Since Microsoft Windows uses windows to show open apps and programs, it makes sense that you can do things such as minimize, maximize and resize them as needed. Even though these features come in handy, many Windows power users find themselves looking for ways to enhance this functionality so they can better manage their open applications.
Watch Video: How to Minimize Open Apps to the System Tray, Pin Them to the Top or Make Them Transparent.
When it comes to window management in Microsoft Windows, most of us would like some additional control over our open windows. In this article, we will be showing you how to minimize open apps to the system tray, pin them to the top or make them transparent. To do so, we will be using a free app called 4t Tray Minimizer that you can download here. They also have a pro version with additional features.
The first time you run 4t Tray Minimizer, you will go through a wizard with around six different screens that will configure how the application works for you. If you do not understand what it is asking, you are fine just going with the defaults. You can change these options from the settings after the program is installed or you can run through the setup wizard again to make changes.
4t Tray Minimizer will then place several icons on the title bar of every window you open. You will use these buttons to minimize the window to the system tray, roll up the window, pin the window to the top of other apps and enable the transparency feature.
The image below shows the roll up feature where the window will still be shown but it will only be a thin bar with the same buttons that you had before as well as the default Windows minimize, maximize and close buttons.
The transparency option will make that window semi transparent so you will be able to see other apps or your desktop behind it. This can be toggled on or off as needed.
The pin to top feature will force the window to stay on top of the other windows. If you pin more than one window at a time, those pinned windows will act like normal windows where you can move one in front of the other, but any non-pinned windows will stay in the background.
The minimize to tray button will leave the window open but minimize it to the system tray rather than the taskbar which will make it hidden from view. If you open the 4t Tray Minimizer program, you will be shown what apps are hidden and you can restore them from here. The Favorites section can only be used during the current session on the free version but if you buy the pro version, you can save your favorite windows even after you reboot.
The 4t Tray Minimizer app will also be running in the system tray and you will be able to access your hidden windows as well as open the app itself.
Right clicking on the hidden apps icon will let you restore one or all hidden windows as well as close all the hidden windows.
Right clicking on the 4t Tray Minimizer icon will let you open the program, view the options and also take action on open windows.
If you were to go to the options for the app, you would see that there are many settings you can configure to fine tune how you can minimize, pin or make your open apps transparent.
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