If you recently installed or upgraded to Windows 10 from a previous version of Windows 10, and reading this guide, you are probably finding the icons on the taskbar are a bit smaller than previous versions of Windows operating system and want to make them larger.
Microsoft has made subtle changes to the taskbar in Windows 10. The taskbar now uses a black color by default, and all the icons on the taskbar, including the Start button icon, are smaller compared to previous versions.
While there is no official reason for reducing the size of icons, it could be because Microsoft wanted to compensate the space used by the search box as well as the task view icon by reducing the size of icons.
If you’re not satisfied with the default size of taskbar icons in Windows 10, you can make them bigger by following one of the given below methods.
Method 1
Enable bigger taskbar buttons in Taskbar properties
Before trying out the actual method, please make sure that you haven’t turned on the Use small taskbar buttons option under Taskbar and Start Menu Properties.
To verify the same:
Step 1: Right-click on the empty space on taskbar and then click Taskbar settings to open the taskbar settings page.
Step 2: Here, make sure that the option labelled Use small taskbar buttons is not tured on. And if the option is turned on, turn off the same.
Method 2
Make taskbar icons larger using StartIsBack++
In this method, we will be using a paid third-party software called StartIsBack++. As said before, this program is not free ($2.99), but there is no free software around to make taskbar icons bigger in Windows 10, at least for now. You can download the 30-day trial copy and then later you can purchase or uninstall StartIsBack++ depending on your experience.
NOTE: We expect the free 7+ Taskbar Tweaker for Windows 10 to include this feature in coming builds. We will update this guide if and when we come across a free software for the job.
Step 1: Visit this page to download StartIsBack++ for Windows 10, launch the setup, and complete the installation.
Step 2: Once installed, right-click on the Start button, click Properties to open settings window.
Step 3: Here, under Start Menu tab, check the option labelled Use large icons, and click Apply button to make icons on the taskbar bigger.
And if taskbar is not automatically refreshed to reflect the change, please sign out and sign in (restarting Windows Explorer will also do the job).
Although the program doesn’t include an option to choose your desired size for icons, it’s good that it actually makes taskbar icons larger by around 20%.
Note: If you’re happy with the default Start menu of Windows 10 and not interested in StartIsBack++’s Start menu, navigate to the Switching tab, and then configure the program to open Start screen (Windows 10’s Start menu actually) when you press the Windows logo key.
This way, you can continue using the native Start menu of Windows 10 with large icons on the taskbar.
