Win32: Is it possible to show the window but to hide it from taskbar?

7
votes

If I have an win32 application with several windows, is it possible to show a window but hide the window icon in the taskbar?

I have tried creating the window with WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW and WS_EX_APPWINDOW.

1
c++windowswinapi

1 Answers

16
votes

You have a few options:

  1. Tool windows do not have taskbar buttons. Create a tool window by including the WS_EX_TOOLWINDOW extended window style.
  2. Owned windows without the WS_EX_APPWINDOW extended style do not have taskbar buttons.
  3. Hidden windows do not have taskbar buttons.

Option 1 is simple enough. If you don't want to use a tool window, use a combination of 2 and 3. Create a hidden unowned window that is the owner of your main window.