Today we are going to talk about one of the most annoying problem in Windows! As we know Windows shows "Bluetooth" icon in system tray and if you click on it or right-click on it, it shows a menu. The problem starts when "Remove Icon" option is listed at the bottom of the menu and you click on it accidentally and BOOM!!! The bluetooth icon disappears from system tray and you don't find any option to bring it back.
IMO "Remove Icon" should not be listed at the bottom as there are very high chances a user will click on that option accidentally as most of the time the last option in a menu opens the icon Settings. And the worst thing is that it even doesn't ask for any kind of confirmation so that user can cancel his action.
Anyway, if you are also among those frustrated users and have accidentally removed the icon from system tray, here are 2 simple methods to bring the icon back:
- Method 1: Using Hidden Bluetooth Settings Window
- Method 2: Using Registry Editor
Method 1: Using Hidden Bluetooth Settings Window
If you look into Control Panel to change Bluetooth settings, you'll not find it. You can follow following simple steps to access it:
1. Type bluetooth in Start Menu searchbox and it'll show a few entries in result set. Click on "Change Bluetooth Settings" entry.
2. It'll open Bluetooth Settings window where you can enable bluetooth icon by selecting "Show the Bluetooth icon in the notification area" option and apply it.
3. That's it. It'll restore the bluetooth icon in system tray.
Method 2: Using Registry Editor
If the above method doesn't work for you, you can follow a very simple registry trick to bring it back:
1. Type regedit in RUN or Start Menu searchbox and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.
2. Now go to following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Bluetooth
3. In right-side pane, look for a DWORD value Notification Area Icon. It would be set to 0. Either set its value to 1 or delete it.
4. That's it. Restart or log off your system and bluetooth icon will be back in system tray.
Posted by: Vishal Gupta | Categories: Troubleshooting, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
jaimin
method 2 is working for me
fan
I came close to this but i didn't see the 'change bluetooth settings'. Thanks anyway
gagan248
thanks man !! i was one of the frustrated guys' who accidently removed bluetooth icon and was fuzzing here and there for last two days.....1 up for the blogger ;-)
Roy
Thanx very much, accidently removed the icon...
Xikar
Neither option worked for me.
In the 2nd option the DWORD Value doesn't exist.
I would really like some feedback on this please.
VG
^^ Try to manually create the DWORD value and set it to 1.
sajjadgul
Thanks for the solution of my prob
amit
Thanks a lot :)
Iyke
My laptop was able to connect with my phone via bluetooth,but i mistakenly removed my phone bluetooth device on my laptop,since then my laptop has been unable to connect with my phone via bluetooth,plz how do i restore it?
VG
^^ Make sure its completely removed from Devices and Printers window in Control Panel. Also make sure its not shown in Device Manager. And then try to re-connect your phone.
Rajesh
Thanks 4 asistance it solvd my 2 days headache
syed awii
thank you very mch :) it helped me .... the first method worked for me ...
Stephanie
So both of your suggestions are brilliant except didn't work for me. When I went thru step 2, there is no "bluetooth" file. Any ideas?
VG
^^ Try to create the key manually.
davis
thanx a lot bro :D
chey
Thank you!! I've been searching for days and trying everything!! Totally worked!!
sumon
thank u very much bro... i m also the victim of the same problem...& after looking into the solution its just piece of cake :)) but the thing i didn't understand that why the bluetooth setting thing is not showing up in control panel in spite of being shown in start menu!!
Hans43
Thank u... I had no idea how to resolve this issue.. And solution was so simple. Thanx once again.
Karen
THANK YOU.
I accidentally deleted this, exactly as described, and then tried to re-add it through the notifications setting, via a Bluetooth shortcut, etc. None of that worked.
But method #1 did. Thanks!
JZ
Thank you so much, I can't believe a simple thing as this one would ruin my whole day. The option to hide bluetooth icon shouldn't even be there. Anyway thanks for resolving my problem!
Srinivas G
Hi,
Here is the detailed step by step for doing Method 1 in Windows 8 Pro:
1. Open Control Panel
2. Goto Network and Internet
3. Goto Network Connections
4. You will find something called Bluetooth Network Connection - Right Click on it and select Properties
5. Click on Bluetooth Tab (next to networking)
6. Click Bluetooth Settings link
7. In Bluetooth Settings window and under Options Tab - Check - Show the bluetooth icon in the notification area.
8. Click Apply and OK
9. You are done.
Thanks,
Srinivas G
Gulzar
Thanks, my problem is solved by following the method # 2
Alu Parmar
A Big Bunch Of Thanx.............