windows 11 : how to fix spacing problem with desktop icons ?

Question

windows 11 : how to fix spacing problem with desktop icons ?

Edgar DOUSI 0

Recently the spacing of my desktop icon has change, without my interaction.

How to reset to normal spacing ?

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2 answers

Answer 1

Oliver Nguyen 1,500

Hi Edgar,

You can edit it with registry:

Press Windows + R and enter regedit to open the Registry Editor. Find HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics.
Find and edit theese values:

IconSpacing (horizontal spacing): Set the value to -1125. Click OK to save
IconVerticalSpacing (vertical spacing): Set this value also to -1125. Click OK to save

Restart the computer to apply.

You can also use free tools like "Desktop Icon Spacing" or "DesktopOK" as they can also restore default spacing without editing the registry directly.

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House Of Colors Hohenzell 0 Reputation points

2025-11-25T13:28:04.24+00:00

i´ve exactly the same problem on about 8 installations. The problem occured about the time i´ve update to 26200.7171
i tried the fix above several times without any luck. the vertical spacing is much to wide.
sanghun Han 0 Reputation points

2026-09-13T03:35:31.06+00:00

저도 동일한 문제가 나타났습니다. 마이크로소프트 공식 채널에서 알려준 모든 방법이 소용이 없더군요.

Apple과 더불어 전세계에서 가장 큰 OS 시장을 가진 서비스가 이정도 수준의 제품을 만들고 있다는게 개탄스러운 일입니다. 심지어 이 사이트는 제가 마이크로소프트 로그인을 해도 로그인 상태 처리가 안되서 또 로그인을 해야 되는 쓰레기 같은 웹사이트를 만들어뒀더군요. 이런걸 보면 작은 것 하나하나부터 얼마나 볼 품 없는 회사인지 새삼 알게 됩니다.
Jürgen Moritzhuber 0 Reputation points

2026-09-13T16:11:50.3033333+00:00

i have the same problem but nothing works. Veritcal Icon Spacing less the -780 didnt work for me. i always get a bigger spacing !
This is what i found out on my research:

*The classic WindowMetrics registry keys (IconVerticalSpacing) fail on newer Windows 11 builds featuring updated XAML/WinUI shell components because the modernized desktop environment no longer polls legacy Win32 metrics to calculate the grid layout

*if this is the truth, why microsoft cant fix this problem or even say that it is like that:
So we all dont have to spend hours searching for a fix on the internet.
The last build it worked for me was 25H2 26200.6899
I have 11 PC´s in my office, all stopped getting updates only because of this annyoing problem.
Thats really a terrible behaviour of microsoft they dont fix this.
JuliaMarvin 22,445 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2026-09-13T16:45:50.6233333+00:00

@Jürgen Moritzhuber
Please start your own thread/question.

Answer 2

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