Prevent disabling of system tray icon if not pinned to taskbar

[SublimePeace]

Preflight Checklist

• I have fully read the README and it did not solve the problem.
• I have read the FAQ and it did not solve the problem.
• I have searched all open and closed issues for the same bug report without success.

EverythingToolbar Version

2.0.4

Variant

Search icon / Launcher

Everything Version

1.4.1.1026 (x64)

Windows Version

Windows 11 24H2 OS Bild 26100.6584

Steps to reproduce

If tray icon is disabled AND the app isn't pinned to taskbar, then setup assistant will always run, no matter what.

Reproduction:

1. Unpin the app from your taskbar
2. In Settings > Advanced, disable "Enable system tray icon"
3. End the `EverythingToolbar.Launcher" task in Task Manager
4. Launch EverythingToolbar

Expected Behavior

IsSetupAssistantDisabled=true is respected, and launching EverythingToolbar does not trigger the setup assistant.

Actual Behavior

If the settings.ini contains IsTrayIconEnabled=false, then setup assistant will run on each launch, ignoring the IsSetupAssistantDisabled=true value.

2025-09-29_KAtPG9Zqpm.mp4

Log output

2025-09-29 11:35:38.0784|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:15:32.1303|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:17:27.6322|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:19:59.0462|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:22:53.4826|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:23:23.1822|INFO|EverythingToolbar.Search.SearchResultProvider|Everything version: 1.4.1|
2025-09-29 15:24:28.8825|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:25:21.7189|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:27:36.0196|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:28:34.6953|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:28:53.5610|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:29:07.9613|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:30:31.7724|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:34:15.1655|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:34:27.8465|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:47:30.6952|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:48:34.6680|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:48:42.8133|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:51:44.4547|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:54:05.3969|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:54:21.3215|INFO|EverythingToolbar.Search.SearchResultProvider|Everything version: 1.4.1|
2025-09-29 15:57:45.2739|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|
2025-09-29 15:59:13.2754|INFO|Launcher|EverythingToolbar 2.0.4.0 started. OS: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26100.0|

Additional Information

Relevant issues: #433 #521 and especially #255.

Final Checklist

• I have provided detailed, clear information in all required fields above and put genuine effort into this bug report.

[SublimePeace]

Issue seems to stem from Launcher.cs lines 58-62:

                if (
                    !Utils.IsTaskbarPinned()
                    && (!ToolbarSettings.User.IsSetupAssistantDisabled || !ToolbarSettings.User.IsTrayIconEnabled)
                )
                    new SetupAssistant(icon).Show();

as per this explanation, this is intended behavior.

I'm not sure behind the reasoning for this, considering the setup assistant can be ran even if the app isn't pinned to the taskbar and the icon tray is disabled: invoke EverythingToolbar by pressing WIN+SHIFT+S or launching it via .exe/Start Menu entry, then cogwheel > preferences. Then the taskbar icon can be right clicked to run setup assistant.

[srwi]

as per this explanation, this is intended behavior.

I'm not sure behind the reasoning for this, considering the setup assistant can be ran even if the app isn't pinned to the taskbar and the icon tray is disabled: invoke EverythingToolbar by pressing WIN+SHIFT+S or launching it via .exe/Start Menu entry, then cogwheel > preferences. Then the taskbar icon can be right clicked to run setup assistant.

Yes, it's intended that way because the two ways you proposed are not very obvious and would likely lead to confusion.

I think you should be able to achieve what you're trying to do by removing the taskbar pin and then manually recreating the EverythingToolbar.lnk file as that's the only indicator for EverythingToolbar to check whether the icon is pinned to the taskbar. Creating the link file won't actually pin it to taskbar, so that should work for you.

EverythingToolbar/EverythingToolbar.Launcher/Utils.cs

Line 57 in 5512400

return Path.Combine(taskBarPath, "EverythingToolbar.lnk");

[SublimePeace]

Thank you.

I believe it would be worthwhile to either lock the "enable system tray icon" toggle if IsSetupAssistantDisabled is true, or at the very least put a disclaimer in its description that the setting will be overridden automatically. The current behavior is more akin to a bug rather than a feature, and I only realized the root cause after more than an hour of troubleshooting and narrowing down the issue. And I'd guess the Venn diagram of people looking to minimize taskbar pins and the people wanting to minimize their taskbar icons is a circle, I'm probably not the only one.

If you think it would be helpful, I can add a brief explanation of this issue and the solution to the FAQ and submit a PR for it

[srwi]

You're right. I didn't realize the user could end up in that situation. I like your suggestion of disabling the option to hide the system tray icon if the taskbar icon isn't pinned. I don't think this belongs in the FAQ. It should simply never occur. 🙂