You can indirectly adjust the spacing of Windows 11 desktop icons by adjusting view mode, modifying the registry, or using third-party tools. First, right-click the desktop and switch to "Medium Icon" or "Small Icon" to make the icon more compact; second, uncheck "Align the Icon to the Grid" in "View" to manually adjust the icon position to change the spacing; in addition, modifying the hexadecimal values ??of IconSpacing and IconVerticalSpacing through the registry editor can accurately control the horizontal and vertical spacing, but you need to back up the registry before operation; finally, using third-party tools such as Winaero Tweaker or DesktopOK to adjust the icon spacing more easily without system-level modifications.
Changing the icon spacing on your Windows 11 desktop isn't something you can do directly through settings, but there are a few workarounds and adjustments that let you indirectly control how spaced out or tight your icons appear. Here's how to do it.

Adjust Icon Spacing Using View Settings
Windows 11 doesn't offer a direct slider or setting for icon spacing, but changing the view mode affects how tightly icons are arranged:

Switch to "Medium icons" or "Small icons"
Right-click on the desktop > View > try switching between Medium, Large, or Small icons. Smaller icons will naturally sit closer together.-
Use "Align icons to grid"
This built-in option keeps icons neatly aligned and spaced. If you disable it (by unchecking “View” > “Align icons to grid”), icons can be moved freely, which might give the illusion of more spacing if you drag them apart.
This method won't let you fine-tune spacing, but it does influence the general layout significantly.
Modify Registry to Change Icon Spacing (Advanced)
If you're comfortable editing the Windows Registry, you can manually tweak icon spacing values:
- Press
Win R
, typeregedit
, and hit Enter. - Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
- Look for the
Applied DPI scaling behavior
value — this might affect spacing in high-DPI settings. - For icon spacing specifically, check:
-
IconSpacing
(for horizontal spacing) -
IconVerticalSpacing
(for vertical spacing)
-
These values ??are in hexadecimal and represent pixel distances. The default is usually
-1120
(hex) for both. Lowering the number (eg,-800
) reduces spacing.
?? Editing the registry can cause issues if done incorrectly — back up before making changes.
After modifying, restart Explorer or reboot for the changes to take effect.
Use Third-Party Tools for Easier Control
If diving into the Registry feels too risky or technical, some lightweight tools make adjusting icon spacing much simpler:
- Winaero Tweaker – Offers an easy interface to change icon spacing without touching the Registry.
- DesktopOK – Saves and restores desktop layouts, and also allows tweaking spacing.
These apps are user-friendly and perfect if you want to avoid system-level edits.
All in all, Windows 11 doesn't provide a native way to adjust icon spacing with a simple slider, but by using view settings, Registry tweaks, or third-party tools, you can still get the layout you want. It's not overly complicated, but definitely something Windows could make easier in future updates.
The above is the detailed content of How to change icon spacing on the Windows 11 desktop?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

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