If you find that your Windows icons aren’t big enough or too large, follow this guide on how to shrink or resize Desktop, Taskbar, and File Explorer icons in Windows 11.
As a default feature, Windows 11 comes with an average or medium-sized taskbar, desktop, and icon icons for the file explorer. If you’re likely to spend long periods of time looking at your computerscreen, you might want to alter the icon size to one that you’re comfortable with, such as small or large, extra-large, and any of the other sizes.
If you’re struggling to locate the icons you want on your computer due to the fact that they’re too small, you can alter the icon size to larger or if your having a hard time finding numerous icons. You can reduce the size of icons to make your desktop tidy and neat.
In this tutorial we will show you how to change the size of Desktop, Taskbar, and File Explorer icons in Windows 11.
Table of Contents
Changing Desktop Icons in Windows 11
The process of changing Desktop icons is easy and simple. This method can change icons to three sizes that are small, medium, or large.
To alter the size of desktop icons to change the size of desktop icons, right-click an empty spot on the desktop and choose the option ‘View.
Choose any of three size options that are most suitable for you. You can choose one of the three sizes from the expanded context menu, or press the shortcut keys:
- Large icons Large icons – Ctrl+Shift+2
- Medium icons Medium icons – Ctrl+Shift+3
- Smakk icons – Ctrl+Shift+4
While the Super Large icons option isn’t available within the contextual menus, you can alter your icons from regular to extra Large using Ctrl+Shift+1. When using keyboard shortcuts, be sure you use the numbers keys at the top of the word.
When the option is chosen, the icons will automatically change to the size you have selected.
Extra Large Icons
Large Icons
Medium Icons
Small Icons
If you do not want to view the desktop icons at all You can also remove them and then get them back at any time you need to see them. To do this, right-click an empty spot on your desktop, then hover over the word ‘View’ and select the option to show desktop icons from the contextual menu.
To remove all desktop icons, click right on an empty area on the desktop then select ‘View’, then “Show desktop icons”.
Change the Desktop Icons by using a mouse Scroll
In the previous method you are able to change your icons to three sizes of presets: medium, small, or extra-large. However, with this method you are able to alter icons on your desktop to any size you like simply by scrolling the wheel of your mouse.
All you need to do is hold the Ctrl button on your keyboard and begin scrolling the wheel of your mouse downwards or upwards in order to expand or reduce the dimensions, depending on the size. Once you are satisfied with the size of the icon then stop scrolling the mouse wheel.
Modify Desktop Icon Spacing by using the Registry Editor
With Windows 11, you can not just resize your desktop icons, but alter the vertical and horizontal space between icons according to your requirements. There isn’t a straightforward to alter the size of icons, however it is possible to do so by using Windows Registry. Windows Registry.
Then, you must open Windows Registry Editor by searching for “Registry Editor” in the Windows search, and then clicking the app in the results. Press Windows+R and type in’regedit”, then press Enter.
In the registry editor, go to the following path , or copy and paste the following path into the address of the Registry Editor bar, and then press Enter.
HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktopWindowMetricsWithin the WindowMetrics folder of the registry, you will locate two registry entries in the right-hand pane in the right-hand side of your window.
- IconSpacing
- IconVerticalSpacing
To alter the Horizontal Spacing of the icons, click on the icon spacing Registry.
Enter a number that is between a minimum of 480 to the maximum of -2730 into the field ‘Value data then click “OK”. In this case, we’re using the value ‘-2000’.
Note the default value for each registry is ‘-1128’, which is the standard size. The higher the number, the smaller the spacing and decreasing it will increase the spacing.
To change the Vertical Spacing of the icons, double-click the ‘IconVerticalSpacing’ registry.
Enter a number that is between a minimum of 480 to the maximum of -2730 into the field ‘Value data then click “OK”. In this case, we’re using the number ‘1000’.
After you have finished reboot your computer and you’ll notice the change in horizontal and vertical space between the icons. The horizontal adjustment will also alter the boundaries of icons.
Change File and Folder Icon Sizes
Like the context menu ‘View’ located on the Desktop of Window 11, the File Explorer offers options to alter how files appear and the size as well as icons for folders. Use these instructions to change the size of the icons of folders in Windows 11:
Start File Explorer and click on the button ‘View’ (Layout and options for viewing) on the toolbar to open an option menu. Select one of the sizes for your folder that meet your needs Extra-large, Large, Small, Medium or Large icons choices.
When you choose an alternative size for your icon it will automatically adjust to accommodate the changes you make. In the following example, we choose the smaller size of icons.
In addition to the four sizes You can select one among the layout choices which can also alter the size of icons according to the layout design. Within the menu View in File Explorer, there are four layout choices including List or Detail, Tile or Content.
When you alter the layout or size of icons within the folder it only affects the current folder, and not other folders. But, you can apply the current folder’s Icon View to all its subfolders and files.
When you change the size of the icon for a folder or layout of the folder or drive to change the layout, press the ‘three dots’ (Vertical Ellipsis) button on the File Explorer ribbon and select “Options” in the drop-down menu.
Within the Folder Options Dialog box select the tab ‘View’ and then click the ‘Apply to Folders button.
After that, click the “Yes” button in the confirmation box.
Then, click ‘OK to end the dialogue box, and then apply the modifications.
This applies the icon size of the current folder as well as layout across all of its subfolders and files.
Reset Folder View
If you want to change your Folder View setting for every folder, and then reset the view to their default follow these steps:
Within File Explorer, click the three dots’ icon on the File Explorer ribbon and select “Options” in the drop-down menu.
Go to the tab ‘View’ and then click the Reset Folders button.
Click ‘Yes’ to open to confirm the box.
Change the Taskbar Height and Icon dimension in Windows 11
Because that the Start menu as well as the Taskbar icons are located within Window 11, it can quickly become cluttered when there are many icons in the taskbar. There isn’t a alternative to change the height of the taskbar and its icons’ sizes, so you need to modify using the registry editor to create the taskbar icons larger or smaller.
Then, you must first, open Windows Registry Editor by pressing Win+R, then typing’regedit”, then clicking OK..
Once the Registry Editor is open Navigate to the following route or copy and paste the following path HTML0into the address bar of the Registry Editor bar , and then press Enter.
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvancedOnce you have reached the Advanced folder on the left navigation pane click on the Advanced folder, right-click and choose ‘New’ then select “DWORD (32-bit) Value’. You can also right-click any empty space in the right side of the pane and select “New” > ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value’.
Then, change the name of the registry entry you just created to: TaskbarSi.
Then, double-click the tabbar ‘TaskbarSi’ to change the Value information by one of these:
- 0. – – Small Size
- 1 – Medium Size (Default)
- 2 – Larger Size
In the following example in the below example, we set the date value to ‘2’ in order to make the taskbar larger.
After that, click OK then shut down then close the Registry Editor and then restart your system. When the computer is started, you’ll be able to see that the taskbar as well as the icons’ sizes were changed in accordance with your preferences.
Medium-Sized Taskbar:
Large Taskbar:
Small Taskbar:
Quickly Resize Taskbar by using the ‘.bat files
If you’re worried about destroying your Windows registry by altering it by yourself, you can make use of the .bat files that we’ve provided to quickly alter the taskbar’s icons and size. The first step is to download the zip file using the bat files, then put them in an appropriate folder.
For extracting the .bat file, click right on on the download .zip files (Change the Taskbar Size.zip) and choose “Extract All” …’ .
After that, click the ‘Browse’ option to choose the location where you wish to save the file, and select the ‘Extract’ option within the wizard.
Once the files have been extracted After the files have been extracted, click twice (or right-click and choose Run as Administrator’) on the relevant bat file to launch it, and then change the size of your taskbar.
Windows Defender will display an blue screen prompt and warning messages because you’re using an external .bat file. Click the link ‘More information’ beneath the message.
The next page, select “Run Anyway”.
After this, Windows will automatically change the taskbar’s icons and size, or you’ll have to restart your computer to make the changes effective. With these ‘.bat files, you can easily switch between size of your taskbar at any time.
Change the size of all Icons by using Display Scaling within Windows 11
Display Scaling can be a feature within Windows 11 that allows you to alter the size of icons, text and taskbars, windows and other elements of the user interface to make your computer more enjoyable to view and operate. Here’s how to do this:
Then, right-click on in the desktop then select Display settings. Alternately, launch Windows Settings. Open the Windows Settings app, go to the tab ‘System and select the option ‘Display.
On the Display settings page, scroll down to the ‘Scale and layout section. Click the drop-down beside the option ‘Scale.
The default scale is 100 percent, but you can alter this to one of four numbers: 100 percent’, ‘125%’ 150 percent’, or 175%. If the icons, text, or other components of the Windows appear too tiny for you to be seen, you can alter your scale value to greater percentage. In the following example we’re changing the scale to 125 percent. For the majority of displays the scale of 125% or 150 percent is the best scale.
When you choose it the display will automatically change to fit the new size and the icons will alter to match it.
That’s it.