Disable Action Center / Notification Icon On Windows 10

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update (1607) introduced a new annoyance for me, moving the Action Center / Notification to the right of the clock in the system tray. Maybe I’ve just used Windows for too long and am so used to the clock been in the same place, however this minor change really started to annoy me after a couple of days, especially as i’ve never had any use for the action center anyway.

Thankfully Windows 10 has some options hidden away that allow users to turn system icons on and off.

So How Can I Disable The Action Center / Notification Icon On Windows 10?

The easiest way to disable the Windows 10 Action Center / Notification Icon is to do the following.

Right click on your desktop and select “Personalise”:

Click “Task Bar” then scroll down the list of options until you get to “Notification area”, here you will see a link to “Turn system icons on and off”.

Once you click the “Turn system icons on and off” link you will be able to turn the “Action Center” off:

The end result been the clock will move back to the far right of the screen where it has always been:

This is a useful work around for people who are annoyed by the Action Center changes in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (1607), however I would personally like to see the option to re arrange the order of system icons added. It’s possible to move some icons such as the sound and network icon, so why not the clock and action center?

Now if only the GPO to disable the lock screen still worked on Windows 10 Pro editions…