NetSpeedTray

A lightweight, open-source system monitor for Windows that displays live network speeds, CPU/GPU utilization, temperatures, and power draw directly on the Taskbar. It's the feature Windows forgot.

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Installation

The easiest way to install and get automatic updates is with a package manager.

Using Winget (Recommended, built into Windows):

winget install --id erez-c137.NetSpeedTray

Manual Download

Download the latest files directly from the Releases Page.

• NetSpeedTray-x.x.x-Setup.exe: The standard Windows installer. Recommended for most users.
• NetSpeedTray-x.x.x-Portable.zip: The portable version. No installation needed — just extract and run NetSpeedTray.exe.

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Key Features

Network Monitoring

• Live Upload/Download Speeds on the taskbar with sub-second updates
• Auto-Primary Mode: Intelligently identifies your main internet connection, ignoring noise from VPNs and virtual adapters
• Interface Filtering: Monitor all hardware, specific adapters, or include virtual interfaces
• Color Coding: Set custom speed thresholds and colors to visualize network load at a glance
• App Activity Window: See estimated per-app network usage (with a non-admin fallback mode)

Hardware Monitoring

• CPU & GPU Utilization displayed alongside network speeds on the taskbar
• Temperature Readouts for CPU and GPU (via LibreHardwareMonitor, nvidia-smi, or Windows PDH/ACPI)
• Power Draw in Watts for CPU (Intel RAPL) and GPU (nvidia-smi / LHM)
• RAM & VRAM usage readouts
• Vendor-Agnostic GPU Support via Windows Performance Counters (PDH) — works with NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel GPUs
• LibreHardwareMonitor Auto-Detection: If LHM/OHM is running, NetSpeedTray picks it up automatically for temperature and power readings across all GPU vendors

Tip: CPU and GPU temperatures require a kernel-level driver. Install LibreHardwareMonitor and run it as Administrator — NetSpeedTray detects it automatically. NVIDIA GPU temps also work natively via nvidia-smi.

Widget Layout Modes

• Side-by-Side: Network and hardware stats displayed together
• Stacked: CPU + GPU in a compact column
• Auto-Cycle: Rotates through Network, CPU, and GPU views
• Per-Segment Ordering: Choose the display order (Network / CPU / GPU / None)

History & Graphs

• Dual-Axis Area Charts for download and upload with split view
• CPU & GPU History Tabs with dedicated graphs
• Overview Tab with synchronized Network/CPU/GPU charts and at-a-glance stats
• Symlog Scaling: Dynamic logarithmic scale shows fine detail in idle traffic and handles Gigabit spikes
• Time-Dynamic Rendering: Detailed line plots for recent data, "Mean & Range" aggregation for long-term history
• Data Export: Export to .csv or save high-resolution .png snapshots
• 3-Tier Data Retention: Raw (24h) → Minute (30d) → Hourly (configurable) for both network and hardware stats

Performance

• NumPy Vectorization for near-instant graph rendering with years of data
• Dynamic Update Rate: Reduces polling when idle to save CPU and battery
• Global Debouncing: Intelligent input debouncing prevents UI thread freezes
• RDP Session Detection: Automatically detects Remote Desktop sessions, skipping GPU polling and adjusting App Activity to avoid performance issues in virtualized environments

Visual Customization

• Auto-Theme Detection: Switches text and background colors for Light, Dark, or Mixed taskbar themes
• Fluent Design: Modern Windows 10/11-style controls and flat card styling
• Free Move Mode: Place the widget anywhere — another monitor, the desktop, a specific taskbar spot
• Mini-Graph Overlay: Real-time area chart on the widget with adjustable opacity and gradient fills
• Arrow Styling: Independent font, size, and weight for arrow symbols
• Font & Precision Control: Custom fonts, 0-2 decimal places, fixed-width values to prevent layout jitter
• Text Alignment & Units: Bits (Mbps), Bytes (MB/s), Binary (MiB/s), or Decimal units with toggleable suffixes

Positioning & Integration

• Auto-Shift: Finds empty space near the system tray and adjusts for new icons
• Z-Order Management: Stays above the taskbar, hides for fullscreen apps and system menus, reappears instantly
• Tray Offset Control: Fine-tune position relative to the system tray
• Vertical Taskbar Support: Automatically adapts layout for side-mounted taskbars
• High-DPI Aware: Proper scaling on 4K and multi-monitor setups

Localization

• Full support for 9 languages: English, Korean, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish, and Slovenian
• 100% key parity across all locales — no missing translations

Security & Privacy

• Digitally Signed by SignPath Foundation — no SmartScreen warnings
• 100% Open Source — no ads, no tracking, no telemetry. Privacy Policy
• Code Signing provided by SignPath.io

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Usage & Screenshots

The Widget

The core of NetSpeedTray. It sits on your taskbar showing live speeds and hardware stats.

• Right-click to access Settings, Graph, App Activity, or Exit.
• Double-click to open the full history graph.
• Left-click and drag to adjust position along the taskbar.

Modern Settings

A clean, 6-page settings UI with collapsible hardware sections, Windows 11 flat card styling, and full control over every aspect of the widget.

History Graph

Double-click the widget to see detailed, filterable graphs of your network, CPU, and GPU history.

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Support This Project

NetSpeedTray is a labor of love — hundreds of hours of development and debugging to build the feature Windows should have had built-in. It will always be free, open-source, and ad-free.

If you get daily value from this widget, please consider supporting its development. Every contribution directly funds new features and long-term maintenance.

Can't contribute financially? Starring the repo on GitHub is a free and hugely appreciated way to show your support.

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Building from Source

Click to expand

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• Git
• (Optional) Inno Setup 6 for building the Windows installer.

Development & Build Instructions

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/erez-c137/NetSpeedTray.git
   cd NetSpeedTray

2. Create and Activate a Virtual Environment:

   # PowerShell (Recommended on Windows)
   python -m venv .venv
   .\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

   # CMD
   python -m venv .venv
   .\.venv\Scripts\activate.bat

3. Install All Dependencies:

   pip install -r dev-requirements.txt

   Note for Python 3.13+ Users: If you are using a pre-release version of Python (e.g., 3.14), you may need to install dependencies with the --pre flag if stable wheels are not yet available: pip install --pre -r dev-requirements.txt

4. Run the Application from Source:

   python src/monitor.py

5. Run the Test Suite (Optional):

   pytest -v

6. Build the Executable and Installer (Optional):

   • Full Package: To build both the executable and the Inno Setup installer:

     .\build\build.bat

   • Executable Only: To build just the standalone executable (no installer):

     .\build\build-exe-only.bat

   • The final files will be created in the dist folder.

Contributing

Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome! Please feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

A Note on System UI Integration: NetSpeedTray is designed to integrate seamlessly with core Windows UI. Elements like the Start Menu and Action Center will always appear on top. The widget gracefully hides when these menus are active and reappears instantly when they close. This is intentional — it ensures the widget feels like a polished, non-intrusive part of the operating system.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU GPL v3.0.