Microsoft pushed the button on a fresh Insider build late Thursday, and it’s packing a feature that Windows 11 users have been requesting since the OS launched: a built-in Taskbar size control. Build 26300.8758, rolling out now to Insiders in the Experimental channel, adds a dedicated setting that lets you pick small, medium, or large taskbar sizes without third-party tools or registry hacks. The update also irons out a handful of File Explorer reliability problems that have plagued recent previews, alongside smoother animation transitions when the taskbar height changes.
This is an Experimental Preview build, meaning it ships with features Microsoft is actively testing and gathering feedback on before they reach broader Insider rings. The build date, June 26, 2026, suggests the team is charging full steam ahead with finishing touches for the next major Windows 11 feature update, expected later this year. But even in this early form, the taskbar sizing options already feel polished and long overdue.
What’s New in Build 26300.8758
The star of the show is unmistakably the Taskbar size picker. Navigate to Settings > Personalization > Taskbar and you’ll find a new dropdown labeled “Taskbar size.” It offers three presets: Small, Medium, and Large. Small shrinks icons and the taskbar height to roughly 32 pixels – reminiscent of the classic small taskbar mode from Windows 10. Medium is the current default, while Large bumps the bar up to roughly 52 pixels and enlarges icons for touch-first devices. The setting applies system-wide and doesn’t require a sign-out or restart.
Alongside the size control, Microsoft has smoothed out the transition animations when the taskbar resizes. Previously, toggling between sizes via registry edits (a popular workaround) caused a jarring flicker as icons rearranged. Now, the taskbar gracefully morphs in a fluid motion that takes under 200 milliseconds. It’s a small touch, but one that makes the OS feel more cohesive, especially for users who frequently switch between modes.
File Explorer also gets notable attention in this build. The release notes highlight “reliability fixes” addressing three persistent bugs:
- A memory leak that caused Explorer to consume 500+ MB of RAM after prolonged use, particularly when browsing network shares.
- An intermittent crash when right-clicking files in the modern context menu (the bug occurred if the user had certain third‑party shell extensions installed).
- A delay of up to three seconds when opening folders with many images, caused by thumbnail generation stalling the UI thread.
Microsoft says these fixes should eliminate the top crashes reported by Insiders on earlier 26300.x builds. Early adopters on the forum are already reporting smoother multitasking and fewer unexpected Explorer restarts.
Taskbar Size: A Brief History of User Frustration
When Windows 11 launched in 2021, the taskbar was rewritten from scratch, and with the rewrite came a stripped‑down feature set. The classic “Use small taskbar buttons” toggle was gone, as was the ability to freely resize the taskbar with drag handles. Users could only choose to center or left‑align icons, but the taskbar height remained fixed at 48 pixels. Enthusiasts quickly discovered that a Registry key – TaskbarSi – could force a small (0), medium (1), or large (2) size, but the method was clunky and occasionally broke icon spacing after cumulative updates.
Third-party tools like StartAllBack, ExplorerPatcher, and Windhawk filled the void, but they introduced compatibility risks, especially after each monthly Patch Tuesday. The Insider community has been vocal about native sizing for years, upvoting Feedback Hub suggestions into the thousands. Microsoft remained silent until now, finally delivering an official GUI toggle.
“It’s about time,” wrote one Insider in the announcement thread. “I’ve been using the registry hack since day one. Having a clean setting is just better – no more crossing fingers after every update.” Another user noted that the Large option makes their 27‑inch 4K monitor much more usable in tablet posture: “I can actually hit the icons with my finger now.”
Smoother Transitions: More Than Eye Candy
The animation polish might seem superficial, but it serves a real purpose. When Windows 11 debuted, its emphasis on fluidity was a core design pillar. Yet the taskbar resizing experience – even for those hacking it – was anything but fluid. Apps would momentarily disappear, the system tray would blink, and the entire bar would stutter. By transitioning sizes with a short morphing animation, Microsoft is signaling that this feature is now first‑class, not an afterthought.
Engineers achieved this by rendering the taskbar as a composable layer during the transition, decoupling it from the main shell process. This means other windows don’t redraw or stutter when the bar snaps to a new height. It also opens the door for more dynamic taskbar behaviors in the future, such as auto‑hiding with a smooth slide or context‑sensitive resizing based on the active app.
File Explorer Reliability Gains
Reliability fixes rarely make headlines, but they’re the backbone of a usable OS. The memory leak, tracked as Bug #FW-43821, was particularly annoying for power users who left File Explorer windows open all day. After 4‑6 hours, the process would balloon to over 500 MB and cause noticeable system slowdowns, even on machines with 32 GB of RAM. The fix reduces the leak to under 10 MB per hour, well within acceptable limits.
The right‑click crash, related to shell extensions, was a classic compatibility issue. Windows 11’s modern context menu uses a new extensibility model, but it still loads legacy extensions in a background process. A race condition could cause the UI thread to deadlock, freezing Explorer until you killed it via Task Manager. Microsoft says they’ve re‑architected the extension host to better isolate misbehaving extensions, so one bad add‑on won’t bring down the entire shell.
The thumbnail generation pause should be noticeable immediately. Folders with 500+ JPEGs used to stutter for 2–3 seconds on first view, even on NVMe SSDs. Now the thumbnails generate on a low‑priority background thread, allowing the file list to paint immediately and populating images as they render. The result is a much snappier browsing experience.
How to Get Build 26300.8758
This build is currently available to Insiders in the Experimental channel (previously known as the Canary channel on some branches). To enroll:
1. Open Settings > Windows Update > Windows Insider Program.
2. Link a Microsoft account and choose the Experimental channel when prompted.
3. Check for updates; you’ll be offered 26300.8758 if your machine meets the hardware requirements.
A word of caution: Experimental builds receive the earliest code changes and often ship with known issues. Microsoft’s blog post for 26300.8758 notes that the taskbar size setting may not work correctly on multi‑monitor setups where displays have different scaling factors. Also, some third‑party taskbar mods can conflict with the new animation system, causing the taskbar to flash or become unclickable. It’s safest to uninstall such tools before trying the build.
Community Reaction and Initial Feedback
The insider community has responded largely positively. On the official Windows Insider subreddit, a thread labeled “Taskbar size is back, baby!” amassed over 1,200 upvotes within the first few hours. Top comments praised the implementation but noted missing options like a “compact” density for icons and system tray items.
“Medium isn’t small enough for my laptop screen,” wrote one user. “I’d love an extra‑small variant, or even a custom pixel height.” Another asked for per‑virtual‑desktop sizes, a scenario Microsoft hasn’t addressed.
Power users also lamented that the size picker doesn’t affect the system tray area proportionally. On Large mode, the clock and network icons remain at default size, creating a visual imbalance. Microsoft acknowledged this in a follow‑up post and flagged it as an area under investigation.
File Explorer fixes drew universal approval, with several users confirming that the memory leak no longer occurs after 12‑hour tests. “Explorer used to hit 700 MB by lunchtime on my workstation. Now it’s holding steady at 80 MB,” a forum veteran reported. “Best build this year.”
What This Means for the Next Windows 11 Feature Update
Build 26300.8758 isn’t just a bunch of minor tweaks; it’s a clear signal that Microsoft is listening to the feedback that flooded in after Windows 11’s launch. The taskbar has been a lightning rod for criticism, and restoring basic customization knobs is a step toward rebuilding trust with the enthusiast crowd.
Rumor has it that the next feature update – codenamed “Sun Valley 3” internally – will ship with even more taskbar revival options, including never‑combine for taskbar buttons and drag‑and‑drop reordering. The foundation being laid with these experimental builds suggests the team is methodically refactoring the taskbar codebase, one module at a time. If the smooth transitions and size setting hold up, we can expect a much more capable default shell experience by the time Sun Valley 3 reaches general availability.
For now, Insiders get to enjoy the spoils. The combination of a resizable taskbar, fluid animations, and a more stable File Explorer makes this one of the most impactful preview releases in recent memory. It doesn’t introduce flashy AI features or a dramatic UI overhaul, but sometimes the quiet updates are the ones that improve daily life the most.
Known Issues and What’s Next
Every Experimental build comes with a list of caveats. For 26300.8758, Microsoft highlights:
- Multi‑monitor DPI mismatches: If your monitors use different scaling percentages (e.g., 100% and 125%), the taskbar may render at the wrong size on the secondary screen. A fix is targeted for the next flight.
- Widgets panel interference: When the taskbar is set to Large, the Widgets button can overlap with the system tray if the resolution is below 1920×1080.
- Third‑party shell extensions: While Explorer’s crash resilience has improved, some legacy context menu handlers still cause the file pane to go blank for a split second. Microsoft recommends updating extensions where possible.
Looking ahead, the Insider team has promised more taskbar refinements in the 26300 series. Insiders can expect controls for system tray icon visibility, a redesigned overflow menu, and possibly live taskbar data (like temperature or stock tickers) in a future build.
For those who want to peek at the new settings without committing to the Experimental channel, screenshots are already circulating on Windows communities. The consensus: it’s about time, and it works. As one Insider succinctly put it, “I can finally delete my StartAllBack license. Windows 11 feels whole again.”