How to Make Your Taskbar Smaller on Windows 11

For small-sized screens, you may feel that even a taskbar is taking up significant space on your desktop screen. Or, maybe you just want to try out a new look with minimal design.

Unfortunately, Windows 11 system has yet to add a built-in option for you to resize and choose a smaller taskbar. At the moment, the only way you can do so is by tweaking certain registry values or using a third-party application.

Using the Registry Editor

Since modifying the registry inappropriately can cause system issues, consider backing up the current registry first. Then, make the necessary changes in the registry.

1. Press Windows + R, type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
   
2. To back up the registry, follow the steps below. Otherwise continue to step 3.
   • Click the File menu and select Export.
     
   • Then, browse to a preferred location. Also, choose All under the Export range section and click Save.
     
3. Now, expand each dropdown and navigate to the following path. Or, directly paste the path on the address bar and press Enter.
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
   
4. Right-click anywhere on an empty area and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
   
5. Rename the new value as TASKBARSI and double-click to open it.
   
6. Then, replace the old value data with 0 to make the taskbar smaller and 1 to get a medium-sized taskbar.
   
7. Restart your system to apply the changes.

Note: Taskbar on some systems appear cut off a little after changing the above registry settings.

Using Explorer Patcher

Explorer Patch is an open-source application that allows you to make changes in the system UI. It basically changes the taskbar similar to that of Windows 10 with the option to tweak your taskbar size.

Here’s how you can use it.

1. Download the setup program from GitHub.
2. Open/Run the program and wait for a few seconds until the taskbar layout changes.
3. Then, right-click any empty area on the taskbar and select Properties.
   
4. Next, select Taskbar from the sidebar.
5. Click the Taskbar icon size at the end and select Small.
   

Note: To uninstall the application, rename its setup file as "ep_uninstall.exe" and run it.