How to show your Network connection icon in the taskbar notification area

If you want to see the Network connections icon on your windows taskbar notification area, it is very easy to do. It can be quite handy having the Network connections icon there for you to see as it will let you know if there is a problem with your connection. If you have a wireless network connection you will see the same icon pictured left, but there will be wireless signals coming from it.

one more screenshot

Why do you need a network connections icon in your taskbar notification area?

There are some great benefits to having a network connections icon in your notification area in your taskbar. The Network connections icon will let you know if you have low connectivity, an Ip address conflict, or even if you have no internet connection at all. For example a yellow triangle appears over your network connection icon in the task bar when there is an Ip Address conflict or a bad internet connection. If you have a low wireless signal a balloon message will stem form the network connection icon notifying you of the problem.

screenshot

How to show your Network connection icon in the taskbar?

  1. Go to the start menu and choose control panel. Then double click on the Network Connections icon.
  2. Now choose your internet connection adapter. I am using LAN ( Local Area Connection) which is with a Ethernet cable. Yours may be a wireless adapter. Right Click on your connection and choose properties from the menu.
  3. On the general tab of the Local Area connection properties there is a box that says Show icon in notification area when connected. Tick this box to show the network connections icon in the taskbar.

screenshot

Watch this video tutorial on how to add a network connections icon to your taskbar

This video shows how to put a network connection icon in your notification area in Windows XP. It also shows you all the benefits to having a network connections icon available in the taskbar.


See more Networking tips.

How to put a network connections icon in the Notification area in Windows Vista?

If you go to your connection properties in Windows Vista there will not be a box to tick to enable the network connection icon. If you want to place a network connection icon in the taskbar in Windows Vista then follow these steps:

Go to the start icon in The left corner of the Windows Vista desktop.

  1. Right click on it for a menu to appear.
  2. Choose Properties from the menu
  3. The taskbar and start menu properties will appear.
  4. Go to the notification tab.
  5. Tick the box next to network to show the network connections icon.
  6. Press apply and Ok.

screenshot

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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

Daniel October 4, 2011 at 6:05 am

Thank you very much, I use moderm I followed the same procedure it work and network icon now is visible, show 3.6Mb/min speed but is not as fast as its number because only to open this page it took about 10minutes. if any body can help send help to my email address.

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pancham arora August 2, 2011 at 7:34 am

thank you u r awesome
pancham arora recently posted..Top 10 Common Computer Troubleshooting Tips

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mm May 12, 2011 at 6:30 pm

Hello
Thanks for the instruction. So helpful.
Good luck

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sreejith November 1, 2010 at 9:17 am

my system not showing any network connection or windows firewall settings.. i cannot access to that.. wt to do

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Cathleen October 31, 2010 at 9:21 pm

The Network box for me was grey and I couldn’t check the box but restarting explorer.exe really did help.
Thanks a lot for the tutorial!

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Patrick October 26, 2010 at 11:21 am

Many thanks for the info on how to add the network twin monitors to my taskbar

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Voma Xian October 12, 2010 at 4:26 pm

Thank you so much,really you’ve show it in aeasiest way.

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Ellen September 13, 2010 at 1:45 pm

Perry— I have having the same problem. I am not able to check off the option to show the network connection at all times. It is gray and will not let me check it. I am running an HP laptop and I am the administrator on this computer. Please Help!

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Mitz September 16, 2010 at 11:09 am

Hi there
This is a problem that happens in Windows XP sometimes but definitely Vista. You might be able to restart explorer.exe and see if that works http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n416x1u-0zs If that does not work then it can get a bit complicated..but this website has a tool that might fix it http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/notification-area-icons-missing-in-vista/

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Mary August 31, 2010 at 2:56 am

Thank you so much!! I spent half an hour trying to find the right box to tick!!

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Perry August 24, 2010 at 12:39 pm

I tried to put the wireless icon in the notification area, but the little box in the notification area of the Taskbar and Start menu Properties is gray and will not accept a check mark. Any ideas? I am loged on as a Guest user, using Vista.

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Joan August 15, 2010 at 3:10 am

thank you so much i was about to pull my hair out. It was so simple the way you displayed it.

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Ron June 30, 2010 at 10:41 pm

The above tip is fine for those running WinXP but the whole point to this is suppose to make it easier for you to “Hover” your mouse cursor over the tray icon and see a baloon tip pop up showing the connection speed.

Win-7 will not do this, it will only tell you that you are conected but NOT what the speed is.

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Evangeline Guimaraes June 30, 2010 at 5:22 pm

Hi, Nice blog , thanks for the information i am going to buy this soon aswell, will give it a try and let you guys know how it is.

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Judy Brown June 14, 2010 at 5:55 pm

My icon was working very well until few days ago. Last week played solitaire with internet on. I am on dial up site. Have a Dell Windows Vista laptop. When I followed your web info it said my radio is disabled. What does that mean and how do I fix it??? Thank you, Judy Brown

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Ron June 12, 2010 at 5:16 pm

The above post showing how to show system status for the network in the tray does not show how to make it hapen in Win-7.

Can you update this?

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