Question

I’m trying adding my own toolbar icon to Internet Explorer but am unsure what size it should be.

• The Designing Toolbar Icons for Internet Explorer articles on TechNet indicates 20×20 and 16×16 pixels.

• Messages (1, 2) in the Internet Explorer Toolbar (Deskband) Tutorial at Code Project imply 22×22 and 16×16 pixels.

Using Internet Explorer 7, icons that are 20×20 pixels seem to get stretched. Measuring shows they should be at least 24×24. Anyone have a definitive reference?

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Alternatively, where does Internet Explorer get its existing toolbar icons from – I could measure it then! I presume its one of the system DLLs, but which one?

Also see: How big should a Firefox toolbar button be?

Answer 1

Well, by a process of trial and error, it appears that icons sized 24×24 pixels are not rescaled. At least, that is the case with Internet Explorer 7.0.6001.18000. Would still like find a definitive reference for IE7 and ideally other versions too.

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Another way to confirm it:

int x, y; HIMAGELIST hImageList = (HIMAGELIST) SendMessage(m_hWndToolbar, TB_GETIMAGELIST, 0, 0); ImageList_GetIconSize(hImageList, &x, &y); ATLTRACE('Image size %ux%u', x, y); 

Output:

Image list 24x24