On Windows 10, badges are lightweight notifications designed to alert you when you missed any event in the taskbar for a particular app without you having to open Action center, Start menu, or the app.

Depending on the app, you’ll see a badge indicating the number of notifications you have missed. For example, in the “Mail” app, you’ll see the number of emails you haven’t seen. The “Alarm & Clock” app will show any active alarm. The badge for the “Weather” app will let you know of any weather related condition alert, and so on.

However, these notifications can be intrusive and can easily clutter your taskbar, but you can disable the badge feature if it’s something you don’t need.

In this guide , you’ll learn the easy steps to disable badge notifications on Windows 10 .

Disable taskbar badge notifications on Windows 10

To disable badge notifications for apps in the taskbar, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings on Windows 10.
  2. Click on Personalization .
  3. Click on Taskbar .
  4. Turn off the Show badges on taskbar buttons toggle switch. Disable badges for apps in the taskbar Quick tip: If the “Show badges on taskbar buttons” option is grayed out, it’s possible that you’re using small taskbar buttons, which doesn’t support badges. If this is the case, turn off the “Use small taskbar buttons” option to enable badge notifications in the taskbar.

Once you complete the steps, apps in the taskbar will no longer show notifications making the taskbar less distracting.

Disable Action center notification badge

The Action center button in the notification area of the taskbar also includes a badge with the number of missed notifications. The button also can show app icons making easier for you to quickly identify which app you have missed notifications.

If you don’t want to see badge (or app icons) in the Action center button, you can disable these features with these steps:

  1. Right-click the Action center icon from the bottom-right corner of the taskbar.
  2. Select the D on’t show apps icons option.
  3. Select the Down show number of new notifications option. Disable Action center badge notification

After you complete the steps, the Action center button will no longer show notifications, but the icon will turn white or black when you have new notifications depending on the system theme mode.

Update September 18, 2020: This guide was originally released in April 2016, and it’s been revised for the latest version of Windows 10

On Windows 10, Windows Hello is a name that describes the support for new and more secure ways to sign in to your device using biometric and PIN authentication.

In other words, Windows Hello allows users to ditch traditional complex passwords in favor of more personal and secure methods of authentication, including face and iris recognition, fingerprint, and PIN to unlock a device.

In this guide , you’ll learn the step to configure and remove Windows Hello using a fingerprint reader on Windows 10 .

  • Set up Windows Hello Fingerprint on Windows 10
  • Remove Windows Hello Fingerprint on Windows 10
  • Windows Hello compatible hardware for Windows 10

Set up Windows Hello Fingerprint on Windows 10

To unlock device using a fingerprint reader with Windows Hello, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings on Windows 10.
  2. Click on Accounts .
  3. Click on Sign-in options .
  4. Under the “Manage how you sign in to your device” section, select the Windows Hello Fingerprint option.
  5. Click the Set up button. Set up Windows Hello Fingerprint
  6. Click the Get started button. Windows Hello Fingerprint wizard
  7. Confirm your account password.
  8. Touch the fingerprint sensor as indicated in the wizard. Fingerprint setup on Windows 10
  9. Continue with the on-screen directions to capture your fingerprint from various angles. Quick tip: It’s recommended to click the Add another finger option to configure a second and even a third finger that you can use in case you’re having problems signing in, or you just forgot which finger is the one that unlocks your device.

Once you complete the steps, you can now lock your device ( Windows key + L ), and then use the fingerprint reader to sign in with the finger that you configured.

Remove Windows Hello Fingerprint on Windows 10

To remove Windows Hello to sign in on Windows 10, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings .
  2. Click on Accounts .
  3. Click on Sign-in options.
  4. Under the “Manage how you sign in to your device” section, select the Windows Hello Fingerprint option.
  5. Click the Remove button. Remove Windows Hello Fingerprint
  6. Click the Remove button again.
  7. Confirm the account password.
  8. Click the OK button.

After you complete the steps, you can continue signing in with a traditional password. If you have configured Window Hello Face or PIN, you’ll need to remove those configurations using the same steps to completely disable the Windows Hello feature.

Windows Hello compatible hardware for Windows 10

Although face recognition and fingerprint authentication has been around for years, it’s still a technology that isn’t available on all devices. If you want to sign in to Windows 10 using your face or fingerprint, there are a lot of devices that come with Windows Hello built-in, such as the Surface Pro 7 , Surface Laptop 3 , Surface Go , and many others.