Make your Windows icons and text bigger. Icons, folders, shortcuts & text can all be scaled up to make them appear larger, and therefore easier to see and use.
Modern high definition computer screens produce super sharp images, but they do make everything appear smaller than they used to be on the old CRT monitors.
It’s really not difficult to increase the size of the icons and text on your screen to make it more comfortable to use. Just a couple of clicks and everything will become so much clearer and easier on your eyes.
Make Text And Icons Bigger On Screen.
All the icons and text on your computer have a set size, but you can them appear bigger by changing the scaling.
The amount that you can scale up the text and icons will vary depending on your screen, but you can make them at least 125% bigger.
To change the display scale, move the mouse pointer onto your desktop so that it’s not touching anything. Make sure it’s not touching any icons, folders or the taskbar.
Right click once and a menu will open.
On the menu, left click once on Display Settings.
The Right Click Menu.
The menu that opens when you right click is called either “the right click menu” or “the context menu” or “the options menu”.
It doesn’t really matter which way you call it, most people will understand what you mean.
Scale Up To Make Text And Icons Bigger.
The display settings page looks a little different depending on whether you’re using Windows 10 or Windows 11. Both are shown below.
In the Scale & Layout section, you’ll see a drop down box. By default it’ll be set to 100% (Recommended). You can safely ignore the “Recommended”. It doesn’t really mean anything.
Left click once on the downward pointing arrowhead and a menu (or list) of scaling options will appear.
Scaling Options.
On smaller screens (particularly laptops), you’ll probably only see 125%. But on larger screens, you could see several options.
Select the option that you want by left clicking on it. The menu will close and the screen may flicker slightly as Windows reconfigures itself.
You’ll notice that everything has just got a little larger, easier to see and read. Close the Display Settings page by left clicking on the X in the top right hand corner.
Which Scaling Option To Choose?
Assuming you have several scaling options available to you, which one should you go for?
There isn’t any “correct” choice as such. It really all depends on what suits you. Whatever makes your screen easier to use is the right choice.
But as a starting point, I’d suggest going with the 125% option first.
If that’s OK for you, then great. If you want to try a little larger, then you can always come back here and change the setting again.
Make The Text Bigger In Windows 10 And Windows 11.
When you change the display scale (as above), everything is affected, icons, folders, shortcuts and text all get bigger.
But you can just make the text bigger if you prefer. Using larger text will obviously make it much easier to read what’s on the screen.
To change the size of the text, click the Start button and type “text size” (without the quotes).
Then for Windows 10 users – Click Make Text Size Bigger (System Settings).
And if you’re using Windows 11 – Click Text Size (System Settings).
Drag the slider along to the right to make the screen text larger.
As you move the slider, you’ll see the sample text changing to the new size that you’re setting. The sample text is a guide to help you to decide how far you should go.
When you’ve set the right size for you, click the Apply button.
Summary.
Changing the size of your icons and text will reduce the strain on your eyes as well as making the computer easier to use.
Take some time setting it up. Don’t be afraid of changing the settings several times, after all, it’s doubtful that you’ll get it just right first time.
If you’re looking for a recommendation, then I’d suggest making everything larger, rather than just the text. But the option is there if you’d like to try it.
Next on the At Home Beginners Course is the Start Menu. Removing all the junk that Microsoft loads into it these days.
At Home Basic Computer Course.
The Start Menu.
How to set up and organise your Start menu to suit how you use your computer.
Make life easier.
At Home Computer Guides
These extra guides aren’t a part of the basic computer course, but they’re related to this page.
They can add more details, or practical applications of the subject that you’ve just covered.
Stay Informed. Stay In Touch.
Now that you’ve found me, keep in touch. I publish new articles and update older ones constantly.
Let me send you a monthly email with all the latest guides for you to see if there’s anything you’re interested in.
