Trayconizer: add built in minimize-to-tray functionality to your apps
Trayconizer is a small program that can add minimize-to-tray functionality to any program. It is loaded using the shortcut for the program (or programs) you want minimized to the system tray in order to automatically provide that functionality every time you use that program.
We’ve all encountered situations where it would have made sense for a program to minimize into the system tray but didn’t. One remedy to this is to install a program such as TrayIt or Xneat which allows you to simply minimize any window into the system tray. And while this can be a very good solution, it might not be ideal in the following situations:
- All you want is a specific app (or apps) to minimize to the tray whenever they are run. You do not want to add a program running in the background at all times, consuming resources, and in many cases adding a system wide hook that can potentially cause a performance drag on your system.
- You do not want to remember to manually minimize that app (or apps) to the tray every single time you use it, but would rather it did so on it’s own whenever it is running (as if minimizing to the tray was built into it in the first place).
Trayconizer provides an excellent solution whereby it is (manually) added to the shortcut used to launch a program, and once that program is launched, Trayconizer will cause it to minimize to the system tray instead of the taskbar. When you are no longer using the program and close it Trayconizer will no longer remain in memory. Here are more notes on Trayconizer:
- No install app: just unzip into an appropriate location. From the program web site: “Trayconizer requires no DLL’s beyond the base Win32 API libraries and will not store any entries in your registry.”
- How it works: you will have to adjust the shortcut used to open the program(s) you are interested in so that it loads Trayconizer first (see “how to set it up” below). Trayconizer will then be loaded whenever that shortcut is used, and unloaded when you close the program.
- Minimizing multiple apps: you can use Trayconizer on multiple apps simultaneously; they will be handled by a single instance of the program in order to avoid wasting resources.
- System resources used: 2 megs in memory.
How to set it up: right click on the shortcut of the app you are interested in, then in the “Shortcut” tab and “target” field, enter the path to Trayconizer before the path to the app (in quotes separated by a space) and click ok. That’s it, except the icon used by the shortcut will have changed. To change it back right click on it and select properties, click on “Change Icon” in the “Shortcut” tab, click browse and point it to the original program executable. You can then copy this shortcut over any others that you might have (on the desktop, in the “Quick Launch” area, etc.)- Note on indexing launchers such as Launchy: these typically scan the start menu; once you modify the program shortcuts in the start menu launching with a program like Launchy will invoke Trayconizer and the program will minimize to the tray.
The verdict: I love this program. I now have no need to be running a minimize-to-tray program that’s running at all times just to use that function on the one or two programs that I need it for; Trayconizer allows me to deal with the issue one single time for each program I am interested in, and forget about it afterwards. Highly recommended.
Version Tested: 1.1.1
Compatibility: Windows 95/98/Me (ANSI build); Windows NT/2000/XP (Unicode build); no info on Vista. Make sure to download the appropriate version for your OS.
Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 4K).
[...] Freeware Genius comes through again, this time offering up an app that has everything I look for: tiny download size, incredibly useful features, and awesome pricetag (free). Trayconizer is an app designed to automatically minimize any program to your system tray, regardless of whether that program supports doing it or not. [...]
I really like this find, thank you. I very often run system programs that I would like to hide out of the way from the taskbar. Just to confirm that it does seem to work on Windows Vista using the XP version, however if the program you are launching would usually run with Administrator privileges, you need to add this to the changed shortcut by clicking right clicking on the shortcut, click on properties, then under the compatibility tab, tick “Run this program as administrator” check box.
[...] freewaregenius [...]
it’s fun.
Fantastic!
Windows PowerPro does that for me, and has many other useful functions – launchbar, clocks, memory, uptime and other informers, timers, sheduler, keyboard and mouse shorcuts and many more.
[...] Windows only: Freeware application Trayconizer turns any application into a system tray application in just a few steps. Unlike other previously mentioned minimize-to-system-tray apps like TrayIt or 4t Tray Minimizer, Trayconizer starts applications in the system tray from the moment you run them. To use it, you need to tweak the shortcut you’re using to launch the application (right-click shortcut and select Properties) by adding the path to Trayconizer in front of the app like so: C:PathToTrayconizer.exe C:WindowsNotepad.exe. Trayconizer is freeware, Windows only, requires no install, and consumes a paltry 2MB of RAM. Trayconizer [via FreewareGenius] [...]
[...] [via Freeware Genius] [...]
[...] [via Freeware Genius] [...]
Ahh brilliant dude, love it!!!
Help! I trayconized my e-mail program, then decided I didn’t want it trayconized after all. I’ve deleted the trayconizer.exe and made sure the e-mail shortcut no longer refers to it, but it still minimizes to the tray instead of the task bar. How do I untrayconize my Outlook?
Ah. Solved the problem. ‘Twas an ID-10-T error. Turns out that you can right-click on the systray icon for Outlook, and there’s an option in there for “Hide when Minimized,” which I unchecked, and then son-of-a-gun, my Outlook started minimizing to the task bar again.
[...] Trayconizer: this interesting free app is for those programs that you use that you wished would simply minimize [...]
Yours is the most honest, clear, and useful site I’ve ever seen in my wide experience as a freeware hunter.
Congratulations, and thank you.
@Nacho: thanks, I appreciate your kind word
[...] to go back. Note that another way to minimize Outlook (or any app) to the system tray is by using Trayconizer, but HideOutlook is certainly easier to set up and provides extra functionality (it is also more [...]
[...] to go back. Note that another way to minimize Outlook (or any app) to the system tray is by using Trayconizer, but HideOutlook is certainly easier to set up and provides extra functionality (it is also more [...]