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Resizing text
Last updated:
2 March 2020
You can enlarge the size of text on web pages if the text is too small for you to read easily. Follow the steps below for three popular browsers on a Windows system, and Safari on Macintosh and Windows.
On this page
Use browser menu
Internet Explorer
Choose 'View' from the menus at the top of the browser window. Look down the list and run the mouse over 'Text size'. This expands a 'fly-out' menu with several choices (e.g. 'Larger', 'Largest'). Choose the one that suits your needs.
To return text to 'normal' size, choose 'View – Text size – Medium' from the fly-out menu. To make text size smaller, choose your preferred option from the same menu.
Firefox
Same as Internet Explorer but with slightly different wording. Choose 'View – Text size – Increase Ctrl++'. Keep doing this until the text size suits your needs.
To return text to 'normal' size, choose 'View – Text size – Normal Ctrl+0' (zero). To make text size smaller, choose 'View – Text size – Decrease Ctrl+-' (minus).
Opera
Choose 'View from the menus at the top of the browser window. Look down the list and run the mouse over 'Zoom'. This expands a fly-out menu with several choices. Choose from '120%', '150%' or '200%' to enlarge the text size.
To return text to 'normal' size, choose 'View – Zoom – 100%'. To make text size smaller, choose one of the smaller percentages in the 'Zoom' fly-out menu.
Safari on Macintosh
Choose 'View – Text size –
Safari on Windows
Go to the page icon near the Google search box at the top of the browser window (assuming default browser settings). Click on the down arrow to open the drop-down menu and move the mouse over 'Zoom'. Choose from 'Actual size' for normal text, or 'Zoom in – Ctrl+ +' to enlarge the text.
To return text to 'normal' size, choose 'Zoom – Actual size Ctrl+ 0' (zero). To make text smaller, choose 'Zoom – Zoom out Ctrl+ -' (minus).
Use keyboard
Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari on Windows
Hold down the 'Ctrl' key and use the '+' key to enlarge text. Keep using the '+' key until the text is the right size for you.
To return text size to 'normal', use 'Ctrl 0' (zero). To make text size smaller, use 'Ctrl' and '-' (minus).
If you have a wheel on your mouse, hold down the 'Ctrl' key and roll the wheel forward to increase text size, or back to make it smaller.
You can also use the 'Zoom' slider if your keyboard has one.
Safari on Macintosh
Hold down the 'Cmd' (i.e. Apple) key and use the '+' key to enlarge text, or the '-' (minus) key to make text smaller. Use the 'Cmd' (Apple) key and '0' (zero) to return text to normal size.
NOTE: Using these keyboard methods might affect the size of link areas on the page but the links will still work.