Shrinking those bulky icons on your Windows 11 taskbar can make your desktop look tidier and more uncluttered. It’s a pretty simple process, just a matter of tweaking a few settings, though Windows sometimes likes to make things more complicated than they need to be. Once you have a go, you’ll free up some space and your workspace will look a lot neater — always a win, mate.
How to Make Icons Smaller on Your Windows 11 Taskbar
Here’s a bit of a walk-through to shrink those icons down. It mainly involves diving into the settings menu and toggling a few bits around, so don’t expect it to be a one-press fix. Let’s crack into it!
Step 1: Right-click on the Taskbar
Pretty obvious, but sometimes a bit annoying. Right-click anywhere on the taskbar where there’s no icon to open up a menu.
This menu’s where all the magic — and frustration — begins. It’s like a secret backdoor to a bunch of options you might not have known about. On some systems, this menu can be a bit flaky, so if it doesn’t come up straight away, give Windows a quick restart and try again.
Step 2: Open Taskbar Settings
Select “Taskbar settings” from the menu. It’ll open a new window with all the settings for your taskbar. Honestly, it’s pretty much the control centre for how your taskbar looks and functions.
If it’s not showing up right away, it’s probably tucked away under Personalization > Taskbar in Settings. Sometimes Windows updates shuffle things around without warning, so have a poke around if you can’t find it straight off.
Step 3: Find the Taskbar Behaviours Section
Scroll down a bit and look for “Taskbar behaviours”. Click on that. This is where some of the deeper tweaks happen, and the setting you want is kinda hidden here.
On some setups, this part can be a tad glitchy or slow to load — especially after a Windows update. Might need to reopen Settings or wait a second for it to appear.
Step 4: Change the Taskbar Size
Look for “Taskbar size” — yeah, it’s a bit odd having a toggle for size, but anyway — and select Small from the dropdown. That’s what shrinks those icons right down.
This is the key move. Picking “Small” doesn’t just resize the icons; it also makes the taskbar itself a little more compact. The icons don’t hog as much space now, and your screen feels a bit more open. It’s like trading a supersized burger for a mini — still good, just less bulky!
Step 5: Close and Wait for the Change to Kick In
Once you’ve made the change, just close the settings window. The new size should kick in automatically. Sometimes it’s instant; other times, you might need to restart Explorer (taskkill /f /im explorer.exe in Command Prompt or PowerShell) — yeah, Windows being Windows.
In one setup, it worked instantly. In another, I had to restart Explorer to see the icons change size. Not sure why it acts up, but that’s just Windows for ya.
Tips for Making Icons Smaller on Your Windows 11 Taskbar
- Try switching between different sizes in the same setting — sometimes Windows gets a bit funny if you flip back and forth too fast.
- If the small icons are too tiny to click easily, especially on a touchscreen, maybe revert back to the larger ones for better accessibility.
- Always keep Windows up to date — sometimes updates fix these little quirks, or can cause them.
- If you want to tweak individual icons’ size, that’s a whole other story — Windows 11 doesn’t natively support that, unfortunately.
FAQs
Can I resize taskbar icons another way?
Nah, unfortunately not. Windows 11 doesn’t officially let you resize individual icons. This method changes everything all at once.
Will smaller icons cause anything to break?
No worries. They’re purely visual. Everything else will work just the same as before.
Can I make some icons bigger and others smaller?
Nah, can’t do that natively. The whole taskbar ends up the same size across the board.
Any keyboard shortcuts to do this?
Nah, mate. You’ve got to go digging into the settings — bit of a pain, I know.
What if I can’t find where to change this?
Make sure your Windows is fully up to date. Sometimes, updates move things around or hide options a bit.
Summary
- Right-click on the taskbar and choose Taskbar settings
- Scroll down and click on Taskbar behaviours
- Set Taskbar size to Small
- Close settings — job’s done!
Hopefully, this saves you a few minutes of faffing about. Sometimes, it’s the little tweaks that make a big difference — especially when you’re trying to fit more on your screen. Good luck, and enjoy your cleaner, more spacious desktop!