Windows Live Messenger (MSN) Messenger will load itself into notification area, also known as system tray, which located at the far right end of Taskbar beside the clock, while the rest of the windows such as IM chat dialog box have their own Taskbar button when the windows are opened.
Windows 7 has removed the notification area icon for Windows Live Messenger though, thus the main button for Messenger window now appears in Taskbar, along side with all its conversation or chat windows. The Taskbar button icon won’t go away even when Messenger window is minimized. When mouse over the WL Messenger icon on Taskbar, the thumbnail preview may show two confusing Messenger’s windows, where one is actual WLM Contacts main window, and another is display picture (DP, which does not show if user clicks on ‘X’ button to close the main window).
It’s possible to instruct Windows Live Messenger to revert back to classic style, where its main window is represented by notification tray area icon. The hack is to run Windows Live Messenger in Windows Vista compatibility mode in Windows 7 in order to move WLM icon back to system tray.
- Exit Windows Live Messenger or MSN Messenger completely (Right click on WLM button/icon on Taskbar and select Exit).
- Go to Start Menu, locate the Windows Live Messenger shortcut.
Tip: It’s also possible to deal directly with the actual WLM program, msnmgsr.exe located in %ProgramFiles%\Windows Live\Messenger\ folder.
- Right click on the Windows Live Messenger shortcut or executable, and select Properties.
- Go to Compatibility tab.
- Tick the check box for Run this program in compatibility mode for under “Compatibility Mode”, and then select Windows Vista from the drop down list.
- Click OK.
- Run Windows Live Messenger.
With the hack, Windows Live Messenger will minimize to system tray (notification area).
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Entries (RSS)
February 10th, 2010 00:20
you’re a life saver!
Thanks!
February 7th, 2010 21:27
Nice! Thanks a lot.
February 7th, 2010 19:05
Nice…
February 4th, 2010 20:24
Gawd Dayumm so easy when you know how
Thank you dude. Having 2 windows was very annoying. What a stupid mistake this is by MS.
February 3rd, 2010 08:27
Thanks! You are a very good help!!
February 3rd, 2010 00:21
Thanks!
Im running win 7 ultimate 64 and I turn the stacking option off because I find it annoying and slow to navigate thus I get the traditional looking items in my task menu and with two messenger tabs in there it drove be nuts, so thanks for this work-around!
February 2nd, 2010 13:40
I’m using Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (fully updated), and just installed it the other day for the first time along with the latest version of WLM. I tried the method outlined above but it didn’t work, nor did setting the compatibility to any other O/S or service pack version, nor did running it as an administrator before/after the compatibility tweak, nor did reinstalling it several times. Is there any other way around this irritating problem other than the compatibility tweak?
Cheers!
February 1st, 2010 05:59
Thanks So Much For this, It’s really appreciated!! Microsoft really needs to fix that bug and bring it back to where it needs to be.
-Alex
February 1st, 2010 03:41
Thank you. This feature really bugged me and was expecting a much more complicated solution.
January 30th, 2010 21:03
Thank you very much. Quick, easy, effective. What more could I ask! Bookmarking your site.
January 23rd, 2010 17:37
Thank you very much for this workaround!
January 23rd, 2010 05:19
Awesome, thank you very much. Wonder if MS will fix it sometime.
January 23rd, 2010 02:54
Thanks! Helped me.
January 22nd, 2010 19:01
Marvellous! Thanks so much!
January 20th, 2010 03:11
Thanks a lot!!!
January 20th, 2010 01:33
awesome work around. so simple.
thanks!
January 19th, 2010 18:23
Thank you man! It was driving me crazy that stupid messenger in the taskbar, it works fine now