Enlarging Screen Font Size

The newer class of video monitors are amazing, offering resolution and clarity unheard of only a few years ago. One of the problems with high-resolution monitors, though, is that everything on the monitor looks smaller. This might not be a problem for some items, but it can be a real problem for fonts. What used to be readable may, at a higher resolution, be fuzzy or downright impossible to read.

Fortunately, Windows allows you to adjust the size of the font used to display text on your screen. All you need to do is follow these steps if you are using Windows 8 or earlier versions of Windows 10:

1. Display the Control Panel.
2. Click the Hardware and Sound link.
3. Click the Display link. You'll see the Display settings for your system. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Display settings in the Control Panel.

4. Use the controls under the Change Only the Text Size section to adjust the text size for various system items.
5. Close the Control Panel when done.

In Windows 7 you don't have as much flexibility. You can follow the same steps (1 through 3), but you won't find a Change Only the Text Size section. Instead, you can adjust the size of all screen elements, including text. Windows 7 provides 3 settings; you should pick the one that provides the best balance between size and usability.

Depending on the settings you change, you may need to log out of Windows and log back in so you can see the effects of the change.

The configuration settings described in this tip affect the font size used by Windows, not the font size used by programs running under Windows. If you want to adjust font size in those programs (such as Word, Excel, or other desktop applications), you'll need to make adjustments within those applications, as well.

Microsoft removed the option to adjust the size of fonts in the Create update of Windows 10. You don't have as much flexibility after this update as with prior versions of Windows 10. Follow these steps if you are using a later version of Windows 10:

1. Right-click an empty space on your desktop. Windows displays a context menu.
2. Choose Display Settings. Windows displays the Display section of the Settings dialog box. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The Display section of the Settings dialog box.

3. Click the drop-down arrow under the Change the Size of Text, Apps, and Other Items heading in the Scale and Layout group and choose a setting from the list.
4. Click Advanced Scaling Settings to fine-tune the size of the screen elements. Windows displays the Advanced Scaling Settings section of the Settings dialog box. (See Figure 3.)



Figure 3. The Advanced Scaling Settings section of the Settings dialog box.

5. Enter a custom scaling size (between 100% and 500%) in the box under the Custom Scaling group.
6. Click Apply.
7. Close the Settings dialog box when done.

 This tip (165) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.