Notification Area Balloon Tips - Enable or Disable

INFO: This will show you how to disable or enable the pop-up balloon tips in the Notification area of the taskbar for a current user or all users. The Notification area balloon tips are enabled by default in Vista.

NOTE: This will not affect the menu pop-ups for the Notification Icons when you click on them.

RELATED LINKS:
1. How to Change How Long a Notification Dialog Box will Stay Open in Vista

2. How to Disable or Enable the Security Center Alert Warning Notification in Vista

3. How to Disable or Enable Low Disk Space Warning in Vista

4. How to Change Windows Defender Notification Options

5. How to Turn Pop-up Descriptions On or Off in Vista


EXAMPLE: Notification Area Balloon Tips Enabled and Disabled
NOTE: For this example, I disabled my antivirus program to trigger a notification area balloon tip for it.

Notification_Balloons_Enabled.jpgNotification_Balloons_Disabled.jpg


OPTION ONE:
For the Current User Only:
NOTE: This will only disable or enable the notification area balloon tips for the user account that this is done in.

METHOD ONE:
Through a Download:
1. To Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) Disable_Current_User_Balloon_Tips.reg < Click To Download

2. To Enable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) Enable_Current_User_Balloon_Tips.reg < Click To Download

3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.
4. Right click the .reg (On Desktop) file and click Merge.
5. Click on the Run button for Security Warning pop-up.
6. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.
7. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.
8. When done, you can delete the .reg file (On Desktop).


METHOD TWO:
The Manual Way:
1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.
3. Click the Continue button for the UAC prompt.
4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Advanced

MethodOne_Reg1.jpg

5. To Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) In the right pane, right click on a empty area and click New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. (See screenshot above)
B) Type EnableBalloonTips and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
C) Go to step 7.

MethodOne_Reg2.jpg

6. To Enable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) In the right pane, right click on EnableBalloonTips and click Delete. (See screenshot above)
B) Click Yes to confirm deletion.

7. Close regedit.
8. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.


OPTION TWO:
For All Users:
NOTE: This will disable or enable the notification area balloon tips for all user accounts on the computer.

METHOD ONE:
Through the Group Policy Object Editor:
NOTE: This is only available for the Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions. See Method Two below for Vista Home Basic and Home Premium editions.

1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type gpedit.msc and press Enter.
3. Click Continue for the UAC prompt.
4. In the left pane, click on User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Start Menu and Taskbar. (See screenshot below)
5. In the right pane, right click on Turn off all balloon notifications and click Properties.

Group_Policy.jpg

6. To Enable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) Dot Disabled or Not Configured and click OK. (See screenshot below)
B) Go to step 8.

7. To Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) Dot Enabled and click OK.

Properties.jpg

8. Close Group Policy Object Editor window. Your done.


METHOD TWO:
Through the Registry:
NOTE: This will work for all Vista versions.

OPTION ONE:
Through a Download:
1. To Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) Disable_All_Users_Balloon_Tips.reg < Click To Download

2. To Enable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) Enable_All_Users_Balloon_Tips.reg < Click To Download

3. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the Desktop.
4. Right click the .reg (On Desktop) file and click Merge.
5. Click on the Run button for Security Warning pop-up.
6. Click on Continue (UAC), Yes, and then OK when prompted.
7. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.
8. When done, you can delete the .reg file (On Desktop).


OPTION TWO:
The Manual Way:
1. Open the Start Menu.
2. In the white line (Start Search) area, type regedit and press Enter.
3. Click the Continue button for the UAC prompt.
4. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
NOTE: If you do not have Explorer, then right click on Policies and click on New then Key and type Explorer and press Enter.

Method_Two_Reg1.jpg

5. To Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) In the right pane, right click on a empty area and click New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value. (See screenshot above)
B) Type TaskbarNoNotification and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
C) Right click on TaskbarNoNotification and click Modify.

Method_Two_Reg2.jpg

D) Type 1 and click OK. (See screenshot below)

Modify.jpg

E) The registry will now look like this. (See screenshot below)

Method_Two_Reg3.jpg

F) Go to step 7.

6. To Enable Notification Area Balloon Tips -
A) In the right pane, right click on TaskbarNoNotification and click Delete. (See screenshot above)
B) Click Yes to confirm deletion.
C) In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
NOTE: If you do not have Explorer, then right click on Policies and click on New then Key and type Explorer and press Enter.

D) In the right pane, repeat steps 6A and 6B if TaskbarNoNotification is there to.

Method_Two_HKLM_Reg.jpg

7. Close regedit.
8. Logoff and logon, or restart the computer to apply the changes.


That's it,
Shawn