Whether you forgot your reading glasses, came across a website that’s displaying incorrectly or want a leg up on your next game of Spot the Difference - it’s always worth knowing how to zoom in.
Thankfully, this is something that’s very easy to do across mostWindowsapplications. There’s a variety of ways to do it, and each has its own benefits.
So, without further ado, here’s how to zoom in on yourWindows computer.
How to zoom within a window
Starting with the simplest method, and the one that we use the most frequently, here’s how you can zoom within a window across the majority of applications -including your web browser, photo viewer and more.
If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can also holdCtrland use the scroll wheel to zoom in and out. If your PC has a touch screen, you can do a pinch gesture, just as you would on a smartphone.
The caveat here is that it doesn’t work on every single application, but we’ve found that it works in the majority of common apps.
How to zoom the whole screen
In some situations, zooming within a window isn’t enough, and really you need the entire screen to be magnified. Fear not, that’s very simple, too.
This method works on Windows 11, Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, but if you’re still using Windows 7, you’ll need to use the start menu. All you have to do is click on the Start button, type Magnifier in the search and click on it once it appears.
If you’re on Windows 8.1 and newer, you can also access Magnifier in the start menu, if you’d prefer.
How to zoom in a web browser
While both of the previous methods will work likely work for web content, there’s a third method you can try, too. Most web browsers, includingGoogle Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Firefox, have their own built-in zooming options.
At the upper right corner of your web browser, you’ll find a menu icon. It’s displayed differently on different browsers, but they all do the same thing. On Chrome it’s shown as three vertical dots, on Edge these dots are horizontal, and on Firefox it’s three lines instead.
Click the menu button, and in the drop-down menu, you’ll see a zoom option with a plus and minus symbol. Click the+to zoom in and the-to zoom out.
There’s also a full-screen option on the far right. You can click this if you want to fill your entire screen with the web content and pressF11on your keyboard when you want to exit.
