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

Using Object Anchors

An object anchor is used to signify the point at which an object is inserted into a document. If you want to see these ...

Discover More

Printing a List of Named Ranges

You already know that you can define names that apply to different ranges of cells and other elements such as formulas. ...

Discover More

Deleting an AutoText Building Block

At some point you may want to delete an AutoText entry you previously created. Here's the steps to follow.

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Grouping Tiles in the Start Menu

Arranging tiles into groups can make finding and starting your apps quicker. Discover how easy it is to group tiles in ...

Discover More

Disabling USB Selective Suspending

USB Selective Suspending allows Windows to automatically (and without warning) suspend USB ports. Discover how to ...

Discover More

Changing Sounds Associated with Windows Events

You can customize Windows so that various sounds (or none) are associated with various Windows events. This tip explains ...

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 five more than 1?

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 © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.