The slider for resize icons – Launcher is not available in ubuntu-2d (Unity 2D) session. So I assume you are using Unity 2D.
An ascertainment of which session you use , would be
echo $DESKTOP_SESSION
command in terminal.
If you want to resize the Launcher – Icons in Ubuntu-2d (Unity 2D) session you must “hack” some items manually.
Carefully read and carefully apply bellow changes.
Open the terminal and do
gksudo gedit /usr/share/unity-2d/shell/Shell.qml
find this entry
LauncherLoader {
id: launcherLoader
anchors.top: parent.top
anchors.bottom: parent.bottom
width: 65
and change the width to 52.
Save – close and then again
gksudo gedit /usr/share/unity-2d/shell/common/IconTile.qml
find the entry
Image {
id: icon
objectName: “icon”
anchors.centerIn: parent
smooth: true
sourceSize.width: 48
sourceSize.height: 48
and change the sourcesSize.width and sourceSize.height to 32
save – close the file and then again
gksudo gedit /usr/share/unity-2d/shell/launcher/LauncherList.qml
find the section
AutoScrollingListView {
id: list
Accessible.name: objectName
/* The spacing is explicitly set in order to compensate
the space added by selectionOutline and round_corner_54×54.png. */
spacing: -7
property int tileSize: 54
/* selectionOutline tile size, so AutoScrollingList view can calculate
the right height. */
property int selectionOutlineSize: 65
and change the titeSize to 40 and selectionOutlineSize to 52.
Save the file and logout – login for changes take effect.
Enjoy and be aware that with an update in the future maybe (not for sure) these values returned to defaults.
This procedure was previously described here in March 2012: Changing icon size in Unity 2d Ubuntu 12.04.