几十年来，Windows界面经历了许多风风雨雨。一些发展，例如开始菜单(Start Menu)，是受欢迎的。其他的，比如命运多舛的Windows 8 Metro界面，在很大程度上是不受欢迎的。
最小化窗口所在的任务栏几乎不是这种仇恨的目标。但是，它可能会变得非常拥挤。并非所有程序，尤其是那些必须不断运行的程序，都需要占用那里的空间。遗憾的是，Windows没有提供将窗口最小化到另一个有用空间（通知区域）的本地方法。以前称为系统托盘。
通知区
长期以来的Windows用户一直将 Windows 中包含时钟显示的小保留区域称为(Windows)“系统托盘(system tray)”。我们大多还是这样称呼它，但是这部分Windows用户界面的正确名称实际上是“通知区域”。
名字里有什么？说实话，知道系统托盘的正式名称对于未来的任何与之相关的谷歌(Google)搜索都会很有用。
使用Minimize to Tray to, Well , Minimize to the Tray
Minimize To Tray是一个免费的开源便携式应用程序(portable application)。由于它是便携式的，因此您实际上不需要安装任何东西。您只需下载并运行该程序。这也意味着它不会在您每次启动Windows时自动启动。因此，您可能想要创建一个快捷方式并将其固定到您的任务栏或开始菜单(Start Menu)。
使用Minimize To Tray非常简单，以下是关键步骤：
- 下载最小化到托盘(Minimize To Tray)并将其解压缩到您选择的位置。
- 从其文件夹或您创建的快捷方式运行程序。
- 切换到要最小化到托盘的任何窗口。
- 按Alt + F1，该窗口将最小化到托盘。
要恢复窗口，您可以使用Alt+F2或右键单击此处显示的应用程序托盘图标。
然后选择要从那里恢复的窗口。(Window)
使用RBtray快速将几乎所有窗口最小化(Quickly Minimize Almost Any Window)到托盘
RBtray 是一个以最巧妙的方式工作的小型开源小程序。(open source)当RBtray运行时，您所要做的就是右键单击窗口的最小化按钮。这与普通的左键单击相反，后者会将窗口最小化到任务栏。
您将在通知区域中找到程序图标，您可以通过在此处左键单击它们来恢复程序窗口。
RBtray 不会安装到系统中。因此，每次您想使用它时都必须启动该程序。这是一个小麻烦。您可以简单地将快捷方式固定到任务栏或开始菜单上的程序。或者，如果您觉得有点花哨，您可以将其设置为启动应用程序，以便它在每次 Windows 启动时自动启动。以下是该程序的使用方法：
- 下载RBtray并将其解压缩到您选择的位置。
- 从其文件夹或通过快捷方式运行程序。
- 第一次运行RBtray时，您会看到一个带有一些说明的窗口，选择OK继续。
- RBtray现在正在运行，但它没有任何图标或其他迹象表明它正在做任何事情。
- 右键单击任何最小化按钮(any minimize button)以将其窗口最小化到通知区域。
- 或者，按住Shift并右键单击任何窗口的标题栏以获得相同的效果。( title bar)
- WIN+Alt+Down arrow.最小化活动窗口。
- 要关闭RBtray，再次运行它，程序会询问您是否要关闭已经运行的副本。
真的就是这么简单。
实际的 Windows 最小化器（19.95 美元）
前两个工具都是完全免费的，但如果你愿意花一点钱把你的窗口塞进通知区域，那么Actual Windows Minimizer可能也是一个不错的选择。
该软件有一个试用版，您可以自己尝试一下，看看额外的润色和附加功能是否值得。与前两个应用程序相比，第一个标题功能是在启动时运行程序的内置选项。当然，您可以将任何应用程序配置为在启动时运行，但需要一点麻烦，但欢迎使用一键式解决方案。
Actual Windows Minimizer的另一个优点是它向应用程序窗口添加了一个额外的按钮。这样，您仍然保留正常的最小化按钮功能。您还可以选择更改标准最小化按钮的工作方式。您还可以标记在启动时运行的特定应用程序，以自动将窗口最小化到托盘。
另一个关键特性是应用程序可以控制通知区域中始终可见的图标。如果有一个应用程序无论如何您都希望保持可见，您可以将其设置为“永久模式”，以便您可以快速一键访问它。
一旦您汇总了Actual Window Minimizer(Actual Window Minimizer)必须提供的所有各种功能，价格似乎并没有那么不合理。当然，假设它们是您实际使用的功能。
(Apps)具有本机托盘最小化(Native Tray Minimize)功能的应用程序
开发人员已经意识到，有些应用程序更适合通知区域而不是任务栏。因此，值得在该应用程序中检查它是否具有最小化到托盘的选项。
如果您最喜欢的应用程序没有此选项，您甚至可能会很幸运地提交功能请求。并非所有应用程序都能很好地与我们上面提到的实用程序配合使用，在这种情况下，需要开发人员的直接支持。
极简主义解决方案
运气好的话，微软有朝一日可能会添加将任何应用程序最小化到托盘的功能，作为(Microsoft)Windows的内置功能。操作系统开发人员采用用户喜爱的第三方应用程序的功能并非闻所未闻。
因此，如果您真的不能没有将应用程序最小化到托盘的能力，那么可能值得让Microsoft知道这是您希望看到的直接融入Microsoft Windows的功能。
How to Minimize a Windows Program to the System Tray
The Windows іnterface has gone thrоugh many υps and downs over the decades. Some develoрments, suсh as the Start Menu, are beloved. Others, such as the ill-fated Windows 8 Metro interface, are largely disliked.
The task bar, where your minimized windows live, is hardly the target of such hate. However, it can get pretty crowded. Not all of your programs, especially ones that have to run constantly, need to take up space there. Sadly, Windows offers no native way to minimize a window to the other useful space – the notification area. Formerly referred to as the system tray.
The Notification Area
Long-time Windows users have always known the small reserved area that contains the clock display in Windows as the “system tray”. We mostly still call it that, but the proper name for this part of the Windows user interface is actually the “notification area”.
What’s in a name? Not much to be honest, but knowing the official name of the system tray will be useful for any future Google searches related to it.
Using Minimize to Tray to, Well, Minimize to the Tray
Minimize To Tray is a free and open source portable application. Since it’s a portable you don’t actually install anything. You just download and run the program. That also means that it won’t start up automatically every time you start Windows. So you might want to create a shortcut and pin it to your taskbar or Start Menu.
Using Minimize To Tray is pretty simple, here are the key steps:
- Download Minimize To Tray and unzip it to a location of your choice.
- Run the program from its folder or from a shortcut you’ve created.
- Switch to whichever window you’d like to minimize to the tray.
- Press Alt + F1 and that window will minimize to the tray.
To restore a window, you can use Alt+F2, or right-click on the app’s tray icon seen here.
Then choose the Window you want to restore from there.
Using RBtray to Quickly Minimize Almost Any Window to Tray
RBtray is a tiny open source applet that works in the most ingenious way. While RBtray is running, all you have to do is right-click on the minimize button of a window. That’s as opposed to the normal left-click, which would minimize a window to the taskbar.
You’ll find the program icons in the notification area and you can restore the program windows by left-clicking on them there.
RBtray does not install to the system. So you’ll have to start the program every time you want to use it. This is a minor hassle. You can simply pin a shortcut to the program on the taskbar or start menu. Alternatively, if you feel like being a little fancy, you can set it as a startup application so that it launches automatically every time Windows starts. Here’s how to use the program:
- Download RBtray and unzip it to a location of your choice.
- Run the program from its folder, or via a shortcut.
- The first time you run RBtray you’ll get a window with some instructions, select OK to move on.
- RBtray is now running, but it has no icons or other indication that it’s doing anything.
- Right-click on any minimize button to minimize its window to the notification area.
- Alternatively, hold Shift while right-clicking on the title bar of any Window for the same effect.
- You can minimize the active window with the keyboard shortcut WIN+Alt+Down arrow.
- To close RBtray, run it again and the program will ask you if you want to close the copy that’s already running.
It’s really that simple.
Actual Windows Minimizer ($19.95)
Both of the previous two tools are completely free, but if you’re up for spending a little money to get your windows tucked into the notification area, then Actual Windows Minimizer might be a good choice as well.
There is a trial version of the software you can try for yourself to see if the extra level of polish and additional features are worth it. The first headline feature compared to the previous two applications is a built-in option to run the program at startup. Of course, you can configure any application to run at startup with a little elbow grease, but a one-click solution is welcome.
The other thing that’s neat about Actual Windows Minimizer is that it adds an extra button to application windows. This way, you still retain the normal minimize button functionality. You also have the option of changing the way the standard minimize button works. You can also mark specific applications that run at startup to automatically minimize a window to the tray.
Another critical feature is the control the application has over which icons are always visible in the notification area. If there’s an app that you want to remain visible no matter what, you can set it to “permanent mode” so that you have quick one-click access to it.
Once you tally up all the various functions Actual Window Minimizer has to offer, the price doesn’t seem that unreasonable. Assuming that they are functions you’ll actually use, of course.
Apps With Native Tray Minimize Functions
Developers have realized that some applications are better suited to the notification area than they are to the taskbar. So it’s worth checking within that application whether it has an option to minimize to the tray instead.
You might even have some luck submitting a feature request, if your favorite application doesn’t have this option. Not all applications play nicely with the utilities we mentioned above, in which case direct support from the developer would be necessary.
A Minimalist Solution
With a bit of luck, Microsoft might one day add the ability to minimize any application to the tray as a built-in feature of Windows. It’s not unheard of for operating system developers to adopt functions from third-party applications that users love.
So if you really can’t live without the ability to minimize an application to the tray, it might be worth letting Microsoft know that this is a feature you want to see baked directly into Microsoft Windows.
