Explorer Extra Large icons same size as Large Icons

Question

Explorer Extra Large icons same size as Large Icons

Paul Barton 0

My desktop icons are fine, but in Explorer, icons for pictures are never larger than the "Large" size. I have a 4k laptop screen, with suggested scaling in Settings of 250%. That works fine for the desktop, but limits Explorer to the "large" size icons. Setting it to 100% scaling makes everything very small, but Explorer now has a real "extra large" setting. Unfortunately, everything is about 2x too small to use.

I have another laptop that has only HD resolution, does not have this problem.

Paul Barton 0 Reputation points

2026-09-30T15:38:41.7066667+00:00

Above 200 % scaling, the Extra Large icons for pictures are the same size as the Large icons, with an obviously larger space allocated in the display. At 200% or lower scaling, Extra Large icons are larger, fitting the space allocated for them in the display. The Extra Large Icons at 250% are actually smaller than the ones displayed at 200%.

Obvious software bug.

1 answer

Your answer

Paul Barton 0 Reputation points

2026-09-30T15:38:41.7066667+00:00

Above 200 % scaling, the Extra Large icons for pictures are the same size as the Large icons, with an obviously larger space allocated in the display. At 200% or lower scaling, Extra Large icons are larger, fitting the space allocated for them in the display. The Extra Large Icons at 250% are actually smaller than the ones displayed at 200%.

Obvious software bug.

Answer 1

Emma1-N 13,410 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Welcome Paul Barton,

Thank you for providing the additional details. I can understand why this is frustrating, especially on a 4K display where larger thumbnails are often needed to view photos comfortably.

Before concluding that this is a Windows bug, I'd like to gather a little more information and suggest a couple of quick checks:

Does the issue occur in all Explorer folders containing pictures, or only in specific folders?
When viewing the folder, is "View" > "Extra large icons" selected and are photo thumbnails being displayed correctly?
Please try rebuilding the thumbnail cache:
- Press Windows + R > type cleanmgr and press Enter
- Select your system drive
- Check Thumbnails
- Click OK and allow Windows to recreate the cache
Please let us know your Windows build:
- Go to Settings > System > About
- Provide the value shown under OS Build

I look forward to your reply with the OS build number and the results of the thumbnail cache test.

Emma1-N 13,410 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-10-02T04:03:41.5666667+00:00

Hello Paul Barton,

I just wanted to check if my previous response addressed your question correctly. If there is anything I may have misunderstood, I would truly appreciate it if you could provide a bit more detail to help me better understand your needs.
Paul Barton 0 Reputation points

2026-10-02T17:50:55.0833333+00:00

Problem only in 200% and larger scale in Explorer on my 4k screen laptop. Tried all the fixes you suggested. None worked.
Paul Barton 0 Reputation points

2026-10-02T17:53:53.3766667+00:00

OS build 26300.9550

version 26H2
Emma1-N 13,410 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-10-03T07:34:07.1233333+00:00
Hello Paul Barton,

Thank you for coming back. Please try the step: Test with a clean boot

Press Windows + R, type msconfig, and press Enter

Open the Services tab

Select Hide all Microsoft services, then click Disable all

Open the Startup tab, select Open Task Manager, and disable the enabled startup applications

Restart the computer and test Extra large icons again at 250% scaling