Windows Help & Advice – May 2019

Windows 1

60 customisation tip

May 2019 | |^15

notificationareaandits‘holdingarea’
(click‘^’torevealit).Toremoveicons
permanentlywithoutclosingthe
parentapplication,checkoutthe
program’sownsettings.

Clearsystemicons
Windowsplacesseveraliconsofitsown
intheTaskbarnotificationarea– some
elementslikethetouchpadortouch
keyboardcanbeshownorhiddenvia
theTaskbar’sright-clickmenu;others,
includingtheclockandtheAction
Centrebutton,canberemovedunder
Taskbarsettings(click‘Turnsystemicons
onoroff’under‘Notificationarea’).

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Whileyoucantweakmanyaspectsof
theActionCentreonyourPCvia
Settings>System>‘Notifications&

actions’,onethingyoucan’tdofrom

hereisadjusthowlong– fiveseconds

• individualnotificationsappear
  on-screen.Tochangethissetting,open
  UniversalWindowsTweakertothe
  Customization>UniversalUItab.The
  sliderenablesyoutoincreasethetime
  from5-300seconds.Alternatively,you
  candisablethemcompletely(tick
  DisableToastNotifications).

Replaceyour Taskbar

TheWindowsTaskbarisefficient,but

notexactlyvisuallypleasing.Fansofthe

macOSdockshouldexaminethefree

versionofWinStepNexus(www.

winstep.net), whichcombinesa more

eye-catchingaestheticwithloadsof

functionalitythatrenderstheTaskbar

redundant.Notonlydoesit includeall

theexpectedfeatures– draganddrop

shortcuts from your Start menu or

desktop to add them to the dock, but

you can also add modules such as email

checker and weather forecast gadgets.

Tweak the [Alt] + [Tab] menu

It may not be as glamorous as the new

Timeline, but the [Alt] + [Tab] feature is

still the quickest way to switch between

open apps and windows on your PC.

Tweak its appearance courtesy of

Winaero Tweaker – navigate to

Appearance > ‘Alt + Tab Appearance’

where you’ll find sliders to adjust its

transparency, plus make the desktop

darker when it’s invoked.

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You’ll also see an option to ‘Enable

classic Alt + Tab dialog’ – tick this, then

click Restart Explorer to replace the

thumbnails with a minimalist icon-

basedtaskswitcher,withthecurrently

selectedicon’swindowtitledisplayed

beneathit tohelpyounavigate.

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If youhavetwomonitorsconnectedto

yourPC,headovertoTaskbarsettings

whereyou’llseeoptionsforconfiguring

theTaskbarindependentlyoneach

display– werecommendselecting

‘Taskbarwherewindowisopen’onthe

‘Showtaskbarbuttonson’drop-down

menutoavoidconfusion.

1
Getting started
Download Launchy from http://www.
launchy.net – you can either install it or
run it on demand as a portable app.
Once Launchy has, er, launched, it will sit
XQREWUXVLYHO\LQWKH7DVNEDUQRWLÀFDWLRQ
area. To bring it into focus, press [Alt] +
[Spacebar], then start typing the name
of what you’re looking for.

2

Search and select

An icon representing a program

will pop up – if it’s the correct one, press

[Enter]. Wait a few seconds, and more

matching results – including web links

• will appear via a drop-down menu.
  Click one or use the arrow keys to scroll
  through the list, pressing [Enter] when
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3

Widen Launchy’s

search remit

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icon and choose the Options > Catalog

tab. Click ‘+’ under Directories to add

additional folders to include, then with

the directory selected click ‘+’ under File

7\SHVWROLVWÀOHW\SHVWRVHDUFK)LQDOO\

click Rescan Catalog.

Launch programs quickly

Adjust the time notifications appear on-screen (or disable them) using Ultimate Windows Tweaker.

The [Alt] + [Tab] task switcher can be made more

transparent, while the background can be

darkened to aid navigation.