microsoft/Terminal

Quake mode leaves an empty tray icon even if window is closed

Open

#20056 opened on Apr 3, 2026

View on GitHub
 (7 comments) (0 reactions) (1 assignee)C++ (35,764 stars) (3,212 forks)batch import
Area-UserInterfaceHelp WantedIssue-BugPriority-3Product-Terminal

Description

Windows Terminal version

1.23.20211.0

Windows build number

10.0.26200.0

Other Software

No response

Steps to reproduce

  • Allow Windows Terminal to run in background
  • Open quake mode with hotkey and close it with hotkey, sometimes (not always) a tray icon appears even if I have it disabled in settings (I would like to understand this but I actually don't)
  • Oh well let's exit quake window

Expected Behavior

  • Tray icon disappears

Actual Behavior

  • Tray icon still there with nothing inside "Windows" flyout

Maybe related to https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/pull/10179?

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
desktop
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
C++Windows Terminal codebaseWin32 API
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40
Research direction
Investigate the tray icon behavior when quake mode is closed via hotkey vs exit. Examine Windows Terminal's window management code, particularly the QuakeModeHandler or related classes. Check the linked PR #10179 for context on tray icon lifecycle. Focus on what happens when window is closed but background process continues.