Border Width of Windows - Change in Windows 8

How to Change Window Border Width in Windows 8 and 8.1


information   Information
This tutorial will show you how to change the border width of windows to what you like in your user account in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.


EXAMPLE: Window Border Width Set Wider or Thinner
NOTE:
This is with the setting of 0 (zero) and -1500 in the steps below.
zero.jpg-1500.jpg





Here's How:

1. Press Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and click/tap OK.

2. If prompted by UAC, then click/tap on Yes.

3. In regedit, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics
REG-1.jpg

4. In the right pane of WindowMetrics, double click/tap on PaddedBorderWidth to be able to modify it. (see screenshot above)

5. Type in a data value of 0 (zero) or between -1 to -1500, and click/tap OK. (see screenshot below)

Note   Note
The default value is -60. A higher value (ex: -1500) will give you wider window borders, and lower value (ex: 0 or -1) will give you thinner window borders.

Each -17 is equal to 1 pixel in width.


REG-2.jpg

6. Close regedit.

7. Sign out and sign in with your user account to apply.


That's it,
Shawn



 

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Very nice tutorial! :cool:
 

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Thank you sir. :)
 

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Another good one Shawn ;)

A Guy
 

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Glad you like it Bill. :)
 

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Nice as always! Thanks! :)
 

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Pretty awesome! I will use this. Do you know what value I would have to set for there to be no borders at all, like OS X?
 

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    My laptop is my only computer. It is about 2 years old.
Hello eXcite,

It appears that 0 is the thinnest width available. Using 1+ or -1+ only makes it wider. :(
 

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Oh well, thanks anyway!
 

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    My laptop is my only computer. It is about 2 years old.
You're welcome. Maybe in the future, a way may be found.
 

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    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
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    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
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    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
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    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
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    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I don't mind the value of 0 width of the border, it is actually perfect. I just wish I could make it black. They would effectively disappear and give some padding between apps that are edged against each other.
 

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Can't express how much thankful I am to you for this tip.

ever since I installed 8, I cursed ms for having wasted my precious bandwidth by having such wider borders.

At that time I had searched the net for the solution, but couldn't find any, so I gave up and never thought again.

Today, I again needed to open 3-4 MS word windows on one screen, and felt the need again. So I searched and landed up on your this thread. Tried it and voila, it is done.

Lots of thanks.

I still feel that MS should make it even thinner and should provide easier way to change it. but they don't listen to us.
 

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I'm glad it could help vsrawat. :)

You're going to love Windows 10 then. The borders of windows are very thin by default.
 

My Computer

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    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
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    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
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    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
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    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
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    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Brink,
I've been using this hack a couple of weeks now(set to 0) and I love it. It gives a 1-2mm border that highlights the window. It looks really good on WMP:Capture.PNG
I've also set it up on my Windows 7 disk and with glass it's just fantastic because glass just lightens the thin borders color when the window isn't the one in focus. Thanks for the telling us about the hack:thumbsup:
 

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    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
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    Trust GTX THURA
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    Trust GTX 148
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    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
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    Edge; Chrome; IE11
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    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
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    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
You're welcome Cliff. Thank you for posting your results. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
You're welcome Cliff. Thank you for posting your results. :)
Popped my Windows 7 drive back in my laptop today to keep it updated... and thought I also share how minimal boarders(set to 0) looks with clear glass: Capture.PNG
Personally I feel it looks better than Windows 8's solid colors and a lot better than 10TP's lack of boarders(taste...go figure)
 

My Computer

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  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Update Pro in Hyper-V/Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Cliff's Black & Blue Wonder
    CPU
    Intel Core i9-9900K
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
    Memory
    32 GB Quad Kit, G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series schwarz, DDR4-3866, 18-19-19-39-2T
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS GeForce RTX 3090 ROG Strix O24G, 24576 MB GDDR6X
    Sound Card
    (1) HD Webcam C270 (2) NVIDIA High Definition Audio (3) Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2711U(4K) and a hp 27vx(1080p)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 x 32 bits (4294967296 colors) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    C: Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 SSD
    E: & O: Libraries & OneDrive-> Samsung 850 EVO 1TB
    D: Hyper-V VM's -> Samsung PM951 Client M.2 512Gb SSD
    G: System Images -> HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB
    PSU
    Corsair HX1000i High Performance ATX Power Supply 80+ Platinum
    Case
    hanteks Enthoo Pro TG
    Cooling
    Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB TT Premium-Edition 360mm and 3 Corsair blue LED fans
    Keyboard
    Trust GTX THURA
    Mouse
    Trust GTX 148
    Internet Speed
    25+/5+ (+usually faster)
    Browser
    Edge; Chrome; IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender of course & Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit as a
    Other Info
    Router: FRITZ!Box 7590 AX V2
    Sound system: SHARP HT-SBW460 Dolby Atmos Soundbar
    Webcam: Logitech BRIO ULTRA HD PRO WEBCAM 4K webcam with HDR
It does look good.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Thanks for this tip. My borders now look a bit nicer after their diet. ;)

BTW, can anyone inform me what the difference is between BorderWidth and PaddedBorderWidth? I notice quite a few of these tutorials on the Internet mentioning that one should also set BorderWidth to zero as well. Some people comment that changing BorderWidth doesn't change anything (I've tested myself, and can't seem to find any difference once you've set PaddedBorderWidth to zero). I've decided to leave BorderWidth to its default of -15, but I'm still curious as to what exactly this setting does.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
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