Even if you have already reserved your free Windows 10 Upgrade, you will notice that the Get Windows 10 app icon continues to sit in the taskbar. While it is not a big deal for most, especially those who want to upgrade to Windows 10, some especially those who do not want to upgrade their Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 systems, may want to hide it or remove it.
The process that is responsible for this icon is called GWX.exe, and it runs in the background, consuming near-nil resources. It will inform you as soon as your upgrade is available to be installed.
This process autostarts, as it is a scheduled task and you can see it in your Task Scheduler too.
Hide Get Windows 10 icon from taskbar
If you do plan to upgrade to Windows 10, and have reserved your copy, I would recommend that you simply hide the icon.
You could simply drag and hide the icon, as shown below.
Alternatively, you could click on the small arrow in the taskbar notification area and click on Customize taskbar icons link, to open the following window. You will notice an entry GWX or Get Windows 10.
From the drop-down menu, select Hide icon and notifications – or better still, Only show notifications. The Windows 10 upgrade icon will no longer be visible on the taskbar. If you selected Only show notifications, the icon would be hidden, but you will be informed, once the upgrade is available. Do note that the Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar option has to be unchecked.
However, some have reported that this does not work for them and the icon reappears on computer restart.
Remove Get Windows 10 icon from taskbar
If you wish to completely remove this icon, the best way would be to uninstall KB3035583 from the Control Panel. This is recommended if you do not plan to upgrade to Windows 10 for the time being – or never!
Navigate to Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Programs and Features and click on View installed updates. Locate KB3035583 and uninstall it. On the restart, the icon will be completely removed. After this, you will have to remember to Hide this update in Windows Update, so that it is not offered to you again.
Uninstalling KB2976978 will uninstall the upgrade reservation completely from your computer.
These are the two methods I would recommend. If you plan to upgrade, simply hide the icon. If you do not, then uninstall the update.
A Microsoft Support Staff, in answer to a question on its forums, has also offered the following other ways.
1] Rename GWXUXWorker.exe. Terminate the GWX.exe process using Task Manager. Rename the GWXUXWorker.exe and GWX.exe. Add an old as the suffix, for instance. You will see them located at C:\Windows\System32\GWX. If you face issues while renaming them, then give the system permission to respective files and then try to rename it again. You could also delete the entire directory folder.
2] Modify the Registry. Open regedit and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GWX
Create a new DWORD. Name it DisableGWX and set its value to 1.
Some also suggest removing the gwx and GWXTriggers tasks from the Task Scheduler. Others recommend using a BAT file to remove the icon.
I, for one, however, do not think; you need to go through so much, just to hide an icon. After all, if you do plan to upgrade and have reserved your copy, then you would like to be informed about the availability, right? The GFX.exe process and its icon is there to inform you about it. If you do not plan to upgrade, then simply uninstall the update. My suggestions to you, therefore, would still be either to simply hide the icon or uninstall the update, as elaborated above.
This post shows how to completely block Windows 10 upgrade in Windows 8.1/7 using Group Policy or Registry. These free tools will help you block Windows 10 Upgrade easily.
