One of the cosmetic changes in Windows 11 is a new focused taskbar. Although you can move the taskbar and start button to the left, you cannot change its size through settings as you could in previous versions of Windows.

The good news is that you can hack into the Registry to make the taskbar and its icons smaller (or bigger). The idea is similar to making the taskbar auto-hide. It will give you more space on the screen for other applications. You can also make it bigger for someone with poor eyesight.

Important: The following steps require you to modify the registry values. Making incorrect changes to the Registry can make your PC unstable or stop working altogether. This is not for beginners. Whether you are experienced or not, be sure to back up the Registry, create a Restore Point, or back up your system first.

How to make the Windows 11 taskbar smaller or larger

To resize the Windows 11 taskbar, you will need to edit the Registry.

To do this, press the Windows key and write regedit. Mouse over option Best match and select Execute as an administrator on the right. If the User Account Control message appears, press Yes.

Then navigate to the next path in the Registry Editor; You can copy and paste it into the address bar at the top:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced

After entering the above path, your screen should look like the following image.

Right click on the key Advanced and select New> DWORD value (32 bits).

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Name the new value as Taskbar Yes.

Double-click the value of Taskbar Yes you just created. Then in the field “Value information“, Give it a value of 0, 1 or 2. Here’s a breakdown of the values:

  • 0 – Gives you the smallest size for the taskbar, which is what you want to save screen space.
  • 1 – This value is “medium”, which is the default size. If you don’t like the small (or large) size, you can change it back.
  • 2 – It is the “largest” value, which makes it larger than the default size.

Enter the value you want to use and click To accept. Close Registry Editor and restart your pc.

After restarting your PC, log in again and you will see that the size of the taskbar has changed. Here is an example of how to make it smaller.

And here is an example of using the value data of 2 to make it the biggest.

If you change your mind later, do it again:

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvancedTaskbarSi

You can change the value of the data to return to a different size. Again, a Value information 1 is the default size.

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