TrayEverything for Windows

TrayEverything is a handy utility that minimizes programs to the system tray or hides them altogether. Although it has potential, it's best handled with care.

TrayEverything's interface is basic and fairly intuitive, which is a good thing, because it doesn't have a Help file. The program's features are organized with large graphical buttons, the most important of which is the Tray button, which is used to manage open programs. This function seems simple enough; it lists all currently open programs, and users simply double-click on a program to minimize it to the system tray. TrayEverything will also minimize programs without placing them in the system tray, keeping them entirely hidden, if you prefer. It's pretty straightforward, and we merrily clicked along, minimizing all our open programs. And then we realized that not only were all of our programs gone, but also the Taskbar, system tray, and all of our desktop icons. Not only that, but we hadn't set a hot key for TrayEverything, so there was no way to bring it all back up. We eventually gave in and restarted the computer. After careful examination, we discovered that the problem began when we tried to minimize an Explorer window with TrayEverything. A Help file might have prevented such disasters. When issues like this are possible, there's really no excuse not to offer one.

TrayEverything is free. It installs and uninstalls without issues. We recommend this program with reservations; it's useful, but it can cause trouble if you're not careful with it.