On Windows 11, the scroll bars in File Explorer, Settings, and other system apps are thinner than they were in Windows 10. One of the main reasons for this is to make the scroll bars blend with the new design language. But if you are someone who uses the scroll bar itself to navigate, the thinner scroll bar makes it way harder to grab it with your mouse pointer. Fortunately, with some registry magic, you can increase or decrease the scroll bar size (width & height) quite easily.
In this quick and easy tutorial, I will show you the steps to change the scroll bar size on Windows 11 in simple steps. Let’s get started.
Before You Begin
- You need administrator rights to change the scroll bar width and height on Windows 11.
- Create a full registry backup before making changes. This backup will allow you to restore your system if anything goes wrong.
Change the Scroll Bar Size on Windows 11
- Press the Start button on the taskbar.
- Search for “Registry Editor” and click “Open“.
- Go to the following folder. Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
- Double-click the “ScrollHeight” value on the right panel.
- Change the Value Data to “-500” and click “OK“.
- Double-click the “ScrollWidth” value on the right panel.
- Change the Value Data to “-500” and click “OK“.
- Close the Registry Editor.
- Restart your computer.
- With that, the scroll bar size is changed and it appears much wider now.
Detailed Steps (With Screenshots)
First, we need to open the Registry Editor. To do that, press the Start button on the taskbar, search for “Registry Editor“, and click the “Open” option. When you see the UAC prompt, click the “Yes” button to continue.
Once the Registry Editor window opens, go to the following folder. You can do it by pasting the path in the address bar and pressing “Enter“.
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
On the right panel, find and double-click the “ScrollHeight” value. Next, change the “Value Data” to “-500” and click “OK“
Next, double-click the “ScrollWidth” value, change the “Value Data” to “-500” and click “OK“.
Note: For both values, you can set any value between “-120” and “-1500”. The higher the number, the wider the scroll bar.
Finally, close the Registry Editor and restart your computer. After restarting, the scroll bar size is changed in File Explorer, Settings, and any other system app.
Wrapping Up — Changing the Scroll Bar Size on Windows 11
As you can see, thanks to a simple registry tweak, you can easily change the scroll bar size on Windows 11. If you want to restore the default scroll bar size, simply change the “Value Data” of both values to “-255”. Keep in mind that you have to restart your computer. If changes don’t apply after restarting, disable fast startup and restart again. Keep in mind, only apps using native scroll bars will reflect this change, while apps with custom scroll bars remain unaffected.
