The height of the browser bars (tabs, address, and bookmarks) are different on two computers

Brave Browser
1

I have two windows 11 Computers running the latest updates in June 2026. One is a Dell Desktop (XPS 8940) and a Dell Laptop (Vostro 3750). I am seeing different browser bar heights on the two computers. Both computers have two monitors that are set to 1080 x 1920, except for the laptop, whose main screen is limited to 900 x 1600. Scaling on all monitors is set to 100%.

The problem I have is that I have is that the browser bars on the laptop is significantly larger than on the desktop. On the laptop, those bars are 40% bigger. The fact that the laptop has its main screen has a vertical resolution of 900 vs 1080, might account for an increase of 20%, but the laptop external monitor should match the monitors on the desktop. They don’t match.

On the desktop (either monitor):

  • Title Bar: 45 pixels
  • Address Bar: 40 pixels
  • Bookmark Bar: 47 pixels
  • Total: 132

On the laptop main screen (900 x 1600)

  • Title Bar: 63 pixels
  • Address Bar: 66 pixels
  • Bookmark Bar: 55 pixels
  • Total: 184 pixels

On the laptop external monitor screen (1080 x 1920 verified)

  • Title Bar: 63 pixels
  • Address Bar: 66 pixels
  • Bookmark Bar: 55 pixels
  • Total: 184 pixels

I cannot explain why the laptop is displaying bars that are 40% Larger. I should also note that the windows explorer titlebar is the “normal” on both screens of the laptop:

On the desktop (either monitor):

  • Explorer Title Bar: 38 pixels
  • Explorer Address Bar: 48 pixels
  • Explorer menu Bar: 48 pixels
  • Total: 134 pixels

On the laptop main screen (900 x 1600)

  • Explorer Title Bar: 40 pixels
  • Explorer Address Bar: 40 pixels
  • Explorer menu Bar: 46 pixels
  • Total: 126 pixels

On the laptop external monitor screen (1080 x 1920 verified)

  • Explorer Title Bar: 40 pixels
  • Explorer Address Bar: 40 pixels
  • Explorer menu Bar: 46 pixels
  • Total: 126 pixels

I should mention that I have installed 5 WindHawk mods (on both computers):

  • Aerexplorer
  • Bring Back the Borders!
  • Resource Redirect
  • UXTheme hook
  • Windows 11 Custom Title Bar Colours

I also am using a chrome theme that I have heavily modified to my liking. I have manually copied my modified chrome them to the laptop, but there still could be something that is different.

So to summarize: I am seeing different sized browser bars on two very similar computers, running the exact same version of Windows. Using Remote Desktop, I try to remember to install any changes I make to the desktop, onto the laptop. I could have missed something.

2

While it sucks to hear, unfortunately I can almost guarantee that this behavior is the result of one of the many customizations/modifications you’ve implemented. It could be:

  • A mismatch between resolution/screen real estate between your laptop and the monitor it’s outputting to
  • Any of the Windhawk modifications conflicting with the system’s display settings
  • The modified theme you’re using
  • Some hiccup occurring when using RDP to access the machine

Given the number of variables here, it’s hard to tell if this is an issue with Brave specifically. The quickest way to test this would be to run Brave on the same setup without the Windhawk mods enabled, and with no customized theme. If you still see the same behavior, then we may be able to look into it. If not, you’ll need to narrow down which of these variables is actually causing the display discrepancy.

3

The second monitor on both computers is not only the same resolution, they are in fact the same exact dell monitor model.

The same 5 WindHawk mods are running on both computers. It is possible that I missed a setting, but they appear to work the same on both computers.

The same Modified theme is running on both computers. If the theme is capable of changing the browser bar size, then you would expect that other people would have discovered it, and exploited it. Not being able to set Browser Bar sizes is a common complaint.

Every search I have made to find a setting in the theme that can change Browser Bar size says the same thing: The width of th3eaddress bar can be changed, but the height cannot.

I will try copying the entire theme folder from my desktop, and overwrite the one on the laptop.

Remote possibility. I would make a change on the desktop, and then use RDP to make the same change on the laptop. RDP only displays the main monitor, and I did notice that RDP would inherit the higher resolution of my desktop. Note that the measurements I documented from the laptop were NOY done using RDP.

The measurements I made oft

4

I am a heavy Windhawk user, with many mods installed. Typically, they don’t affect browsers.

Try this:

  • Exiting Windhawk by pressing Ctrl+Win+W, and exiting.

    image
    image173×204 3.13 KB

  • Going back to a default Windows/browser theme for now.

  • Going back to all recommended display settings. (e.g. using Settings, Intel Graphics Command Center, etc.)

Please report back your findings. If we find that it’s your customisations interfering, I can help you selectively enable/disable mods. I’d recommend looking for support on the Windhawk Discord server, or Github Discussions. You can find me there too…

5

I tried exiting windhawk, and terminating brave in task manager. Made no difference. I asked brave.ai the following question:

How can I reduce the size of the menu bar + bookmarkbar + title bar on brave without using windows scale?

There is no native setting within Brave Browser to directly resize the height of the menu, title, or bookmark bars independently of the Windows display scale. However, you can achieve a smaller interface by using command-line flags to force a specific UI scale factor or by enabling compact tab modes via experimental flags.

Method 1: Force UI Scale via Command Line Flag

This method allows you to scale the entire browser interface (including bars and icons) to a specific factor without changing your global Windows settings.

Prerequisites

  • Access to the Brave shortcut properties (Windows) or terminal (Linux/Mac).

  • A text editor (for Linux .desktop files).

Instructions

  1. Locate the Brave Shortcut: Right-click your Brave Browser desktop shortcut and select Properties.

  2. Edit the Target Field: In the Target box, append the following code to the end of the existing path (ensure there is a space before the hyphen):
    --force-device-scale-factor=1.1
    (Replace 1.1 with your desired scale; try values like 1.0, 1.1, or 1.25. Lower numbers make the UI smaller.)

  3. Apply and Restart: Click OK to save changes. Completely close Brave (ensure it is not running in the system tray) and reopen it using this shortcut.

6

Oops, I hit reply too early. The above command line flag in shortcut method does work. It is a pain, but I discovered that 1.15 made all of the bars the size I wanted. I wish that Brave would make this settable on the brave://flags page.