How to change the icon size on Windows

In case you don't like the new sized icons on your desktop, you can always go back to the old settings and get the default size for your desktop icons.

Why change the icon size on Windows?

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If your current icons are too small, you may have trouble finding them. Increasing the size of your icons will make them easier to read. The drawback of this is that you can store fewer icons on your desktop.

If your current icons are too big, you can reduce their size and make them smaller. This allows you to place more icons than you currently have on your desktop.

Resize desktop icon with mouse

An easy way to resize the desktop icon on a Windows PC is to use your mouse. If your mouse has a scroll button then you can scroll this wheel up or down to increase and decrease the size of your icons.

1. Go to the desktop screen on your PC.

2. Press and hold the Ctrl key on your keyboard.

3. Roll your mouse wheel up to increase the size of your desktop icons. You will see your icons get bigger in real time on the screen.

4. Scroll your mouse wheel down to reduce the size of your desktop icons.

Use the Context Menu to resize the desktop icon

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Windows gives you the option to change the size of desktop icons in your context menu. This menu comes with many predefined icon sizes that you can select and apply to your desktop icons.

1. Right-click anywhere empty on your desktop.

2. Click the option that says View and you can have three icon sizes to choose from: large icons, medium icons and small icons.

Clicking on any of these options will increase or decrease the size of the icons on your screen. Most users prefer the Medium icon option.

Change options in settings to resize desktop icons

Windows 10 has scaling and layout options that allow you to scale various items including text, applications, and icons on your computer. You can use this option to apply one of the predefined scale sizes or you can specify your own value.

1.Open the Start Menu, find and turn on Settings.

2. Click the System tab on the screen to open the system settings menu.

3. Select the Display tab from the options available in the left sidebar.

4. You can see a section called Scale and layout on the right pane. Click the drop-down menu to Change the size of text, applications, and other items and select a scale value.

5. The changes you make will immediately reflect and all elements of your screen, including desktop icons, will be large or small.

6. To specify a custom scale size, click the Advanced rate settings option.

7. On the following screen, you can enter a value in the unique text box on the screen. This value must be between 100 and 500. Then click Apply to apply your changes to the system.

Use Shortcuts to resize your desktop icon

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If you prefer to use shortcuts to perform your tasks, then there is a shortcut to resize the icon on your screen. It gives you four size options to choose from for your desktop icons.

1. Press and hold the Shift and Ctrl buttons on your keyboard.

2. While the buttons above are being held, press one of the following keys to resize your desktop icon:

1 - Pressing this number makes the desktop icon much bigger

2 - this number makes the desktop icon bigger

3 - this changes the desktop icon size to medium size

4 - this will make desktop icons smaller

Be sure to use the number keys at the top of your keyboard, not on the numeric keypad.

Change your screen resolution to increase / decrease the desktop icon size

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Your computer screen resolution determines the size of your desktop icons. By changing this resolution, you can make the icons on your screen smaller and bigger.

Keep in mind this will change the size of all other elements and not just the icons on your desktop.

1. Use Cortana search to launch the Settings application.

2. Select the option that says System on the following screen.

3. Click Display from the options available in the left bar.

4. On the right pane, you will see a drop down menu with the heading Display Resolution. Click this drop-down menu and choose a new resolution for your monitor.

5. If you choose a higher resolution, your icon size will become smaller. Choosing a lower resolution will make your icon bigger.