How can I increase the height of the taskbar on Windows 11?

Microsoft has nerfed the taskbar and explorer options and it is no longer possible to do it natively, but there are still ways to do it using registry tweaks. And when there are registry tweaks, there always will be programs that allow you to do the customization for you.

I found WindHawk, a customization marketplace that has lots of mods to change Windows 10 and 11. One of the mods is Taskbar Icon Size, which allows you to change the size giving you a few options. Two smaller and a larger one.

If you want to go even larger, get the Taskbar Multirow mod, that will allow you grow the taskbar and support multiple rows. It can be combined with the Taskbar Icon Size mod, set to small so it doesn't become that big.

There are other mods there too. You will need to download the WindHawk client once to install and update the mods though, but it's not an always-on mod. They are just doing the registry tweaks, and thus take no system resources. It will also help you quickly reapply the mods if a Windows update restores its original function.