Microsoft has just pulled a nostalgic feature out of its hat: the return of the compact taskbar on Windows 11. After three years of being stuck with the “XXL” size, our icons will finally shrink back to their smaller size.
Do you remember when Windows 11 launched in 2021? New interface (wow!), new features (wow!)… and a taskbar that seemed to have overindulged in Tibo InShape’s smoothies during lockdown (ugh…).
Thankfully, in the latest beta version of Windows 11 (Build 22635.4291 for those in the know), Microsoft has quietly added an option to display smaller icons in the taskbar.
Finally!
When you activate this option, the taskbar icons shrink, but—here’s where things get weird—the taskbar itself keeps its original size. A bit odd, but don’t worry, it’s still in the testing phase, and Microsoft has promised to refine it before the final release.
For those of you who are eager to try it out right away, here’s how to set it up on your PC:
First, make sure you’ve installed Windows 11 Build 22635.4291 (or a later version).
Next, download the ViVeTool from GitHub and unzip it.
Open a command prompt as an administrator.
Then navigate to the folder where you extracted ViVeTool using the cd command. For example: cd C:\ViVeTool
Enter the magic command: vivetool /enable /id:29785184
Restart your PC.
Once your PC has restarted, go to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar. You should find a new option there to display smaller icons.
However, don’t get too excited just yet, as this feature is still in testing, which means it could change or even disappear before the final version is released.
