How to Change Width of Taskbar Buttons in Windows

Windows includes a special application desktop toolbar called the taskbar that shows on the bottom of a display screen by default. The taskbar allows you to find, see, open, and switch between your apps. You can also see the date and time, system icons, and items running in the background on the notification area. You can make the taskbar look how you want, manage your calendar, pin your favorite apps to it, change the size, change location on screen, and specify how taskbar buttons group together when you have more than one window open.

If you like, you can change the width of your taskbar buttons to allow more or less label text to show.

This tutorial will show you how to change the width of taskbar buttons for your account in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

This will not work if you have the taskbar set to Always, hide labels to show icons instead of buttons.

EXAMPLE: Taskbar buttons width





Here's How:

1 Press the Win + R keys to open Run, type regedit into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor.

2 Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics

3 In the right pane of the WindowMetrics key, double click/tap on the MinWidth string value (REG_SZ) to modify it. (see screenshot above)

If you do not have a MinWidth string value, then right click on an empty space in the right pane of the WindowMetrics key, click/tap on New, click/tap on String Value, type MinWidth for the name, and press Enter.

4 Type a number between 38 (default - narrower) to 500 (wider) for the taskbar buttons width size you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)

5 Close Registry Editor.

6 Sign out and sign in, or restart the computer to apply.

7 You may need to repeat these steps a few times until you find a width you like for your taskbar buttons.


That's it,
Shawn

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