Windows – Why don’t the Windows 7 taskbar items line up

taskbarwindows 7

I know this is a minor issue, but it is driving me insane. I just switched from XP to Windows 7 (Pro, 64-bit), and my standard setup is to have a two-line TaskBar because I frequently have many Windows open at a time. But in Windows 7, the items don't line up properly.

It seems like such a minor issue, but it breaks my attention when I'm working and slows me down because I can no longer easily scan my taskbar for a particular window.

Does anyone know how I can fix this?

enter image description here

Notes

  • The items align correctly if I unlock the Taskbar, have the "Always show all icons and notifications on the taskbar" option unchecked, and have my Quick Launch set to a specific width, but I prefer to keep the taskbar locked so I don't drag/drop items by mistake.
  • Removing the Quick Launch area on the left causes them to line up better, but not completely
  • I have my TaskBar items set to Combine when Full
  • I'm using Small Icons.

Best Answer

Try resetting taskbar icon widths:

  1. Press Windows Key + R to open the run command
  2. Type int "regedit" (without quotes) and press OK
  3. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Control Panel -> Desktop -> WindowMetrics
  4. Find the "MinWidth" entry and delete it.
  5. Log off and log back in or restart to see if this trick works.
Related Question