[BUG] Claude Desktop Windows taskbar icon appears pixelated — icon assets are low resolution

Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Apr 3, 2026 by bachseans Closed Apr 6, 2026

Description

The Claude Desktop app (Windows Store/UWP version) displays a pixelated/blurry icon in the Windows 11 taskbar and system tray, particularly on high-DPI displays.

Root Cause

The icon assets shipped with the package are undersized and/or low color depth:

| Asset | Resolution | Issue |
|-------|-----------|-------|
| assets/icon.png | 50x50 | Too small for modern displays |
| assets/Square44x44Logo.png | 88x88 (scale-200) | Only 2x, no 3x/4x variants |
| assets/Square44x44Logo.targetsize-24_altform-unplated.png | 24x24 | Single size, no scaling variants |
| resources/Tray-Win32.ico | Max 32x32, 16 colors (4-bit) | Critically low quality |

Notably, Tray-Win32.ico contains 13 icon entries but the largest is only 32x32 at 4-bit color depth (16 colors). Modern Windows expects 256x256 at 32-bit (RGBA) for sharp rendering on high-DPI taskbars.

Expected Behavior

  • Taskbar and tray icons should include 256x256, 64x64, 48x48, 32x32, and 16x16 sizes at 32-bit RGBA color depth
  • UWP tile assets should include scale-100, scale-125, scale-150, scale-200, scale-400 variants per Microsoft guidelines
  • targetsize variants should cover 16, 24, 32, 48, and 256

Environment

  • App version: 1.569.0.0 (UWP, Windows Store)
  • OS: Windows 11 Pro (10.0.26200)
  • Display scaling: >100%

Workaround

Manually replacing the PNG assets in the WindowsApps package folder with properly sized 32-bit icons resolves the issue until the next app update.

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