How do I remove/disable the Chrome/Chromium notification-center system indicator?

After upgrading recently, I noticed that when running Chromium, there is a new bell icon in the system indicators area in the upper right. The menu gives the options as such:

• Chromium - notifications
• Do not disturb
• Do not disturb for one hour
• Do not disturb for one day

Are these options only available via the system indicators menu, or can I remove this icon from my view, and access the same options somewhere else? How would I go about removing this?

2 Answers

Open the URL chrome://flags in the browser. Now disable these flags:

• #enable-sync-synced-notifications
• #enable-google-now
• #device-discovery-notifications
• #enable-experimental-notification-ui (Chrome/Chromium 34 only)

Click the restart button at the bottom of the site.

Edit:

I found a very hackish but surefire way to hide the panel indicator.

Simply replace the stock indicator with this one-pixel transparent PNG file (right click → Save link as to download the file).

Instructions on replacing the indicator may be found here.

Original answer:

There are various discussions about this on Google's product forums. The only solution I've found that partially works is to disable Google Now in Chrome's flags:

1. Navigate to chrome://flags/#enable-google-now
2. Set the flag to Disabled
3. Restart Google Chrome

However, even with this flag disabled the notification icon can reappear under some circumstances:

The Notification Bell seems to reappear consistently when i fullscreen a Youtube Video, even after deactivating "Google Now" and anything that even mentions "Notifications" in the flags settings.

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Google's official statement on the matter isn't very satisfactory, either:

Hi All,

As mentioned on the flags page, those are experimental tools that can get removed at any time. We are working on improving the notification system and your options around controlling when to see them, which will be included in upcoming releases. For Windows users, please try clicking on system tray, customize link, which will open your control panel. You can then change the settings for your notification area icons for Chrome from there.

- Sarah

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I guess we will have to wait for now.