Change Icon Text Size in Windows 10 Creators Update

Windows 10 Desktop Icon Font

Starting with Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft has removed the ability to change advanced text sizing options. Various options to configure the text size for user interface items like menus, title bars, icons and other elements have been removed along with the classic Display settings. Here is how you can change the Icon text size in Windows 10 Creators Update version 1703.

Like other text sizing options, the text size of icons could be configured in "Advanced sizing of text" classic applet. Here is a screenshot from Windows 10 Anniversary Update version 1607:

After you click that link, the following window will appear on the screen:

In Windows 10 Creators Update version 1703, this dialog has been removed. Thankfully, it is still possible to change the text size using a Registry tweak. Let's see how.

To change text size of icons in Windows 10 Creators Update, do the following.

To adjust the text size of icons in Windows 10 version 1703, apply a Registry tweak as described below.

  1. Open Registry Editor. If you are not familiar with Registry Editor, see this detailed tutorial.
  2. Go to the following Registry key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics

    Tip: You can access any desired Registry key with one click.

  3. There you can find a special value IconFont. Its value contains the encoded structure "LOGFONT". The type of the value is REG_BINARY.

You cannot edit it directly, because its values are encoded. But here is the good news - you can use my Winaero Tweaker, which will allow you to change the menu font easily.

  1. Download Winaero Tweaker.
  2. Install the app and go to Advanced Appearance\Icons.
  3. Change the icon font and its size to anything you want.

Besides that, you can adjust horizontal and vertical spacing between icons. See the article "How to change Desktop icon spacing in Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 8".

Now, sign out and sign in again to your user account to apply the changes. If you are using Winaero Tweaker, you will be prompted to sign out.

That's it!

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

21 thoughts on “Change Icon Text Size in Windows 10 Creators Update”

  1. I already posted this elsewhere but worth repeating I guess. The change takes effect after signing out and signing in again but the default settings return after reboot. What a pain!

    Aren’t microsoft engineers supposed to be SMART???

  2. Took a while to find this!!! Brilliant fix!!
    Works perfectly after Windows 10 Creators Update changes customised icon font sizes!!

  3. Thank you for solving a problem that I thought would never be resolved. It was very easy to follow and understand your instructions. I wish the people at MICROSOFT were as intelligent and helpful as you!

  4. unable to increase/zoom out tool and menu bars for proSeries in windows 10. I believe now days there are many customers using w10 so Intuit should have solution . please advise

  5. Changing the font for the title bars doesn’t work for me. Not after the latest Windows 10 Creator update.

    I DO believe Winaero helped me do it prior to that but then it’s been awhile since i had to look into any of this.

    Any suggestions? Thanks

  6. Once I install Winaero Tweaker and make my changes to the text size, can I uninstall it? Will my text size changes remain changed in the Registry or do I need to keep Winaero Tweaker installed?

    1. You can uninstall it. However, once you change your desktop theme, or something related to appearance changes (like font size in Settings), the changes you made might be reverted. Anyway, there is no harm if you uninstall the app.

  7. Winearo Tweaker does not appear to work for me in Windows 10 following the creator update – is it supposed to?
    Thanks

      1. After the Windows 10 Creators update the W.A.T. changes were still permanent after the Fall Creators update they revert back to defaults when I shut down. Is this normal?

  8. Is there a way that Winaero Tweaker can backup the Advance Appearance Settings.
    When I upgrade to a new Windows version I use Winaero Tweaker to restore the settings that I have configured.
    Winaero Tweaker does not restore any custom settings from Advance Appearance Settings.

  9. I used Winareo tweaker to adjust font sizes with various success. However, after I tried changing system font from Segoe UI to Calibri, I can no longer login again. The login screen never showed up since. I’ve tried auto recovery & safe mode, all didn’t work. Many of them need authority of administrator which I don’t have. It’s a company laptop, what can I do?

    1. 1. Ask for Admin credentials.
      OR
      2. Boot your PC from a USB stick, and undo the change in the registry by mounting the hive.

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