Customize the Size of the Windows 7 Taskbar Icons

Are you having difficulty seeing the icons in your Windows 7 taskbar? Are the icons too big, and you wish you could fit more? In either case, you can adjust the size of the icons in the taskbar to best suit your needs. This is especially important as more and more people connect their computers to a TV, as changing the icons will make them easier to see when you're sitting on the couch. To learn how to change the size of your icons, see Step 1 below.

Steps

Toggling Taskbar Icon Size

  1. Right-click on a blank spot on the taskbar. You will need to right-click on a blank spot of the taskbar; right-clicking on an icon will pull up the wrong menu. You can usually find blank space at the right end of the taskbar, between the last icon and the System Tray.
    • If you are having difficulty right-clicking on a blank spot, you can also access the menu from the Appearance and Personalization menu in the Control Panel. Click the "Taskbar and Start Menu" option.
  2. Select Properties. This will open the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window. This menu will allow you to customize the way icons are displayed on your task bar.
  3. Choose your label and combination settings. Use the "Taskbar buttons" drop-down menu to choose how icons should be displayed. You can choose to "Always combine, hide labels", which will stack icons for the same program and only show the icons, "Combine when taskbar is full", which will only stack icons when there is no room on the taskbar and will show each window's label next to the icon, and "Never combine", which prevents any stacking and will show each window's label next to the icon.
  4. Toggle the icon size. By default, taskbar icons will be shown at regular size. You can toggle them to a smaller size by checking the "Use small taskbar buttons" box and clicking Apply. Using this method, you can choose between the regular size and the smaller size.[1]

Setting a Custom Icon Size

  1. Open the Registry Editor. In order to set a custom size for your icons, you will need to make adjustments to the Windows Registry. Be careful when working in the Registry, as modifying or deleting the wrong key can cause Windows to not work.
    • Open the Registry Editor by pressing ⊞ Win+R and typing regedit.
    • This will not work if your icons are set to "Always combine, hide labels" (see previous section).
  2. Navigate to the correct folder. In the left frame of the Registry Editor, you will see a navigation tree with a large number of folders. Use the tree to navigate to the following location:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
  3. Find or create the "MinWidth" key. In the right frame you will see a list of keys. Look for the one labeled "MinWidth". If the key exists, double-click it. If there is no "MinWidth" key, right-click on blank space in the right frame and select New → String Value.
  4. Enter in the new width. Enter the pixel value for the icon width. The default width for regular icons is 52, and the minimum you can enter is 32. Anything smaller and the icons will not display properly. You can enter values larger than 52, though icons too large will cause problems on the taskbar.
  5. Reboot your computer. In order for the new changes to take effect, you will need to reboot your computer.
  6. Re-pin your icons. Windows caches icon images when applications are pinned, so you will need to re-pin any pinned icons for the new size to take effect. Right-click on each pinned icon and select "Unpin". You can then re-pin the program by right-clicking on it in the Start Menu and selecting "Pin to Taskbar".[2]

Changing Your DPI Display Settings

  1. Right-click on your desktop and select "Screen Resolution". You will need to right-click on a blank space on your desktop; right-clicking on an icon will pull up the wrong menu.
  2. Click the "Make text and other items larger or smaller" link. This is located towards the bottom of the window.
  3. Choose your magnification level. You will have three options for making icons larger: "Smaller - 100% (default)", "Medium - 125%", and "Larger - 150%". These presets allow you to magnify various aspects of your desktop, including the taskbar icons.
    • Note: This will also change the size of other elements, such as title bars, text, and windows.
  4. Set a custom level. Click the "Set custom text size (DPI)" link to open the custom DPI selector. This will allow you to choose magnification up to 500% the original size. If you are using older programs from Windows XP that aren't designed to scale, check the "Use Windows XP style DPI scaling" box.
  5. Log out and log back in. Most changes will not take effect until you exit Windows and log back in. You can either do this now or later.[3]



Related Articles

  • Customize the Quick Access Toolbar in Microsoft Word (Windows 7)

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/change-how-buttons-appear-on-the-taskbar
  2. ↑ http://windows7themes.net/en-us/change-taskbar-icon-size-in-windows-7/
  3. ↑ http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/443-dpi-display-size-settings-change.html
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