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up vote 21 down vote favorite
4

I'm wondering how it's possible to remove the little mail indicator applet in the global menu. I've uninstalled all the programs that use it, like Thunderbird, Empathy, and Gwibber, since I don't use any of them, but the icon is still there.

Any ideas?

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7 Answers

up vote 23 down vote accepted

You can remove the message indicator by removing the indicator-messages Install indicator-messages package by clicking on that link and clicking uninstall. Or by executing the following command in a terminal: 

sudo apt-get remove indicator-messages

Then log out and back in.

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up vote 8 down vote

Remove the package indicator-messages from within the Ubuntu Software Center.

Then reboot, gone!

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1  
I couldn't find it in the Software Center, so I did a sudo apt-get remove indicator-messages, log out and log in. The icon is now gone. – Thierry Lam Oct 22 '11 at 13:54
1  
for more advanced package management install synaptic from USS.. – sarveshlad Oct 22 '11 at 20:29
up vote 3 down vote

This instruction will not remove the sound icon on Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise)

The program can be uninstalled from your system by opening the program "terminal", and typing in

sudo apt-get remove indicator-messages -y

It will ask you for your password, and then it will remove the program from your system.

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up vote 2 down vote

this works in the gnome shell for 11.04, not sure about Unity interface:

open synaptic + remove "indicator-messages" + log out and log back in

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I really don't know how to "open synaptic".... – George Bailey May 25 '11 at 17:57
@George: if you use Unity: open the Dash (click on the ubuntu symbol in the top left corner), start typing 'synaptic', and click on 'synaptic package manager'. – joris May 25 '11 at 18:47
@joris: Is this permanent? I don't want to get rid of it if there is no way to get it back. – George Bailey May 25 '11 at 21:17
1  
@GeorgeBailey If you want it back you just install that package again (which would require the CD or another way to transfer the package's installation data to the machine since there's no internet). – htorque May 25 '11 at 22:00
up vote 2 down vote

There is a word of caution for removing the e-mail icon. You will also loose the Sound Control icon as both are connected to each-other. By removing the "indicator applet" package you will no longer be able to access or control the sound settings by clicking on the panel icon.

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1  
That is why you remove indicator-messages and not indicator as a whole. – Quelltextfabrik Feb 18 at 10:11
up vote -1 down vote

On Ubuntu 10.10 or earlier versions click with right mouse button on the icon and click on Remove From Panel

On Ubuntu 11.04 (Unity) click with right mouse button on the icon and click on Keep In Launcher Removing icons on Ubuntu 11.04 Classic works the same as on Ubuntu 10.10

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up vote -4 down vote

You just have to change the extension on the libmessaging.so file. See here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YggmPX_L1Is

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4  
Oooff, messing with files like that is a horrible idea. Other applications might be using the .so, and the .so might change from version to version. – Syzygy Jun 3 '12 at 20:31

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