Steps to Reduce Taskbar Icon Size on Windows 11

2024/10/09

To reduce the size of icons in the Taskbar on Windows 11, navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar, select “Taskbar behaviors” , and opt for “Always” under the “Show smaller taskbar buttons” setting.

Windows 11 has introduced a feature that allows users to decrease the size of application icons in the Taskbar. Although Microsoft hasn’t enabled the Taskbar to be repositioned to the top of the screen, this new feature provides users with a way to minimize the size of the icons.

This option is currently being tested, and it does not offer multiple size selections or the ability to alter the height of the Taskbar. Rather, this feature is intended to maximize Taskbar space by allowing more application icons to fit by reducing their size.

If you’re eager to experiment with this functionality, you’ll need to install the latest Windows 11 preview available in the Beta Channel as part of the 23H2 version.

This guide will walk you through the procedure to modify the size of app icons in your Taskbar on Windows 11.

Adjust Taskbar Icon Size on Windows 11

Follow these instructions to resize the app icons in the Taskbar:

Access Settings in Windows 11.
Select Personalization.
Go to the Taskbar section.
Click on Taskbar behaviors.
(Option 1) To enable smaller icons, select the “Always” option under the “Show smaller taskbar buttons” setting.

Setting to display smaller taskbar buttons / Image: Mauro Huculak
(Option 2) If you wish to maintain the original icon size until the Taskbar is full, select “When taskbar is full” to reduce the size when necessary.
(Option 3) Opt for Never in the “Show smaller taskbar buttons” setting to revert to standard-size icons.

Once you follow these steps, your Taskbar will display the icon size you selected.

While moving the Taskbar isn’t an option, Microsoft is actively enhancing customization settings, including a feature to ungroup icons and display labels. Additionally, users can choose to show jump lists for inactive apps, hide the clock in the System Tray, or adjust date and time formats, including displaying seconds.

Activate Taskbar Icon Size Setting

If you can’t find the option via the Windows Insider Program, you might need to manually enable this setting using ViveTool. Here’s how to do it:

Visit the GitHub site.
Download the ViveTool-vx.x.x.zip file to your computer.
Open the zip folder by double-clicking it in File Explorer.
Select the Extract all button.
Hit the Extract button.
Take note of the folder path.
Open the Start menu.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click on the top result, and select Run as administrator.
Input the following command to change the directory to the ViveTool folder and press Enter:

cd c:\folder\path\ViveTool-v0.x.x

Make sure to adjust the path in the command to correspond with your specific folder location.
Enter the next command to enable this hidden feature on Windows 11 and press Enter:

vivetool /enable /id:29785184
Restart your computer.