Firefox users who have installed the extension and rebooted the browser afterwards need to configure it first before they can make use of the functionality it provides.

The easiest way to do that is to load the about:addons page in the Firefox address bar. Locate the TrayhotKey extension in the listing and select options to open the preferences.

The options are divided into three different groups. First a hotkey area at the top which can be used to change the default Ctrl+’ hotkey to another one. Please note that this hotkey triggers one of the “aces”. New users may assume that the hotkey lets them minimize Firefox to the system tray. This is only partially correct. This hotkey hides Firefox on the system. The browser window disappears from the taskbar and is not displayed in the system tray. Experienced users can still find out that the browser is running with the help of the Windows task manager or a process explorer. Another tap on the hotkey brings Firefox back to the front.

The tray group in the options handle if and when the Firefox icon is displayed in the system tray. Always show tray will display a permanent icon in the tray, while minimize window to tray only when the browser minimizes. This option changes the default behavior so that the browser is minimized to the system tray area in Windows. Close window to tray finally takes over the close Firefox process. A click on the x in the Firefox window usually closes the browser. If the close window to tray option is enabled, it will instead minimize the browser to the system tray.

The remaining options handle the the web browser’s opacity and transparency levels. Here it is possible to make the browser window transparent to see what’s underneath.

TrayHotKey adds two core features to the browser. First the ability to hide Firefox on a system with the help of a hotkey, and second the option to minimize the browser to the system tray.

Firefox users can download TrayHotKey from the official Mozilla Firefox add-on repository.

Inactive windows and programs can take up valuable screen space. Most users minimize the programs to avoid this but it quickly becomes a repetitive process as the program windows need to be minimized whenever the programs have been accessed by the user.

The free program Swept Away has been designed to automate that process. It will automatically minimize windows that have been inactive for a set amount of time, 300 seconds by default.

The windows are automatically minimized to the system tray without user interaction. The program options can be changed to increase or reduce the time it takes before the windows are minimized.

automatically minimize windows

Swept Away has also an option to whitelist applications so that their windows will never be minimized even if the inactivity period exceeds the configured interval in the software program. Running applications can be excluded from the program’s system tray icon. A checkmark indicates programs that will not be minimized while the program is running.

Swept Away has its uses, especially if programs are run on the system that need to be active regularly but are not required to be visible all the time. The program is compatible with most Microsoft Windows operating systems, download is available over at Lifehacker.

It is however almost certain that software developers have created an application with the exact functionality needed. In this case Power Menu was developed which is a lightweight software program that adds the option to minimize a window, to make a windows always on top and to set the transparency level of each window individually.

Power Menu adds the three options to the right-click menu when clicking window titles. This is working when the window is visible on the screen but also when it is minimized in the task bar.

Power Menu can be run on all 32-bit editions of Windows from Windows 9x to Windows Vista.

It is possible to minimize or maximize all open windows at once and place windows in the system tray. I was not able to find out all of the functions because of a missing help file. If you right-click and hold shift while clicking on minimize you put the window into the system tray instead of the task bar for instance. If you have more information please let me know.

The about information states that you have to move the mouse over the titlebar, the maximize, minimize and close functions to get help but this is not working for me. Maybe because I disabled something in Windows, who knows ?