How to make the taskbar smaller in Windows 11

What is important to know

In the new version of Windows, Microsoft completely changed the design of the OS, making it more concise. One of the innovations was the large taskbar, which is now firmly fixed at the bottom of the screen.

It is noteworthy that after the redesign, the settings that previously allowed changing the appearance and location of the panel disappeared. With how to move it to the other edge of the display, we have already told. Now let's deal with the size.

And although you can’t configure it with standard tools, you can do it directly through the “Registry Editor” or using a small Winaero tweaker utility. The procedure is simple, but there is a nuance. After reducing the size of the panel, the date that is displayed in the notification tray under the clock will be cut off by about half. Time will not affect this, only the day, month and year:

Unfortunately, this bug cannot be fixed at the moment. You will either have to put up with it, or use the standard panel size. The problem, in fact, is small: the date can still be read.

How to shrink the taskbar in Windows 11 through a registry setting

You just need to add one missing registry parameter, and everything will work. It is done like this.

Find through the search "Registry Editor", right-click on the name of the program and run as administrator by selecting the appropriate item in the context menu.

Press Enter, pasting the following path into the address bar: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Call the context menu by right-clicking on an empty space and select "New" → "DWORD (32-bit) Value".

Name the new entry TaskbarSi.

Open any folder in File Explorer.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, highlight File Explorer and select Restart from the context menu.

To return to the standard size of the taskbar, return to the "Registry Editor" and go to the path above. Then delete the created TaskbarSi parameter and restart the "Explorer" through the "Task Manager".

How to Shrink the Taskbar in Windows 11 with Winaero Tweaker

If you do not want to bother with the registry, then all the same can be done in a small program for fine-tuning Winaero Tweaker. The result will be the same.

Download the utility from the official site and install.

Launch Winaero Tweaker, go to the Windows 11 section and open the Taskbar Size item.

Select Small and click Restart Explorer to restart Explorer and apply the changes.

If you want to return the standard size, specify the System Default value and restart Explorer by clicking Restart Explorer.

Artyom Kozoriz