In some of our previous articles we have shown you how to change the size of fonts or icons. Since then, many of our readers asked us how they could change the size of their Quick Launch icons and make them bigger. To answer their question, I did a little bit of testing and managed to write this tutorial. As you will see, making your Quick Launch icons larger is quite easy.
How to unlock the Taskbar
First, you must make sure that the Taskbar is not locked. If unlocked, it should display three dotted lines on the left and right sides, as shown in the screenshot below. If those lines are present skip to the next section and go further with the steps.
If you don’t see the dotted lines, right click on the Taskbar and uncheck the option that says: Lock the Taskbar.
How to enlarge the Quick Launch icons
Right click somewhere in the area where you find the Quick Launch icons, click View and then simply select Large Icons.
Now your Quick Launch icons will look larger, just like in the screenshot below.
How to lock the Taskbar
If you want your Quick Launch icons to remained unchanged, you should lock the Taskbar again. To do this, right click on it and select Lock the Taskbar.
The dotted lines will dissapear and the Taskbar plus the Quick Launch icons will remain as they are. You won’t be able to move or remove any of them, not even by accident.
Related articles:
How to change the size of your icons
How to change the font size in Windows Vista
How to configure the Taskbar and the Start Menu
Customize your desktop icons
Larger icons=Larger Taskbar
Yes this does indeed make the icons larger, but this tip also enlarges the taskbar itself,just notice how your start button is now fully enclosed by the taskbar and your system tray(the icons over by the clock on the bottom right) will double up ie stack on top one another, it would be nice to have a way to hack the taskbar icons to enlarge without enlarging the taskbar itself.
I recently came across a
I recently came across a program called Vista Start Menu (http://www.vistastartmenu.com/index.html) that provides a very functional alternative to the Quick Launch menu. It’s a bit buggy sometimes, but the more I use it the more I like it.
One feature is that you can adjust the size of Start Menu icons and text labels. A free version and a paid (Pro) version are available. The Pro version provides a lot more options than the free version.
Wicked
Thanks for the tip, love the effect of the bigger icons
Right Click on Dotted Line(s)
I was ever so grateful to find this tip, as I had made my Quick Launch icons large by accident, hated all the room they took up, and couldn’t figure out nor find anything in my Vista books to undo it.
I had seen a video tutorial by Mark Russinovich on Process Explorer by Sysinternals and saw how his taskbar was bigger and allowed the Quick Launch icons to be spread across the top of the taskbar rather than just 3 or so showing and the rest on a carated menu. Shortly after viewing that tutorial, I read another one (which was apparently based on the same tutorial) on how to make your taskbar bigger as shown in M. Russinovich’s video. The instructions were excellent and I was able to apply what I had learned on my XP desktop as well.
Unfortunately I had skipped the all important step of re-locking the taskbar on my Vista laptop and when first logging on a few days back, not only moved my taskbar to the left side (which turned out to be a plus on my wide screen monitor) but increased the size of the icons to the point where very few could be seen, which for me defeated the purpose of the larger taskbar.
I was very happy to find your tutorial on changing the size of the Quick Launch icons but feel compelled to add one small point. In order to get the “View >” on the right click menu, I had to right click right on the dotted lines that unlocking the taskbar reveals. Clicking in any other area of the taskbar only revealed “Toolbars >” as the top item on the list.
Thanks for a frustration relieving tip!!!!
Kat
Where do you find new Quick Launch icons?
I’d like to use the red envelope that appears just to the left of the url, when I log into Gmail, as the Quick Launch Icon- my XP laptop does that automatically, when I click and drag the icon (and url) from the browser address bar to the quick launchpart of the toolbar. But, with my new Vista 64-bit laptop that doesn’t work- I get a variation of the Explorer logo. I’ve looked on the web for new, email-oriented, icons to place in the folder (C:Windowssystem32url.dll) where Vista gets the icons, but I can’t find a resource for quick launch icons!
Anyone have an idea where to find some or how to do this? I would sure appreciate any help y’all can give me!
Thanks!
There is a way to change ANY
There is a way to change ANY icon in vista to what ever you want it to be. Simply search the web for Free icons and download the ones you want to use to a folder together. I like to put mine in a folder labeled “icons” next to music, pictures, etc in the user specific folder. Then right-click the shortcut you want to change to a new icon. Select properties and under the shortcut tab there is a change icon button. Select that and a dialogue will appear, browse for the icon you wish to use and hit enter then apply. Your icon should now be changed to the new one..
Hope this helps.
And for XP? how to enlarge
And for XP? how to enlarge taskbar icon in XP?