There are two registry keys in Windows 7 - 11 that control the border 'grab' width: BorderWidthBorderWidth
and PaddedBorderWidthPaddedBorderWidth
, in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
. They also affect the title bar height. The max combined value for both keys is -1500. A higher number won't cause an error on Windows 11 (Test 3 below) but also won't increase the grab or title bar size.
Note that these registry key values are in # of pixels * 15number of pixels * 15 (credit Christoph Rackwitz). Divide the registry values so divide each value by 15 to get pixels. FYI, for my 3440 x 1440 monitor, I ended up setting BorderwidthBorderwidth
to -150 (10 pixels) and left PaddedBorderWidthPaddedBorderWidth
at the default -60 (4 pixels).
The two registry keyskey values do not change the visual size of the 1 pixel border around the sides and bottom of a window on Windows 11. Consensus on the internet saysindicates it's not possible. On Windows 10, you can try the AeroLite theme (instructions here).
Apps cited in the tests below are illustrative, not exhaustive. To determine behavior for an app not listed, test different values of one or both registry keys.
TEST 1: PaddedBorderWidthPaddedBorderWidth
Only (value -1000; default -60)
- Grab size is 45 pixels around sides and bottom of window.
- Height of title bar is 83 pixels for many windows, but not office apps, chrome, or edge.
- Vertical window dividers were 45 pixels for some apps (regedit) but not others (MS management console, file explorer).
TEST 2: BorderWidthBorderWidth
Only (value -1000; default -15)
- Grab size is 26 pixels around sides and bottom of window.
- Height of title bar is 67 pixels.
- Affected the title bar for some apps, making it impossible to click the minimize, expand, and close icons:
- UWP apps like calculator, snipping tool, clock, photos, etc.
- AND apps that use the title bar to display menus or tabs, like Firefox (credit Wolf).
- Did not affect other apps: office apps, wordpad, chrome, edge.
TEST 3: PaddedBorderWidthPaddedBorderWidth
and BorderWidthBorderWidth
(both at -1000)
- Grab size is 87 pixels around sides and bottom of window.
- Height of title bar is 125 pixels.
Miscellany:
- Resizing UWP apps from the title bar only works on the right side near the minimize icon
- Some apps (snipping tool) can be sized very small (height, top to bottom). In this case, the grab bar size in the registry is ignored until the window's size is increased.
- Neither of these registry keys affect MS Edge in WDAG (Windows Defender Application Guard). It runs in a HyperV VM, so maybe these keys are ignored by HyperV.
- Some of the above info came from MS answers here and here
Linking related questions to make this information easier to find: