Using the Notification Area
Over on the right side of the taskbar is the notification area (also called the system tray or tray). Each icon in the notification area represents a program or service that's running in the background. For example, antivirus and antispyware programs often show icons in the notification area so that you know they're running.
To conserve space on the taskbar, Windows 10 gives you the option of hiding inactive icons. When inactive icons are hidden, you see a button with up and down arrows on it at the left side of the notification area. Click the button to see icons that are currently hidden.
As with any icon or button, you can point to an icon in the notification area to see the name of that icon. Right-clicking an icon usually provides a context menu of options for using the item. Clicking or doubleclicking the icon usually opens a program window that's associated with the running background service.
Note:
A context menu is a menu that offers commands that are in the context of the selected item. In other words, the commands apply specifically to the selected item, not to other items. To open a context menu, right-click an item (such as an icon).
For example, the Volume icon provides a simple service: It lets you control the volume of your speakers. To change the volume, you click the icon and then drag the slider up or down. Optionally, you can mute the speakers by choosing the button at the bottom of the slider. Click it again to remove the mute. The Mixer option opens a window in which you can control the volume of different kinds of sounds independently.
The icons in the notification area don't represent programs that you can run. They represent programs that are running. The icon simply serves as a notification that the program is running, although in most cases, the icon also provides options for closing the program or changing how it runs. Different computers have different notification area icons. The following are some common examples:
- Network Connections:
You might see an icon that lets you disconnect from the network, view and connect to wireless networks, and open the Network and Sharing Center. - Security programs:
Programs that protect your system from malware (such as viruses and spyware) often display icons in the notification area. - Power:
An icon indicates the charging status and battery capacity of your mobile device.
Windows 10 includes a selection of system icons that can appear in the notification area. These include Clock, Volume, Network, Power, Input Indicator, and Action Center. Other icons can also appear in the notification area. The following section explains how to turn on or off these icons.
Showing/hiding system and notification icons
You can choose for yourself which notification area icons you do and don't want to see at any time. You rarely need to see them all, so you can hide some if you prefer. To make choices about those icons, right-click the clock or blank area of the tray and choose Customize Notification Icons. The Notifications and Actions page of the Settings app.
The Notifications and Actions page provides options for controlling the types of notifications that appear and when and where they appear. Click the link Select Which Icons Appear on the Taskbar to choose which icons you want displayed. Click the link Turn System Icons On or Off to show or hide specific system icons from the tray.
Responding to notification messages
Icons in the notification area may occasionally display messages in a speech balloon. Many messages just provide some feedback and don't require any response from you. These messages generally fade away on their own after a few seconds. But you can also close the message by clicking the Close (X) button in its upper-right corner.
Using scroll bars
Scroll bars appear in program windows whenever the window contains more information than it can fit. You may not see any on your screen right now. But don't worry about that. The trick is to recognize them when you do see them, to know what they mean, and to know how to work them.
When you see a scroll bar, it means that there's more to see than what's currently visible in the window. The size of the scroll box (the bit inside the scroll bar area that looks like a long button) relative to the size of the scroll bar tells you roughly how much more there is to see. For example, if the scroll bar is about 10 percent the size of the bar, it means you're seeing only about 10 percent of all there is to see.
To see the rest, you use the scroll bar to scroll through the information. You have basically three ways to use scroll bars:
- Click a button at the end of the scroll bar to move a little bit in the direction of the arrow on the button.
- Click an empty space on the scroll bar to move the scroll box along the bar toward the place where you clicked. That moves you farther than clicking the buttons would.
- Drag the scroll box in the direction you want to scroll. To drag, place the mouse pointer on the button and hold down the left mouse button while moving the mouse in the direction you want to scroll.
If your mouse has a wheel, you can use that to scroll as well. If the window shows a vertical scroll bar, spinning the mouse wheel scrolls up and down. If the window shows only a horizontal scroll bar, spinning the mouse wheel scrolls left and right. Some mice have a horizontal scroll button (or wheel) that you can push left or right to scroll horizontally.
You can also use the keyboard to scroll up and down. But understand that the scroll bars work only in the active window (the window that's on the top of the stack). If necessary, first click the window or press Alt+Tab to bring it to the top of the stack. Then you can use the up and down arrow keys (↑ and ↓) to scroll up and down slightly. Use the Page Up (PgUp) and Page Down (PgDn) keys to scroll up and down in larger increments. Press the Home key to scroll all the way to the top (or all the way to the left). Press the End key to scroll all the way to the end.
Using Back and Forward buttons
Back and Forward buttons help you navigate through multiple pages of items. As with scroll bars, they appear only when useful, so don't expect to see them on your screen right now, or all the time. At times, they may be disabled (dimmed), as at the top of. At other times they are enabled (not dimmed). Also, you won't find Back and Forward buttons in every program window.
A disabled button isn't broken. When an item is disabled, it's just not appropriate at the moment. For example, when you first open a window, both buttons may be disabled because you have no page to switch to yet. When you click a link that takes you to another page, the Back button is then enabled because now you do have a page to go back to (the page you just left). After you go back to the previous page, the Forward button is enabled because now you have a page to go forward to - the page you just left.
When a button is enabled, you just click it to go back or forward. When a button is disabled, clicking it has no effect.
