How to Change Desktop Icon Size
Windows provides a variety of methods to change the size of desktop icons, including shortcuts, mouse operations, system settings and so on. Here are the detailed methods:
Method 1: Use mouse shortcut (the easiest and fastest way)
1. Click on a blank space on your desktop (make sure no icon is selected).
2. Press and hold the 'Ctrl' key, then scroll the mouse wheel:
Scroll up: enlarge the icon
Scroll down: reduce the size of the icon
This method, available for Windows 10 and Windows 11, quickly resizes icons and provides more sizing options than the default settings.
Note: If the icons are displayed abnormally after using this method, such as blurred or distorted, it may be a graphics card driver issue, so it is recommended to check and update the graphics card driver. If you are not familiar with the method of updating drivers manually, you can use some professional driver management software, such as Driver Sentry, which can automatically detect the latest drivers required by your system and install them with one click:
Download the latest version of Driver Sentry, install, and open the software. Click "Scan".
After the scan, locate the graphics driver in the results and click "Upgrade".
Restart your computer to ensure the new driver is active.
Method 2: Use the desktop right-click menu
1. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop.
2. Select "View" in the pop-up menu.
3. You can choose from the following three default icon sizes:
Large Icon
Medium icon (default size)
Small Icon
If you want to quickly restore the default icon size, you can use this method.
Method 3: Use Windows Display Settings (Adjust Zoom)
If you want to enlarge or reduce the size of desktop icons, taskbar, application windows, etc., you can adjust the Windows zoom ratio:
1. Right-click on an empty space on your desktop and select "Display Settings".
2. On the Display page, find the Zoom and Layout section.
3. Under Change the size of text, applications, and other items, select the appropriate scale:
100% (default)
125%
150%
175% (for 4K monitors)
This method affects the UI size of the entire system, not just the desktop icons.
Method 4: Modify icon size via registry (advanced user method)
If you want to resize the desktop icons more finely, you can modify the Windows Registry:
1. Press 'Win + R' to open the 'Run' window, type 'regedit', and press Enter to enter the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
3. Locate the 'IconSpacing' and 'IconVerticalSpacing' keys:
The default value of these keys is '-1125'.
You can change the values between '-480' and '-2730':
Larger negative values (e.g. '-1500') = larger spacing
Smaller negative values (e.g. '-1000') = smaller spacing.
4. After making the changes, close the Registry Editor and restart the computer to apply the changes.
Note: It is recommended to make a backup before modifying the registry to prevent system problems caused by incorrect operation.
Method 5: Change Taskbar Icon Size
If you wish to change the size of the application icons on the taskbar, you can follow the steps below:
1. Right-click the taskbar and select "Taskbar Settings" (Windows 10) or "Taskbar Behavior" (Windows 11).
2. Locate the Taskbar Icon Size option (in Windows 11, this option is located in the Taskbar Behavior section).
3. Select "Small" or "Large" to resize the taskbar icons.
The above is the way to change the size of desktop icons, hope it helps you.
See also:
Resolve the Mouse Keeps Disconnecting Issue on Windows 10
How to Fix Mouse Scroll Wheel Jumping Issue
