Solved Desktop icon box size - width reduction?


d4005

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I've tweaked my icon spacing such that I'm no longer getting the icons spaced out too much (using regedit in the Windows/DesktopMetrics keys) as can be seen in my screenshot. So I can move them as close to each other as I like, but the one issue I have remaining is that the size of the box an icon occupies is limiting the positioning when it comes to the left/right edges of the screen. I like to have a bunch of icons on the left and right edges of the desktop and I size my application windows so that I leave a bit of desktop on the left and right visible and have access to all those icons. It's helpful when the toolbar is full up with pinned icons and Microsoft don't want us to have a Quick Launch folder anymore.

Does anyone know how to reduce the width of the box that surrounds the icons? So that I can move them right to the edges of the desktop?

Here's a screenshot or two. One is Windows 11 that shows how I can have overlapping icons, but the standalone one that's selected shows the overly wide width of them. There's a Windows 10 screenshot for comparison with a similarly named icon. Notice how the box is much narrower.

icon11.png icon10.png
 

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I am not sure as that can be done
 

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I don't seem to have this problem. Version 21H2 22000.527 desktop icon.jpg I'm just using the stock settings and I can get the icons pretty much up to the edges.
 

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    Ryzen 5 Pro 4650G
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    Logitech silent thing
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    Traditional MS Intellimouse
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    120down/44up
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    Edge mostly
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    MalwareBytes/Defender
Absolutely no need to mess with the registry when it comes to desktop icons when Aerotweaker will do it all for you. Scroll to the bottom and find 'shortcuts' Winaero
 

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    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
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    Dell Optiplex 7080
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    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
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    DELL 0J37VM
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    32 gb
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    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
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    Benq 27
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    2560x1440
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    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
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    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
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    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
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    Benq 27
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    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
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    still not telling
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    Defender+MWB Premium
Hello d4005, :)

The overlapping of the desktop icons is from not having Align icons to grid below turned on.


Here you go for the icon spacing size:

 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
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    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
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    Corsair Hydro H115i
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    Logitech wireless K800
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    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
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    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Absolutely no need to mess with the registry when it comes to desktop icons when Aerotweaker will do it all for you. Scroll to the bottom and find 'shortcuts' Winaero

I looked at WinAero already and here you see that they only offer the ability to tweak the horizontal and vertical spacing which you can see I've already modified in my original post (left) screenshot. Without them being modified, you can't get icons positioned next to each other so closely. That doesn't affect the actual width of the icon though (which you see in that screenshot on the win11.txt file.

Hello d4005, :)

The overlapping of the desktop icons is from not having Align icons to grid below turned on.


Here you go for the icon spacing size:

That sounds unusual, turning ON align icons to grid but I was willing to give it a try. I just did. It didn't improve anything. As can be seen in the screenshot below which has tweaked horizontal and vertical spacing and align to grid turned on.

todo.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Predator Triton
    CPU
    i7-11800H
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX™ 3060
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 43" super widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    3840x1080
    Hard Drives
    1TB SSD internal, 2x4TB SSD external
    Keyboard
    Logitech silent thing
    Mouse
    Traditional MS Intellimouse
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    120down/44up
    Browser
    Edge mostly
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    MalwareBytes/Defender
The Align icons to grid setting is only to prevent the icons from overlapping each other.

The box around the icon will take all of the set horizontal and vertical spacing.

What is currently wrong with them?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Well, you could checkout Winaero Tweaker at Winaero. The app offers some flex for icon sizing. See attached pix. Good Luck!

 

Attachments

  • Screenshot (20220502-093820).jpg
    Screenshot (20220502-093820).jpg
    102.6 KB · Views: 1

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OK, I've got it working. My mistake was adjusting the icon size and expecting it to immediately work. If you follow the instructions properly and log out/back in or reboot, then it does actually follow the value you set. In this screenshot I took it to the extreme and will of course dial it back up from there.
todo.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Predator Triton
    CPU
    i7-11800H
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce RTX™ 3060
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 43" super widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    3840x1080
    Hard Drives
    1TB SSD internal, 2x4TB SSD external
    Keyboard
    Logitech silent thing
    Mouse
    Traditional MS Intellimouse
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    120down/44up
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    MalwareBytes/Defender
on my desktop the only thing I change are the metrics, for 1920x1080 I use

Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; By Alex ASSR for 1080P Monitor Windows 11

; 19 x 10 icons

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"IconSpacing"="-1500"
"IconVerticalSpacing"="-1215"

for me it looks better than the original
*logoff and logon to see the results
 

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    Windows 11, Pro for Workstations, 22631.2861 (23H2)
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    Custom
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    Amd Ryzen 5 5500 ("Zen 3") (3.6GHz,45-65W,L3:16M,6/12)
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    Asus Prime B450M Gaming/BR Chipset B450 AMD AM4 mATX DDR4 - BIOS 4002
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    DDR4 OLOy Owl Black, 8GB, 3200MHZ, (x2)
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    Windows Defender
OK, I've got it working. My mistake was adjusting the icon size and expecting it to immediately work. If you follow the instructions properly and log out/back in or reboot, then it does actually follow the value you set. In this screenshot I took it to the extreme and will of course dial it back up from there.
View attachment 28281

Great news :party:
 

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System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Have I missed the point here but can't you simply dynamically change the icon sizes by mouse hovering on the icon and simply using the mouse centre wheel to increase / decrease size and text (and hence box).

Other thing you can do is create custom Icons -- program iconfx is a good one - use the last "free" version.

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
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    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7
Have I missed the point here but can't you simply dynamically change the icon sizes by mouse hovering on the icon and simply using the mouse centre wheel to increase / decrease size and text (and hence box).

Other thing you can do is create custom Icons -- program iconfx is a good one - use the last "free" version.

Cheers
jimbo

Hello Jimbo, :-)

That would change the size of desktop icons like below, but not the horizontal and vertical spacing of desktop icons.

 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Hello Jimbo, :)

That would change the size of desktop icons like below, but not the horizontal and vertical spacing of desktop icons.

Hi there
Icofx - create custom icons is another possibility. Use the last FREE version.

Skjámynd 2022-05-02 160601.png

Cheers
jimbo
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows XP,7,10,11 Linux Arch Linux
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    2 X Intel i7

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