Picking a Desktop Icon Size

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 23, 2021)

If your desktop is like mine, it tends to gather icons—lots of icons. As I get older and my monitor resolution gets finer, I find it helpful to once in a while change up how those icons appear. Windows provides three different sizes (small, medium, and large) that you can switch between. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Windows provides three different icon sizes for your desktop.

If you want to try out different icon sizes on your system, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click anywhere on desktop. (Don't right-click an item on the desktop; right-click the desktop itself.) Windows displays a Context menu.
  2. Hover over the View option. Windows displays additional choices to the right.
  3. Choose the icon size option that fits your needs; they are the first thee options on the menu: Large Icons, Medium Icons, or Small Icons.

Windows immediately makes the change and adjust what you see on your desktop. The change remains in effect until you explicitly change it again.

 This tip (13129) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Losing Data in a Shared Workbook

When you create a shared workbook, you run the risk of losing some of the data in that workbook. Here's a discussion ...

Discover More

Microsoft Word VBA Guidebook

Creating Word macros allows you to extend your productivity with Word. Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the ...

Discover More

Stopping Fields from Updating when Printing

Fields provide a great way to add dynamic content to your documents. If you don't want those fields to update when you ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Remove Shortcut when You Make a Shortcut

When you create a shortcut in Windows 10, by default the text "- Shortcut" is added to the end of the shortcut's name. By ...

Discover More

Changing Time Settings

As you no doubt know, Windows has a built-in clock that is used for a variety of purposes. This tip covers the various ...

Discover More

Change the Default Appended Name for New Folders

By default in Windows 10, when a folder or file is copied or duplicated within the same folder as the original, the ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 0 + 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

Newest Tips
Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.