Zoom in for a Better View

When things are too small on the screen to see clearly why not make them larger by zooming in?

Most programs including your favorite web browser will have keystrokes or options you can use to zoom in closer. Your mouse may even have a special scroll wheel that you can use in many programs too. Here are some ways to zoom in to see things at a bigger size in those programs you use most often.




If you have a scroll wheel on your mouse you can zoom in and out of a web page in Internet Explorer by holding the Ctrl (Control) key on your keyboard as you roll the mouse’s scroll wheel towards the screen. To zoom back out hold the Ctrl (Control) key as you roll the mouse wheel backwards.





Rolling the scroll wheel as you hold the Ctrl (Control) key will work in many other applications as well as your browser. It works in Excel and Word for example, so give it a try in your favorite program.





If your mouse doesn’t have a scroll wheel you can still zoom in and out. In Internet Explorer choose View > Zoom and select a zoom percentage. Values greater than 100% make the webpage larger and values less than 100% make them smaller. You can also use keyboard shortcuts – Ctrl (Control) + – (the minus key) makes the screen smaller and Ctrl (Control) + + (the plus key) makes it larger.





In Microsoft Office applications such as Word and Excel you’ll see a zoom slider in the bottom right corner of the screen. Drag to the right to enlarge the document inside the program’s window and drag to the left to reduce its size. To size to the default size set the slider to 100%.





If you really need more help seeing the screen click the Start button and type Magnifier and click to open the Magnifier. The Magnifier shows a larger version of the text under your mouse so hold your mouse pointer over something you want to see more clearly. Look in the Magnifier area on the screen and you will see it at a larger size.
It may take a little time to get used to using the Magnifier but, if nothing else works, it might be worth persisting with using. To turn it off, click the Close button on the Magnifier toolbar.