---
title: "Delete past items in taskbar"  
description: "In Windows XP, the notification area keeps icons for programs you may long have uninstalled, but even if you go into the Taskbar options, there's no w"  
author: "Anonymous User"  
published: 2015-05-30  
updated: 2019-09-07  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1785/delete-past-items-in-taskbar  
category: "troubleshooting"  
tags: ["desktop troubleshooting"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# Delete past items in taskbar

Hi everyone in this [article](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/81489/kashmir-now-after-an-year-of-abrogation-of-article-370) I’m explaining about clear the past [items](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/44359/store-your-valuable-items-in-a-mini-storage-unit) from [notification](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/205/property-notification-in-c-sharp) area.

##### Details:

##

In [Windows](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12793/insightful-review-of-stellar-phoenix-windows-data-recovery-home-edition) XP, the notification area keeps icons for [programs](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/157528/how-exceptions-can-be-handled-in-sql-server-programs) you may long have uninstalled, but even if you go into the Taskbar [options](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12789/best-options-for-a-home-based-business), there's no way to clear these 'Past Items' from the list.

##### Here's a quick and easy way to do it:

##### Step 1: Click the Start button, then Run… and type regedit in the box which

##### appears.

![Delete past items in taskbar](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c2463a9a-f064-4a0c-84b7-954569be70f1/images/bb5a957a-fccf-4d52-bf9a-d1455492fd70.png)

##### Step 2: The registry editor will open. You need to be careful what you do as

##### deleting the wrong things can stop Windows from working. But if you follow these

##### instructions exactly, there's nothing to worry about.

##### \

##### Step 3: Using the tree structure on the left, navigate to

##### HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\TrayNotify.

![Delete past items in taskbar](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c2463a9a-f064-4a0c-84b7-954569be70f1/images/4c0d8f31-2a21-49bd-bc6e-f7cfcafae10f.png)

**Step 4 :** On the [right](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/23257/how-to-find-the-right-design-agency-for-your-logo-design)-hand side you will see two entries in the list: IconStreams and PastIconsStream. Right-click on each and [choose](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/87863/why-you-should-not-choose-wordpress-for-making-a-website) Delete. [Accept](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/50242/what-to-do-if-there-is-an-unreadable-language-on-the-logon-screen-that-will-probably-not-accept-your-username-and-password-is-there-any-bypass-or-just-a-removing-technique) the [warning](https://answers.mindstick.com/blog/77/psychological-risks-of-ai-chatbots-what-experts-are-warning-about) each time.

![Delete past items in taskbar](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c2463a9a-f064-4a0c-84b7-954569be70f1/images/13a08951-a73c-4e89-8faf-4a5bde039eba.png)

\

##### Step 5 : Close the registry editor and right-click on the taskbar. Choose Task

##### Manager.

![Delete past items in taskbar](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c2463a9a-f064-4a0c-84b7-954569be70f1/images/4f0c1215-91d5-40e0-a539-7ac85f840687.png)

##### Step 6 : Click on the processes tab (if it isn't selected already) and then click on

##### Image Name to sort them alphabetically. Scroll down until you fine explorer.exe.

##### Now click on the End Task button or right-click and select End Process.

![Delete past items in taskbar](https://www.mindstick.com/mindstickarticle/c2463a9a-f064-4a0c-84b7-954569be70f1/images/daf17cdf-ce9b-408a-bf25-55f26c76df3a.png)

## \

**Step 7 :** Click File, then New Task (Run…) and type explorer in the box. Explorer will restart and the past items list will be empty.\

You can check it by right-clicking on the Taskbar, choosing Properties and then clicking the Customize… button.

---

Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1785/delete-past-items-in-taskbar

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