NetSpeedTray is a lightweight, open-source Windows network monitor that shows live upload and download speeds directly on the Taskbar. Designed for efficiency, it quietly sits in the system tray, conserving CPU and battery with dynamic updates. It blends seamlessly with Windows 10/11, adapts to light/dark themes, and auto-positions to avoid overlaps. Features include accurate interface detection, customizable display, optional mini-graph, color coding, granular font and unit control, detailed per-interface history graphs, safe data management, and easy CSV export—bringing the network monitoring Windows forgot.
NetSpeedTray key features:
Lightweight & Efficient
- Runs quietly in your system tray without consuming resources. Features a "Dynamic Update Rate" that lowers refresh frequency when the network is idle to save CPU and battery life.
Native Look & Feel
- Blends seamlessly with Windows 10/11 UI. Smart detection for light and dark taskbar themes ensures text is always visible.
Intelligent & Adaptive Positioning
- Automatically finds empty space next to your system tray and shifts to make room for new icons, preventing overlaps.
Seamless OS Integration
- Behaves like a native Windows component.
- Hides instantly with auto-hiding taskbar
- Hides when a fullscreen app is active
Smart Network Monitoring
- Accurate by Default: Auto mode identifies your main internet connection and ignores noise from VPNs or virtual adapters.
- Easy Interface Selection: Switch effortlessly between Auto, All, or Selected network interfaces via intuitive radio buttons.
Total Visual Customization
- Free Move Mode: Unlock and place the widget anywhere on your screen.
- Optional Mini-Graph: Real-time graph of recent network activity with adjustable opacity.
- Color Coding: Customize colors and speed thresholds to quickly see network status.
Granular Display Control
- Text & Font: Adjust font family, size, weight, and alignment.
- Units: Automatic (B/s, KB/s, MB/s) or fixed Mbps display.
- Precision: Set decimal places and always show them for uniform appearance.
Detailed & Intelligent History Graph
- Smart Scale: Logarithmic scale shows low-level traffic and large spikes clearly.
- Per-Interface Filtering: View speed history for specific adapters (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, VPN).
- Safe & Efficient Data Management: Adjustable retention, automatic cleanup, optimized database.
- Easy Data Export: Export raw data to .csv or save high-quality graphs for reports.
NetSpeedTray 2.1.0 changelog highlights:
- Displays your current Wi-Fi network (SSID) and Wi-Fi band (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz / 6 GHz) directly on the taskbar.
- Three display modes for Wi-Fi band: Always visible, Color-coded, or Alert-only when connected to slower 2.4 GHz.
- Optional SSID display can be combined with the Wi-Fi band in a single compact indicator.
- Clear privacy handling explains why Windows requires Location permission to access SSID; no location data is collected, stored, or transmitted.
- Fixed Windows menu overlap—taskbar context menus, jump lists, and "Safely Remove Hardware" menus now display correctly.
- Improved multi-monitor support, including displays that have no Windows taskbar.
- Widget position is preserved across sleep, wake, and monitor configuration changes.
- Added three new languages: Hebrew, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
- First right-to-left (RTL) language support with full Hebrew interface mirroring.
- Updated Japanese and Korean translations with improved localization.
- Portable version now updates correctly with guided download, checksum verification, and extraction.
- Improved spacing next to the system tray, making the hidden icons (∧) button easier to click.
- Better tray alignment eliminates unnecessary gaps in Cycle mode and single-metric layouts.
- New overlap warning alerts users if the widget conflicts with the Windows Widgets/Weather button.
- Settings window scrolling no longer accidentally changes sliders or dropdown controls.
- Improved secondary monitor positioning prevents the widget from overlapping the taskbar clock.
- Reduced unnecessary logging, preventing oversized log files on taskbar-less monitor configurations. [full release notes]
Download: NetSpeedTray 2.1.0 | 42.2 MB (Open Source)
Download: NetSpeedTray Portable | 56.0 MB
View: NetSpeedTray Home Page | Screenshot
