Normally the icon of Windows Live Messenger when closed, goes to the system tray. In Windows 7 its different and it does not minimize to system tray, instead it goes to the task bar.. at the beginning this is kind of cool but as time goes on having a huge block of WLM cluttering the task bar can become a real pain. So by using this trick you can change it back to function like in XP/Vista.
The below screenshots shows WLM minimized to the task bar in Windows 7
Now to change this to function like in XP/Vista is very easy, you only need to change the compatibility mode in WLM. Below are the steps on how to do that…
Close messenger before continuing.
1. Right click on the messenger exe file or a messenger shortcut file and click Properties. (messenger shortcut is probably in your desktop and the messenger exe is located in %PROGRAMFILES%\Windows Live\Messenger as msnmsgr.exe)
2. Click the Compatibility tab and under it select Run this program in compatibility mode for: and change it to Windows Vista (or Windows Vista SP1/SP2)
3. Click Apply and OK to close the properties box.
Start Live Messenger now and the icon has moved to the system tray.
To undo this unselect the Run this program in compatibility mode tick box.
Note: If you get a dialog box that says its configuring WLM wait until it finishes. (This occurs sometimes)
Thank you so much!
It worked perfectly!
Yeah, it works! Thanks a lot!
Worked very well!! Thanks
Ah man thanks. That was getting annoying as hell works perfectly.
Just what I needed and worked like a charm, thanks a lot!
THANKS!!
I was starting to hate Windows Seven
Worked, except now MSN just randomly signs me off as soon as I sign in.
And, prolly not related, but the Windows Explorer thing randomly stops working… quite often.
Windows 7 seems to suck
Just wat i was looking for! thanks man! And yeah it sucks letting wlm sit in the taskbar
Thank you so much!
I was starting to hate Windows Seven.
Much better this way
Brilliant! Thanks heaps.
Ah, I love the answers Google give me. This time I could’ve pressed the “I’m feeling lucky!”-button.
Great solution! Thanks!
Hi,
is this a bug of WLM? Or it is a feature?
@awaiK: Its not a bug, It’s basically a feature.
This worked wonderfully, and multiple sites have figured out the fix, but what about AIM? The same problem is with AIM, and I did this trick; nothing happened. I’m not sure about YIM, yet because I haven’t downloaded it to this computer yet, but… If there’s a fix for that, too, that would be much appreciated!
thank you, it was so annoying to see two messenger bars at the bottom of the screen