Windows 11 shows a bell icon on the extreme right of the taskbar. Hovering the mouse pointer over the bell icon shows how many unseen notifications are pending, and clicking the bell icon brings up the Notification Center, which shows all recent notifications, such as emails and WhatsApp messages.
If you are running Windows 11 on a laptop with a relatively small screen or you have pinned/opened multiple applications, you might want to remove the bell icon from the taskbar so that you can free up some room. Although Windows 11 has not offered an option to remove the bell icon from the taskbar until now, the latest Windows Insider build offers an option to remove the bell icon from the Windows 11 taskbar.
Starting with build 22635.3930, Windows 11 users can remove the bell icon from the taskbar. Even after removing the bell icon, you can open the Notification Center and view notifications by clicking the date/clock or using the Windows logo + N hotkey. So, removing the bell icon will not disable the notification center, which is a good thing.
Remove the bell icon from the Windows 11 taskbar
Step 1: Open the Windows 11 Settings app using search or Windows logo + I hotkey.
Step 2: In the left pane of Settings, click System. On the right side, click Notifications.
Step 3: On this page, click Notifications to see available options. Turn off the option labeled Show notification bell icon to remove the bell icon from the taskbar immediately. If the option is missing, it’s likely because you are running a Windows 11 build that does not yet have this option.
As said before, you can continue accessing the Notification Center by clicking the date/clock or the Windows logo + N hotkey.
Our guide on how to remove the clock from Windows 11 taskbar might also interest you.
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