Does your computer screen have a very high resolution and you can’t see the smallest text on it correctly? Have you recently experienced any problems with the icons on your PC’s desktop? If the answer to these and similar questions is yes, then finding out how to zoom in on Windows will probably come in handy, very handy.
With today’s guide I’m going to show you everything you can do to zoom in on Windows, both using special features available, so to speak, “standard” and resorting to the use of specific third-party programs. How do you say? You are not a great expert in computer science and you are afraid that everything could be too complicated? But no, you have no reason to be alarmed, zooming in on Windows is extremely simple, really.
So, if you really want to find out what you can do to zoom in on Windows, I suggest you take five minutes of your free time and focus on reading this guide. I’m sure that at the end you’ll be satisfied and I’m also sure that if necessary you’ll be willing to explain to your friends in need of a similar tip how to do it. Ready? Yes? Very well, then let’s proceed.
Depending on your preferences and needs, you can zoom in on Windows in different ways. You can decide to zoom in on the entire screen, zoom in on a specific area only or zoom in only on the web pages you see in the browser. The choice is clearly yours alone.
If you’re interested in zooming in on Windows, you can use Magnifying Glass to zoom in on the entire desktop or just a specific area of it. This is a utility that comes pre-installed in all the latest versions of the Microsoft operating system that, as its name suggests, allows you to zoom in on the desktop in a very simple way.
To zoom in on Windows using Magnifying Glass, the first thing you need to do is launch the tool. To do this, click on the Start button, type magnifying glass in the search field and then click on the first result in the list.
Once you see the Magnifying Glass toolbar on the screen, make sure that Full Screen is selected in the View dropdown menu and if not, click on it. Then click on the blue button with the + symbol on it to zoom in on the whole screen and use the mouse to navigate on the enlarged screen. To reduce or increase the zoom level again click on the magnifying glass that appears at the side, you will see again the toolbar with the buttons to zoom in or out the screen.
To zoom in on Windows by acting only on specific areas of the screen, select either the Magnifier or the Anchor option from the View menu on the Magnifier toolbar. Then, if you have selected the Lens option, you will see a small area in correspondence to the position of the cursor where you can see the enlarged content of the reference area. If necessary, you can increase or decrease the zoom level by clicking the + and – buttons on the Magnifying Glass toolbar. If you have selected the Anchored option you will see a bar at the top of your desktop with the zoom level of the part of the screen visible at the cursor. Also in this case you can adjust the zoom level using the + and – buttons attached to the Magnifying Glass toolbar.
If you prefer, you can speed up the process of zooming in on Windows by using the following key combinations:
Use Win (Windows flag) + + (plus symbol) to zoom in on the screen.
Use Win (Windows flag) + – (minus symbol) to zoom out of the screen.
Use Win (Windows flag) + – (minus symbol) to zoom out of the screen.
Use Win (Windows flag) + Esc to close the Magnifier tool.
Use Ctrl+Alt+F to switch to Full Screen mode.
Use Ctrl+Alt+L to switch to Lens mode.
Use Ctrl+Alt+D to switch to Anchored mode.
By clicking on the gearwheel icon on the Magnifying Glass toolbar you can make some changes and customizations to the way the utility works according to your needs. For example, you can set the degree to which the view changes when zooming in or out, or you can enable color inversion.
If you want to zoom in on Windows by intervening only and exclusively on Web pages you can resort to the use of the following keyboard shortcuts that, precisely, allow you to enlarge what is shown in the windows of all major Web browsers (for more details and insights you can see my guide on how to zoom a Web page).
Use ctrl++ (plus symbol) to increase the zoom level of the page.
Use ctrl+- (minus symbol) to decrease the zoom level of the page.
Use ctrl+- (minus symbol) to decrease the zoom level of the page.
Use ctrl+scroll up mouse wheel to increase the zoom level of the page.
Use ctrl+down mouse scroll wheel to decrease the zoom level of the page.
If you have a latest generation notebook with updated Synaptics drivers, you can also zoom Web pages on Windows by performing the classic “pinch”, the one generally used on the touch schemes of smartphones and tablets, on the computer’s trackpad.
If you are using an older version of Windows, such as Windows XP or Windows Vista, or if you prefer an alternative, third-party solution to Magnifying Glass, you can zoom in using the Virtual Magnifying Glass program. This is a free software program that performs the same functions as the Magnifying Glass tool and therefore allows you to zoom in on Windows in a very simple and straightforward manner.
To zoom in on Windows using Virtual Magnifying Glass the first thing you need to do is click here so that you can immediately connect to the program’s website. Then click on Vmg3.5_install.exe to start the download process of the program.
Once the download is complete, open the file by double-clicking on it and in the window that appears, click OK and then Next. Next, accept the terms of use of the program by putting a check mark next to I accept the terms of the license agreement, then click Next four times in a row, then Install and finally Finish.
Wait for the software to start automatically and display its window, then click on the Classic Mode button to start zooming the desktop right away.
Keep in mind that the zoom follows the mouse cursor. Click on the Virtual Magnifying Glass icon next to the Windows clock to use the virtual magnifying glass or click to disable it. Use the mouse wheel or scroll to increase or decrease the zoom level.
If you prefer to zoom in on Windows by creating a specific area on the desktop when you zoom in, select the Dynamic Mode option.
To select this option, right-click on the program’s icon next to the Windows clock and select Dynamic Mode from the menu that appears. Next, press the left mouse button or trackpad button on the Virtual Magnifying Glass icon next to the Windows clock and continue to hold down the button until you reach the exact point on the desktop where you want to display the zoom frame. To disable the function, right-click on the program’s icon on the taskbar and uncheck the Dynamic Mode option from the menu that appears.