How-To Fix Two Wifi Icons in the System Tray
When I upgraded to Ubuntu MATE 18.04 LTS I noticed that I would periodically get two wifi icons in my upper right panel or system tray. I could usually reboot and it would go away for a while. It didn't bother me much because everything worked and I was able to get online without any issues. However, I didn't won't the two icons appearing in screenshots that I added to my website or appear in the how-to videos I make and put on YouTube. So, I searched online and found the libappindicator1 file. The libappindicator1 file is a library and indicator to take menus from applications and place them in the panel. It contains shared libraries to be used by applications. So I decided to download and install libappindicator1_12.10.1+18.04.20180322.1-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb on my Ubuntu MATE 18.04 LTS system.
The two wifi icons in the system tray disappeared after I installed the libappindicator1 file and rebooted.
If you found this webpage with an online search engine or found it on YouTube, then you might be using a different version of Ubuntu MATE or you might even be using a different flavor of Linux. If that is the case, then you'll need to go to the website below and download the correct file for your system.
Libappindicator1 Download for Linux (deb, rpm, amd64, i386, i586, x86_64)
https://pkgs.org/download/libappindicator1
If you found this webpage with an online search engine or found it on YouTube, then you might be using a different version of Ubuntu MATE or you might even be using a different flavor of Linux. If that is the case, then you'll need to go to the website below and download the correct file for your system.
Libappindicator1 Download for Linux (deb, rpm, amd64, i386, i586, x86_64)
https://pkgs.org/download/libappindicator1
One day I decided to enable Redshift and Shutter to load at startup and I still only had one Wifi icon in my system tray. Then I decided to disable Redshift and Shutter from loading during startup in their program settings and the two Wifi icons came back.
I realized that when I disabled Redshift and Shutter from loading during startup, it must have left behind lingering files that was causing problems with my system tray icons during startup. So I searched for my autostart folder on my system and when I found it I was amazed that it still had a configuration file for Redshift and Shutter.
Here's how to locate your autostart folder in Ubuntu MATE 18.04.01 LTS. Open your Caja File Manager and click on the View menu and click on Show Hidden Files to select it. You should then see files and folders that have a dot (.) in front of them. These are files and folders that are normally hidden in your file manager.
Here's how to locate your autostart folder in Ubuntu MATE 18.04.01 LTS. Open your Caja File Manager and click on the View menu and click on Show Hidden Files to select it. You should then see files and folders that have a dot (.) in front of them. These are files and folders that are normally hidden in your file manager.
Locate and double-click on a folder called .config to open it.
Now locate and double-click on a folder called autostart to open it.
Now delete every file that you don't won't to load during startup. You must first disable them in the actual program first or the autostart config file will reappear during the next restart. Delete all the files to the programs that you disabled or turned off during startup. As you can see in the image below, Redshift and Shutter still have a configuration file in the autostart folder even though they were both disabled. This creates a problem with the Wifi icon during startup.
The only application that I have enabled to load during startup is Conky. If I ever decided that I no longer wanted to use Conky, I would go in the program settings and turn it off from loading during startup and then delete the file in the autostart folder.
It has been several months since I fixed my problem by deleting the unwanted autostart files and it still works. I have installed multiple updates and installed and removed software on my system and it hasn't affected my Wifi icon anymore. I still use Shutter, but I don't have it to load everytime my computer starts. I enable it when I want to use it.
For now, this is what I did to fix the two Wifi icons in the system tray.
Today (May 20, 2019) my desktop computer got an update and I noticed after I rebooted my system that the two Wifi icons were back in the system tray.
I decided to check my autostart folder and to my suprise the ubuntu-mate-welcome-autostart.desktop file was in the /.config/autostart/ folder.
I realized that I don't use the Welcome screen anymore, so I decided to uninstall it to prevent future updates or upgrades placing an autostart file in the autostart folder. I recommend that you go into the Control Center and scroll down to the Personal group and click on Startup Applications.
When the Startup Applications Preferences dialog box appears, scroll down until you see Welcome in your Startup Programs tab. Click on Welcome to select it and then click the Remove button.
If you do not use Backup Monitor (Deja Dup), Blueman Applet (Bluetooth Manager), and Orca screen reader (Orca), then I recommend that you remove them from your Startup Applications. I originally unchecked them and they produced a file in the autostart folder that still loaded them at startup. Since I didn't use either of those programs, I decided to remove them from Startup Programs. Click on Backup Monitor and then click the Remove button.
Then click on the Blueman Applet (Bluetooth Manager) and click the Remove button.
Then scroll down to Orca screen reader and select it too and then clik the Remove button. This should prevent both of these programs from loading at startup; it does not delete them off your computer. You can still use them when you need them. You just have to manually load them when you plan to use them.
Go back into your in the /.config/autostart/ folder and delete the ubuntu-mate-welcome-autostart.desktop file and any other unwanted files.
Now open your Terminal and enter the following to get rid of the Welcome screen and the next line will remove the Software Boutique if you no longer use it.
sudo snap remove ubuntu-mate-welcome
sudo snap remove software-boutique
sudo snap remove ubuntu-mate-welcome
sudo snap remove software-boutique
Now I recommend that you turn off your computer and let everything settle down before you turn it back on. After you reboot your system, the two Wifi icons should no longer appear in the system tray and the Welcome and Software Boutique should no longer be on your system. Now you no longer have to worry about these pieces of software getting an update and place an autostart file in your autostart folder that creates two Wifi icons in your system tray.
I can't say if this will work for you if you use a different flavor of Linux; however, I don't think it would hurt to try it.
I hope this helped you fix your 2 Wifi icons in your upper right panel.
Take care!
I hope this helped you fix your 2 Wifi icons in your upper right panel.
Take care!