[Windows 10] How to make the taskbar smaller

Microsoft released the Windows 10 OS in 2015 and since then the operating system have seen some improvements in many areas as latest versions get released twice a year, but I am not going to talk about all the areas of improvement today. I will be focusing on the taskbar this morning and how you can make it smaller on your Windows 10 machine.

You may ask, why do I need to make my taskbar smaller? Well, it depends on two things. The screen resolution of the device you are using and how you prefer the taskbar icons to look like. The ideal screen resolution these days when purchasing a new laptop is Full HD (1080p), although there are still some models that comes with HD (720p) resolution. The icons and text are crisper and smaller on 1080p screen compared to HD, which looks much bigger with its smaller surface area.

Also read: How to add “This PC”, “Network”, and “Recycle Bin” icons to Windows 10 desktop

On HD laptop or desktop display, the taskbar looks much bigger, which many may found un-pleasing to the eye. The taskbar looks bigger and so are the icons located in this area of the screen. The search bar is not excluded because it is also located in the taskbar. But Microsoft do provide a way to manually change the size or adjust the taskbar to be smaller on low-res display.

Small taskbar

Large taskbar

One of the advantages you will get when you adjust the taskbar to be smaller is a larger desktop area, providing more areas to arrange your work, and giving you more space of use on your desktop.

To get started, follow the steps below.

On your desktop, right-click the taskbar
A list of options will be presented. At the bottom select “Taskbar settings”
A new window will be displayed. Scroll through the list, among the options you will see “Use small taskbar buttons”
Simply turn it on as shown in the image below and close the window.

The option is also provided on Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. There is an instance where you may not be able to set the taskbar to be smaller or larger. If you have just install Windows 10 and you do not activate it, you will not be able to adjust this setting. But once activated, the taskbar can be set to be smaller or larger.

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