Some programs do not come with options to minimize their program window to the Windows system tray. What you end up doing in those cases is to minimize them to the taskbar instead, where they will stay until closed by you.

This can be a issue, especially if you happen to have many program windows open at the same time and prefer that some minimize to the tray to make room for the important programs in the taskbar.

That’s where the tiny program Move to Tray comes into play. It is a portable program that you do not have to install to use. Just download the program from Softpedia and unpack it on your system once the download has completed.

Double-click the program executable and you should see a new icon pop up in the system tray indicating that the program is up and running.

To move any application window to the tray make it the active window on the desktop, and press the Ctrl-Alt-M keyboard shortcut afterwards. This moves the program window into the tray area regardless of the default minimizing action of the application.

A click on the program icon brings it to the front again so that you can continue working with it.

The shortcut cannot be changed, which is without doubt the biggest issue that you may run into using the program. Another program that I’m using regularly, Mouse without Borders, is using the same keyboard shortcut for instance. Thankfully though it is possible to change the shortcut in the Mouse without Borders program to another combination.

Move To Tray is compatible with all recent versions of the Windows operating system. It works both with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows, and the majority of open windows and programs in the operating system.