Notification Center Visual Tree Element Targets

Complete technical reference and living catalog of verified XAML visual tree element names, types, control hierarchies, and visual state behaviors across ShellExperienceHost.exe (Win11 21H2โ€“23H2) and ShellHost.exe (Win11 24H2 build 26100+).


Architecture & Process Host Migration

Windows 11 Notification Center, Quick Settings (Win+A), Calendar (Win+N), and Toast notifications run within UWP shell hosts using Windows.UI.Xaml. In Windows 11 24H2 (build 26100+), Microsoft migrated the Quick Settings host from ShellExperienceHost.exe to ShellHost.exe.

flowchart TD
    ShellHost["ShellHost.exe (24H2) / ShellExperienceHost.exe (<24H2)\n(Target Process)"]
    
    ShellHost --> ControlCenter["Grid#ControlCenterRegion\n(Quick Settings Flyout)"]
    ShellHost --> NotifCenter["Grid#NotificationCenterGrid\n(Notifications Flyout)"]
    ShellHost --> CalendarCenter["Grid#CalendarCenterGrid\n(Calendar Flyout)"]
    ShellHost --> ToastRegion["Border#ToastBackgroundBorder\n(Popup Notification Toasts)"]
    
    ControlCenter --> RootGridBorder["Border#RootGridBorder\n(System Inner Plate - Must Clear)"]
    ControlCenter --> L1Grid["Grid#L1Grid\n(Primary Quick Actions Layout)"]
    ControlCenter --> MediaRegion["Grid#MediaTransportControlsRegion\n(Media Transport Card)"]
    ControlCenter --> Sliders["ControlCenter.AsyncSlider\n(Volume & Brightness Sliders)"]
    ControlCenter --> Footer["Grid[AutomationProperties.LocalizedLandmarkType=Footer]\n(Battery & Settings Buttons)"]
    
    L1Grid --> QuickTiles["ControlCenter.PaginatedToggleButton\n(Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane)"]
    L1Grid --> L2Frame["ControlCenter.FrameWithContentChanged#L2Frame\n(Expanded Network/Device Flyout)"]
    
    CalendarCenter --> CalScroll["ScrollViewer#CalendarControlScrollViewer\n(Month & Day Grid)"]
    CalendarCenter --> FocusSession["ActionCenter.FocusSessionControl\n(Focus Session Card)"]

1. Root Flyout Panels & Master Framing Targets

Controls managing outer flyout geometry, background blur plates, and drop-shadows.

Element Selector Class Type Verified Builds Behavior & Styling Notes
Grid#ControlCenterRegion Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Main Quick Settings (Win+A) outer window frame. Stylable: Background, BorderBrush, BorderThickness, CornerRadius, Margin, plus Shadow:= to clear the native drop shadow.
Grid#NotificationCenterGrid Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Main Notification Center window frame. Stylable: Background, BorderBrush, CornerRadius, plus Shadow:= to clear the native drop shadow.
Grid#CalendarCenterGrid Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Calendar flyout container frame. Stylable: Background, BorderBrush, CornerRadius, Margin, MinHeight.
ControlCenter.ControlCenterView > Grid#RootGrid > Border#RootGridBorder Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Border Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 System-painted inner background card. Must be cleared to Background:=<SolidColorBrush Color="Transparent"/> to prevent double-blur artifacts.
Grid#L1Grid Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Primary layout grid inside Quick Settings. Sibling of RootGridBorder.
ContentPresenter#PageContent > Grid > Border Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Border Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Inner page content card border. Stylable: Background, CornerRadius, Margin, plus Shadow:= to clear the native drop shadow.
QuickActions.ControlCenter.AccessibleWindow#PageWindow > ContentPresenter > Grid#FullScreenPageRoot > ContentPresenter#PageHeader Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.ContentPresenter Win11 22H2 โ€“ 24H2 Full-page flyout header card. Stylable: Background, CornerRadius, Margin.

2. Quick Settings Toggles & L2 Expanded Frames

Controls managing toggle buttons (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Airplane mode), split chevron buttons, and drill-down panels.

Element Selector Class Type Verified Builds Behavior & Styling Notes
ControlCenter.PaginatedToggleButton#ToggleButton, QuickActions.AccessibleToggleButton#ToggleButton ToggleButton Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Primary quick action toggle button. Stylable: CornerRadius, BorderThickness, BorderBrush, and BackgroundSizing=InnerBorderEdge.
ControlCenter.PaginatedToggleButton#SplitL2Button, Button#SplitL2Button Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Right-hand chevron button on split quick action tiles. Stylable: CornerRadius, Margin, BorderThickness.
ControlCenter.PaginatedToggleButton > ContentPresenter#ContentPresenter@CommonStates ContentPresenter Win11 22H2 โ€“ 24H2 Interactive state presenter for quick toggles. Stylable: Background@Normal, Background@PointerOver, Background@Pressed, Background@Checked, Background@CheckedPointerOver.
ControlCenter.FrameWithContentChanged#L2Frame Frame Win11 22H2 โ€“ 24H2 Secondary expanded panel frame (e.g. Wi-Fi network selection list or Bluetooth device list).
Border#L2ContentBorder Border Win11 22H2 โ€“ 24H2 Background card for L2 drill-down views.
Button#BackButton Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Back arrow chevron inside L2 drill-down views. Stylable: CornerRadius, BorderThickness.
NetworkUX.View.SettingsListViewItem > ListViewItemPresenter#Root ListViewItemPresenter Win11 22H2 โ€“ 24H2 Wi-Fi network list items in L2 panel. Stylable: CornerRadius.

3. Volume & Brightness Sliders (AsyncSlider)

Controls managing audio volume and screen brightness slider bars.

Element Selector Class Type Verified Builds Behavior & Styling Notes
ControlCenter.AsyncSlider Custom Slider Control Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Custom UWP wrapper around volume and display brightness sliders.
Grid#SliderContainer Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Slider track and thumb container within AsyncSlider. Stylable: Margin.
Windows.UI.Xaml.Shapes.Rectangle#HorizontalTrackRect Windows.UI.Xaml.Shapes.Rectangle Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Inactive slider track background rectangle. Stylable: Height, Fill, RadiusX, RadiusY.
Windows.UI.Xaml.Shapes.Rectangle#HorizontalDecreaseRect Windows.UI.Xaml.Shapes.Rectangle Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Active highlighted portion of the slider track. Stylable: Height, Fill, RadiusX, RadiusY.
Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives.Thumb#HorizontalThumb Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives.Thumb Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Draggable slider thumb pill/circle. Collapsed (Visibility=Collapsed or 1) for modern track-only appearance.
Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Button[AutomationProperties.AutomationId = Microsoft.QuickAction.Volume] Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Volume icon button beside slider. Stylable: CornerRadius, BorderThickness.
Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Button#VolumeL2Button Button Win11 22H2 โ€“ 24H2 Audio output device selector chevron button. Stylable: CornerRadius, BorderThickness.

4. Media Transport Controls

Controls rendering the floating media player card inside Quick Settings.

Element Selector Class Type Verified Builds Behavior & Styling Notes
Grid#MediaTransportControlsRegion Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Media playback card container. Stylable: Height, CornerRadius, BorderBrush, BorderThickness, Background, Margin, plus Shadow:= to clear the native drop shadow.
Grid#MediaTransportControlsRoot Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Layout root inside media card: Background:=<SolidColorBrush Color="Transparent"/>.
Grid#ThumbnailImage Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Album artwork thumbnail image container. Stylable: Width, Height, CornerRadius, Margin; layout slot Grid.Column=1.
StackPanel#PrimaryAndSecondaryTextContainer StackPanel Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Title and artist label container: VerticalAlignment=Center, Grid.Column=0.
ListView#MediaButtonsListView ListView Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Media playback buttons strip. Stylable: VerticalAlignment, Height, Margin.
RepeatButton#PreviousButton > ContentPresenter@CommonStates RepeatButton Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Previous track button. Stylable: Background@Normal, Background@PointerOver, Width, Height, CornerRadius.
Button#PlayPauseButton > ContentPresenter@CommonStates Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Play / pause button. Stylable: Background@Normal, Background@PointerOver, Width, Height, CornerRadius.
RepeatButton#NextButton > ContentPresenter@CommonStates RepeatButton Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Next track button. Stylable: Background@Normal, Background@PointerOver, Width, Height, CornerRadius.

5. Calendar Flyout & Focus Session Controls

Controls organizing the month calendar grid, day numbers, and Focus Session cards.

Element Selector Class Type Verified Builds Behavior & Styling Notes
ScrollViewer#CalendarControlScrollViewer ScrollViewer Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Calendar main scrollable container. Stylable: Background, CornerRadius, Margin, plus Shadow:= to clear the native drop shadow.
Border#CalendarHeaderMinimizedOverlay Border Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Minimized calendar header overlay card. Stylable: Background, CornerRadius, Height, plus Shadow:= to clear the native drop shadow.
StackPanel#CalendarHeader StackPanel Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Month and year header label stack. Stylable: Margin.
Grid#WeekDayNames Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Day of week abbreviations row (Su, Mo, Tuโ€ฆ). Stylable: CornerRadius, Margin.
CalendarViewDayItem, Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.CalendarViewDayItem CalendarViewDayItem Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Individual day number cell. Stylable: CornerRadius, BorderThickness, BorderBrush, Background, Background@PointerOver.
ActionCenter.FocusSessionControl#FocusSessionControl > Grid#FocusGrid Grid Win11 22H2 โ€“ 24H2 Focus Session integration card. Stylable: Background, CornerRadius, Margin, plus Shadow:= to clear the native drop shadow.
Button#ExpandCollapseButton Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Chevron button toggling compact vs full calendar. Stylable: CornerRadius; AccessKey=e.

6. Toast Notifications & Jump Lists

System notification toast popup cards and taskbar right-click jump lists.

Element Selector Class Type Verified Builds Behavior & Styling Notes
Border#ToastBackgroundBorder, Border#ToastBackgroundBorder2 Border Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Popup notification toast cards. Stylable: Background, BorderBrush, BorderThickness, CornerRadius, plus Shadow:= to clear the native drop shadow.
ActionCenter.FlexibleToastView#FlexibleNormalToastView Custom Control Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Toast interactive view hierarchy: Background:=<SolidColorBrush Color="Transparent"/>, Shadow:=.
Grid#ToastPeekRegion Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Toast peek placement region. Supports RenderTransform (TranslateTransform) to offset the peek position.
ActionCenter.NotificationListViewItem ListViewItem Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Notification item in notification center. Stylable: Margin, CornerRadius.
Button#ClearAll Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 โ€œClear allโ€ notifications button. Stylable: CornerRadius, BorderThickness; AccessKey=x.
Border#JumpListRestyledAcrylic Border Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Jump list acrylic frame. Stylable: Background, BorderBrush, CornerRadius.
JumpViewUI.JumpListListViewItem > Grid#LayoutRoot > Border#BackgroundBorder Border Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Jump list menu item card. Stylable: CornerRadius.

Bottom utility row housing battery status and Settings shortcuts.

Element Selector Class Type Verified Builds Behavior & Styling Notes
Grid[AutomationProperties.LocalizedLandmarkType = Footer] Grid Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Footer bar container. Stylable: BorderThickness.
Button#FooterButton[AutomationProperties.Name = Edit quick settings] Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Pencil edit icon button. Stylable: CornerRadius, Margin.
Button#FooterButton[AutomationProperties.Name = All settings] Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Settings gear button. Stylable: CornerRadius, Margin.
Button[AutomationProperties.AutomationId = Microsoft.QuickAction.Battery] Button Win11 21H2 โ€“ 24H2 Battery status indicator button. Stylable: CornerRadius, Margin.