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How to HideAnything inWindowsWritten by Akshata Shanbag

Published December 2015.

Read the original article here: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hide-anything-windows/

This ebook is the intellectual property of MakeUseOf. It must only be published in its original form.Using parts or republishing altered parts of this ebook is prohibited without permission fromMakeUseOf.com.

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Table of contents

A Few Points to Remember 4

On the Desktop 6Charms Bar and Switcher 6

The Recycle Bin 9

Icons and Gadgets 10

On the Taskbar 12

The Taskbar 12

System Tray Icons and Notications 12

The Search Box 15

The Task View Icon 15

The Start Button 16

In the Start Menu 17

System Defaults 17

Start Screen Tiles 18

Recently Opened and Most Used Programs/Files 18

Installed Apps in All Programs/All Apps 19

In File Explorer 20

Files and Folders 20

Recent Places, Recent Files 23

File Extensions 24

Assorted Items 25

Hide Away! 26

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Microsoft gives you superpowers to make anything on Windows disappear. Make use of them!

Recently, we showed you how to hide the Windows login screen and the annoying “Get Ofce”notication . These are not the only Windows elements that you can send into hiding. With a fewtweaks here and there, you can conceal toolbars, icons, buttons, les — pretty much anything thatyou’d like to keep out of your way. We’ll show you how to do that in this guide.

A Few Points to RememberBefore we begin, let’s see how to access some important locations and settings that we’ll refer tomore than once.

1. The context menu or right-click menu: Right-click any element in Windows to open up itscontext menu. The contents vary based on the element you have clicked.

2. The Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog: Let’s call this one taskbar properties for thesake of clarity. To bring it up, right-click on an empty space on the taskbar and selectProperties from the context menu.

3. The Personalization dialog: Right-click on an empty space on the desktop and click onPersonalize in the context menu to bring up this dialog. You can also open it via ControlPanel > Appearance and Personalization > Personalize.

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4. The Folder Options dialog: We’ll call this dialog folder options. On Windows 7, you can bringit up via Organize > Folder and search options in File Explorer.

On Windows 8, 8.1, and 10, click on the View tab of File Explorer and then on Options at the farright.

Now let’s move on to the actual work of banishing what you don’t like from your Windows experience.Here’s how you hide elements from various sections of your PC.

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On the Desktop

Charms Bar and SwitcherIn the Edge UI that shipped with Windows 8 came a couple of confusing new features: the Charmsbar and the Switcher.

The Charms bar is nothing but #an icon-driven menu that pops up when you move the cursor tothe top right or bottom right corner of the screen.

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The Switcher allows you to cycle through open applications and switch from the Moderndesktop to the classic one by moving the cursor to the top left corner of the screen.

Can you make these two annoying features less so? Sure! Go to the Navigation tab of taskbarproperties, uncheck the boxes next to the following options, and click on OK :

• When I point to the upper-right corner, show the charms

• When I click the upper-left corner, switch between my recent apps

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On Windows 8.1, you’ll also nd the same options listed under Settings > PC and devices > Cornersand edges > Corner navigation.

This tweak renders the hot corners for the Charms and Switcher features inactive globally. You canstill use these features via keyboard shortcuts: Win + C for the Charms bar and Win + Tab for theSwitcher.

If you want an easy way to disable both these features, try a third-party app like Winaero Charms BarKiller or Start8 .

Maybe you have already installed the Classic Shell application to make Windows 8 suck less . In thatcase, open the program, navigate to the Windows 8 Settings tab, and select the All radio buttonunder Disable active corners .

Touchpad users can also try disabling edge swipes via the UI settings provided by the touchpadvendor.

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The location of the edge swipe setting varies depending on the brand and model of your PC. You’llmost likely nd this feature (or some variation of it) in the Mouse Control Panel or the settings sectionfrom where you can tweak touchpad gestures.

The Recycle Bin

In Windows Vista you could just delete the Recycle Bin icon and be done with it. Microsoft decidedthat you shouldn’t have it so easy, so this is how it works now:

1. Open the Desktop Icon Settings dialog via Personalize > Change desktop icons (Win 7, 8, 8.1)or Personalize > Themes > Related Settings > Desktop icon settings (Win 10).

2. Uncheck the box next to Recycle Bin.

3. Click on Apply and exit the dialog.

As you can see from the image above, you can also hide or restore other desktop shortcut icons likeComputer, Control Panel, and Network from the Desktop Icon Settings dialog.

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Icons and GadgetsDesktop shortcuts to les, folders, and programs are easy enough to delete. Select a bunch of them,click on Delete from the context menu, and conrm that you want to proceed with the deletion.

Remember, if you’re deleting a le #(or folder) whose icon #doesn’t have the tiny arrow symbolthat represents a shortcut, you’re deleting the original le and not its shortcut.

Not what you had in mind? Move that le to a safer location, so that you don’t inadvertently deleteit from the desktop. You can still keep it handy as a desktop shortcut using the Send to > Desktop(create shortcut) option from the le’s context menu.

Did you know that you can toggle desktop icons o $ and on as and when you need them? Todo so, right-click on the desktop and under View , click on Show desktop icons .

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Windows 7 has a few gadgets like a clock, currency converter, and a calendar that you can display inthe sidebar via the Gadgets option from the desktop’s context menu.

If you want to hide a gadget that’s visible in the sidebar, click on its Close button at the top right. Poof!It’s gone.

If you don’t use the gadgets feature at all and would like to keep it turned off, rst click on ControlPanel > Programs > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or o $ to open theWindows Features dialog. There, uncheck the box next to Windows Gadget Platform and clickon OK . That’s it!

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On the Taskbar

The TaskbarWant more screen space? One way to get it is by setting the Windows taskbar to hide itself whenyou’re not using it. Open taskbar properties and under the Taskbar tab, check the box for Auto-hidethe taskbar . While you’re at it, you might also want to uncheck the box next to Show WindowsStore apps on the taskbar to get rid of the taskbar icons for Windows Store apps on Windows 10.

System Tray Icons and Notications A messy system tray is an eyesore and can be quite the distraction if you don’t control thenotications it is set to show. Don’t worry. You can make those notications go away and #hidethe icons behind a discreet popup.

Let’s say you want to hide the Get Windows 10 (GWX) icon and its notications. To do that inWindows 7 through 8.1, rst open up taskbar properties, and under the Taskbar tab, click on theCustomize button next to Notication: . This opens the Notication Area Icons section.

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Note: If the dropdowns appear grayed out in the Notication Area Icons section, uncheck the boxnext to Always show all icons and notications on the taskbar .

On Windows 10, you’ll nd the controls for taskbar icons, notications, and system icons in a differentlocation: Settings > System > Notication and actions . Don’t let the UI daunt you. It looksdifferent from what you have seen above, but the settings are well labeled and easy to gure out.

While you’re xing the system tray for your convenience, you can take advantage of these othertaskbar customization tricks as well.

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The Search Box The global search box that comes bundled with the taskbar on Windows 10 is a handy feature thatwe would recommend keeping. But if you want to hide the search box, open the taskbar’s contextmenu and click on Search > Show search box to toggle it off.

If you decide that you want to use the search feature after all, you don’t have to stick with its huge,unwieldy avatar. Keep it ready to use as a tiny search icon by selecting Search > Show search icon from the taskbar’s context menu.

The Task View IconIf you have no use for the Task View button that links to a virtual desktop feature for multitasking, hideits taskbar icon and get more space for open apps. All you have to do is click on Show Task View inthe taskbar context menu to toggle the icon off.

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The Start ButtonThe Modern UI version of the Start menu #caused quite a furor when it rst made anappearance in Windows 8. Several users were not happy that Microsoft had decided to zap themuch-loved Start button and Start menu from Windows 7.

The Start button did reappear in Windows 8.1, but not the classic Start menu.

Anyway, everyone has now accepted that the Start button and the Start screen are here to stay. Ofcourse, that’s not to say that everyone’s sticking with these defaults. Many users prefer to hide theStart button and restore the old Start menu using third-party apps like StartIsGone or Start8 . You cando the same.

Before you go ahead and hide the Start screen in favor of the classic Start menu, do explore thecontext menu hidden behind the Start button . You might discover some useful options there.

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In the Start Menu

System DefaultsThe Start Menu in its default avatar #has various options that you don’t need to access on aregular basis . You might even prefer to keep them accessible as desktop or taskbar shortcuts. Insuch cases, you can make the Start Menu more compact by getting rid of unused items.

To hide Start Menu entries, rst navigate to the Start Menu tab of taskbar properties and click on theCustomize button there. This brings up the Customize Start Menu dialog where you can hide anyStart Menu listing by deselecting the checkbox next to it or selecting the Don’t display thisitem radio button as appropriate.

And here’s how you can hack/hide various Start screen elements in Windows 10 .

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Start Screen TilesIf you nd any of the Start screen tiles (on Windows 8 and above) distracting, you can turn it offselecting Unpin from Start from its context menu. Want to keep the tile but don’t want its dynamicupdate feature? Click on the Turn live tile o $ option instead.

Recently Opened and Most Used Programs/Files The lists of recently added programs and your most used items (les and programs) can be helpful,but they’re not everybody’s favorites. If you don’t want them displayed, it’s easy to turn them offquickly.

On Windows 7, you’ll have to go the Start Menu tab of taskbar properties and uncheck the boxesfor:

• Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu

• Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar

On Windows 8.1, you’ll nd these options in the Jump #Lists tab of the taskbar properties.

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If you’re on Windows 10, go to Settings > Personalize > Start and drag the sliders for Show mostused apps and Show recently added apps to the left to hide these jumplists.

If you just want to stop a specic app from showing up in the Most Used (or Recently Added) list, trythis instead. Open that app’s context menu from the Most Used section of the Start screen and clickon Don’t show in this list .

Installed Apps in All Programs/All Apps

For any app that you’d like to stop from showing up in the list of installed

programs, you canusually specify that preference while you’re installing the program. It often appears as a box that reads

Add Start Menu Shortcuts (or some variation of that). Uncheck that box to skip adding theprogram to the Start screen or the Start Menu.

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If you have already installed the app, that’s not a problem. On Windows 7, you can select Delete fromthe right-click menu of a program’s Start Menu entry to delete that shortcut.

On Windows 8 and above, navigate to C:\ > ProgramData > Microsoft > Windows > Start Menu> Programs and delete the app’s Start screen entry from there.

Beware! Don’t go about deleting anything that you aren’t sure you’ll be able to nd again.

In File Explorer

Files and Folders There’s more than one way to hide a le or folder in Windows. Let’s take a look at some commonones.

1. The default method: This involves opening a le or folder’s Properties dialog from its contextmenu and checking the box next to Hidden . Make sure that you click on Apply to nalize the

change.

To reveal all hidden les and folders, open folder options, and under the View tab, check the radiobutton next to Show hidden les, folders, and drives .

2. The “System les” trick: # The folder options setting to reveal hidden folders is no secret, which iswhy hiding folders the usual way is less effective than you think it is. A better method is to disguisesensitive les is by designating them as system les. You’ll need to go to the command prompt forthat.

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Press Win + R , type cmd in the Run dialog that comes up, and hit Enter. At the command prompt,type:

attrib +s +h "C:\...\TopSecretFile"

Replace the sample pathname given here with the pathname to the le that you want to disguise as a

system le, and hit Enter. Now that le stays hidden even when you show hidden les and folders.

You can reveal this le in two ways:

• by typing this in the Terminal

attrib -s -h "C:\...\TopSecretFile"

• by unchecking the box next to Hide protected operating system les (Recommended) in FolderOptions > View, and hitting Apply, of course.

3. Steganography: Steganography is the art of concealing messages in such a way that anyone whoisn’t aware of the hidden message won’t even realize that there’s a message hidden, even if it’s inplain sight.

Let’s take a look at a popular steganography trick used to hide a text le within a JPEG image.

Begin by keeping these two les handy: the text le that you want hide and the JPEG image (say, mask-image.jpg ) behind which you want to hide the le.

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Add these les to a new folder on C: drive and compress that folder into a RAR archive, which we’llcall mask-archive . You’ll need to use a third-party app like WinRAR or 7-Zip for creating the archive.

Now, open Command Prompt, type cd \ and and hit Enter to navigate to the root directory(assuming C: is the current drive at the prompt). Next, run this command:

copy /b mask-image.jpg+mask-archive.rar result-image.jpg

Be sure to replace the sample lenames in the command with the corresponding le names from yourcomputer. Once you press Enter, you’ll nd the new image (result-image.jpg) that’s identical to mask-

image.jpg, but bigger in size because of the secret text le it includes.

There are more ways to hide secret messages in pictures and other les. You bet it’s fun to explorethem all!

4. Encryption Software: Data encryption is a reliable way to protect your sensitive data from pryingeyes . It hides information in coded messages that are difcult to decipher unless you have the key todecrypt them.

The top choice for encryption on Windows — TrueCrypt — is no longer around, but there are somedecent Windows disk encryption alternatives oating on the web. Some of them have limited choicesfor encryption algorithms. Some others do not have an encryption feature for individual les and

folders. You’ll need to explore a few program options to get the features your need.

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Recent Places, Recent FilesFiles that you have opened recently and locations that you visit frequently are accessible via theRecent Places section of the Explorer sidebar i.e. the Navigation pane. If you’re on Windows 10, you’llnd similar data listed under Quick Access in the sidebar.

As you continue to use Windows day after day, these sections get cluttered super quick. To stopQuick Access from accumulating data on Windows 10, you need to uncheck the boxes next to thefollowing options in Folder Options > General > Privacy :

• Show recently used les in Quick Access, and

• Show frequently used folders in Quick Access

You’ll also need to click on the Clear button in the same section to clear out the data that Quick Access has gathered so far.

On Windows 7, 8, 8.1, have you set recently opened items to stop from showing up in the Start menuas we discussed above (under In the Start Menu )? Then you don’t need further tweaks because thatone ensures that the Recent Places section doesn’t gather new data.

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File Extensions To hide le extensions, you’ll need to navigate to folder options again. This time, look for the Hideextensions for known le types checkbox and check it. After you click on Apply, lenames inExplorer will show up sans the corresponding extension.

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Assorted ItemsOn Windows 7, you can hide the menu bar from Organize > Layout #and bring it up as and when youneed it by pressing the Alt key.

The View tab of the File Explorer ribbon in Windows 8 and above allows you to hide/display variousExplorer items like the Navigation pane, the Preview pane, and item checkboxes. On Windows 7,you’ll nd these settings either in folder options or under Organize > Layout .

If you want to hide some of the options available on the Quick Access Toolbar, the quickest way to dothat would be by clicking on the arrow to the right of the toolbar icons, and clicking on each item totoggle it off.

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Hide Away!Get ready to tuck away all those Windows annoyances that have been nagging you. As youdig deeper and deeper into the Windows settings that we have demonstrated above, you’ll stumbleacross various other little-known options , such as this gem of a feature that’s hidden in plain sight .

The items that we have listed here are just some of the surface elements that you can hide inWindows.

If you’re willing to risk tackling #the Windows registry ,#there’s a lot more that you can pushout of sight — from Control Panel applets to user accounts on the login screen to the Librariessection in File Explorer. And isn’t that the best thing about Windows? That it allows you to tweak everylast detail to your liking? We think so. Although we must admit that Microsoft is tightening the reinsand locking down more features with every new version of Windows.

Are you content leaving all settings as they were #when you installed Windows? #Or do youlike to hide #every last icon and feature that annoys you? Tell us how you prefer # yourWindows installation to be!

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