How to Change Threshold of Taskbar Thumbnails to Show List in Windows 10


When you hover over the icon or button on the taskbar of opened items, it will show either thumbnail previews or a list of the opened windows or tabs for that item.

The taskbar will only show thumbnails of so many opened windows or tabs for an item (ex: Internet Explorer) before the threshold is reached and will then automatically show a list afterwards for that item.

The taskbar threshold limit will vary depending on what you have set for your screen resolution and DPI scaling level.

Here are some default threshold limits based on screen resolution using default DPI:

• 800x600 = 7 tabs or windows open for threshold
• 1024x768 = 10 tabs or windows open for threshold
• 1920x1080 = 16 tabs or windows open for threshold

This tutorial will show you how to change the threshold after which taskbar thumbnails of opened items show as a list instead for your account in Windows 10.

EXAMPLE: Taskbar showing thumbnail previews and list





Here's How:

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

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

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband

3 Do step 4 (change) or step 5 (default) below for what you would like to do.

4 To Change Taskbar Thumbnail Threshold

A) In the right pane of the Taskband key, double click/tap on the NumThumbnails DWORD to modify it. (see screenshot below step 2)

If you don't have a NumThumbnails DWORD, then right click or press and hold on an empty area in the right pane of the Taskband key, click/tap on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value, type NumThumbnails, and press Enter.

B) Select (dot) Decimal, type a number you want for the taskbar thumbnail threshold, click/tap on OK, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

If you type 0 (zero) it will be the same as 1 to show in list mode after you open two instances. 0 will no longer disable thumbnails.

5 To Restore Default Taskbar Thumbnail Threshold

A) In the right pane of the Taskband key, right click or press and hold on the NumThumbnails DWORD, and click/tap on Delete. (see screenshot below step 2)

B) Click/tap on Yes to confirm, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

6 Close Registry Editor.

7 Restart explorer process, or sign out and sign in to apply.


That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Change Delay Time to Show Taskbar Thumbnails in Windows 10
• How to Change the Size of Taskbar Thumbnails in Windows 10
• How to Change Height or Width Size of Taskbar in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Save Taskbar Thumbnail Previews to Cache in Windows

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