Windows Live Mail is a popular email program that is used by many people. It can be used to send and receive email, as well as store and manage your email. However, there are some ways to minimize Windows Live Mail in Windows 7. One way to minimize Windows Live Mail is to use the Control Panel. In the Control Panel, click on the three lines that look like a triangle in the top left corner of the screen. Then, click on the three lines that look like a circle in the top right corner of the screen. The three lines that look like a triangle will now be hidden. The three lines that look like a circle will now be shown. The two circles will have different sizes and they will both have an arrow next to them. This arrow will point down. This means that you can drag and drop windows into this area so that they are all minimized at once. The two circles will now be minimized and their arrows will point up again. This means that you can still use Windows Live Mail, but it won’t show up on your screen anymore.
UPDATE: If you are running the latest versions of Windows Live Essentials (15.4.3502.0922 or 15.4.3508.1109), then here is how to get the minimize to System Tray functionality back.
Modify the properties for the shortcut as shown here, then once you have Live Mail open right click on the System Tray Icon and make certain that “Hide window when minimized” is selected. Afterwards the Live Mail app window will minimize to the System Tray just like before.
Windows Live Mail in Windows Vista
In Windows Vista you could minimize Windows Live Mail to the system tray if desired using the context menu…
Windows Live Mail in Windows 7
In Windows 7 you can minimize the app window but not hide it in the system tray. The Hide window when minimized menu entry is missing from the context menu and all you have is the window icon taking up space in your taskbar.
How to Add the Context Menu Entry Back
Right click on the program shortcut(s) and select properties.
When the properties window opens click on the compatibility tab and enable the Run this program in compatibility mode for setting. Choose Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) from the drop-down menu and click OK.
Once you have restarted Windows Live Mail you will have access to the Hide window when minimized menu entry again.
And just like that your taskbar is clear again when Windows Live Mail is minimized.
If you have wanted the ability to minimize Windows Live Mail to the system tray in Windows 7 then this little tweak will fix the problem.
