CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#windows.net-coreregistry
0lan
0lan

Reputation: 229

How to apply Windows taskbar changes without restarting Explorer in C#?

This is my current code, it works but it restarts the Explorer process and that's kinda weird.

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.Win32;

namespace MyApp
{
    class Program
    {
        static async Task Main(string[] args)
        {
            ShowSmallTaskbarIcons();
            // ShowLargeTaskbarIcons();
            Console.WriteLine("Press a key to exit...");
            Console.ReadKey();
        }

        static void ShowSmallTaskbarIcons()
        {
            Registry.SetValue(@"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced", "TaskbarSmallIcons", "1", RegistryValueKind.DWord);
            RefreshExplorer();
        }

        static void ShowLargeTaskbarIcons()
        {
            var key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(@"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced", writable: true);
            key.DeleteValue("TaskbarSmallIcons", throwOnMissingValue: false);
            key.Close();
            RefreshExplorer();
        }

        static void RefreshExplorer()
        {
            Process.Start("taskkill.exe", "/f /im explorer.exe");
            Thread.Sleep(2000);
            Process.Start("explorer.exe");
            Thread.Sleep(10000);
        }
    }
}

I would like to do the same as with the "Use small taskbar buttons" toggle switch from Settings.

How to do the same with C#?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 697

Answers (1)

Louis Go
Louis Go

Reputation: 2568

How to change Windows 10 taskbar icon size programmatically

This post has an example about how to send WM_SETTINGCHANGE message in c++.

However, there is no easy way to do it in c# wrapped function. You have to do it through p/invoke

Following post will help you do it in c#

convert C++ code to C#: SendMessageTimeout()

Upvotes: 2

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