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How to Make Desktop Icons Smaller on Windows 11?

Here is a guide on how to make desktop icons smaller in Windows 11.

Desktop icons are the best and the most convenient way to open any application or program on your computer. Desktop icons are by default set to medium size by the operating system but, this size can easily make your desktop messy. Hopefully, Windows has a feature through which you can adjust the size of the icons. So, today in this guide I am going to explain to you how to make Desktop Icons smaller on your Windows 11 computer.

Steps to Make Desktop Icons Smaller in Windows 11

default desktop icon size

There are different methods through which you can make your Desktop icons smaller in size on your Windows 11 computer. These methods are discussed below in detail.

Making Desktop Icon Smaller From Desktop Itself

smaller desktop icon from view

The first method is to right-click on your desktop screen and then go to “View” and then select “Small icons”. Now you will see that your desktop icons have shrunken to a smaller size. This is how you can make desktop icons smaller.

Making Desktop Icons Smaller Using Keyboard Shortcuts

You can also make your desktop icons smaller by pressing the “Ctrl” key and then scrolling your mouse wheel downwards. This will make your desktop icons shrink in size. This is how you can make desktop icons smaller in size. You can also press “Ctrl + Shift + 4” keys together to shrink the size of your desktop icons.

Making Desktop Icons Smaller Using Registry Editor

smaller desktop icons resgistry editor

You can make desktop icons smaller by editing the icon spacing in the Registry Editor app of Windows 11 by following these steps:

  1. Open the “Registry Editor” on your computer by searching in the “Start Menu“.
  2. Now, type “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics” without quotes and hit the “Enter” key.
  3. In the center pane, right-click on “IconSpacing” and select “Modify“.
  4. Now in the next dialogue box, enter a value between “-480 to -2730” under the “Value Data” option and then click “OK”.
  5. Now double-click on “IconVerticalSpacing” and enter a value between “-480 to -2730” and then click “OK“.
  6. After this, restart your computer to apply the changes.

This is all you need to know on how to make desktop icons smaller in Windows 11. If you want to access system files on your Windows 11 computer then here is a guide on How to Show Hidden Files in Windows 11.