How to prevent leaving an Icon in System Tray on exit?

c# .net system-tray
Malfist picture Malfist · Oct 26, 2009 · Viewed 13.8k times · Source

My program puts an icon in the system tray because the user may minimize to it. However, if the application crashes, or I stop the app from running in VS it leaves the icon in it until I hover over it with the mouse. Sometimes I'll look down there and there will be 10 or so icons.

I can I make sure the icon goes away?

Answer

JSBձոգչ picture JSBձոգչ · Oct 26, 2009

There is no way to do this. Windows does not poll your program to see if it's still alive. Therefore, your icon will stay in the system tray until you either tell it to leave (normal exit), or the user does something that initiates a call to your program (such as mouseover). Only then does the shell know that your program has died and it needs to clean up your icon.

Related questions

How can I make a .NET Windows Forms application that only runs in the System Tray?

What do I need to do to make a Windows Forms application run in the System Tray? Not an application that can minimize to the tray, but one that exists only in the tray, with nothing more than an icon, …

Read More
Developing a simple Windows system tray desktop app to consume a .NET web service

I'm required to develop a simple Windows system tray desktop app to consume a .NET web service but I'm proficient in PHP, and I have little background in desktop applications. What platform would you advise me to use, preferably with …

Read More
System tray icon with c# Console Application won't show menu

I've got a small C# (.NET 4.0) Console Application that I'd like the user to be able to interact by showing a menu when they right-click the System Tray icon. I can add an icon to the Tray with no problems, …

Read More