If you have difficulty reading web pages because the text is too small, it’s very easy to ‘Zoom in’ and make the whole page bigger.
There are several ways to do this:
- Ctrl + scroll wheel - if you use a mouse with a scroll wheel (usually between the two buttons on a standard mouse) wheel it gently away from you while holding down the Ctrl key on the keyboard. Wheel it towards you to make the page smaller.
- Ctrl + - if you don’t have a scroll wheel, hold down the Ctrl key and press the + (plus) key to make the page bigger. If you over do it, Ctrl – (Ctrl & minus) will make it smaller again.
How to enlarge a webpage in IE10
In the new Windows 8 Metro version of IE10, this is how you can fix the level of ‘Zoom’ for all websites by following these steps:
Step 1: Open the Charms Bar by pointing your mouse at the bottom or top right corner of the screen.
Step 2: Click Settings.
Step 3: Click Internet Explorer
Step 4: You will see the word ‘Zoom’ next to a slide control. Use your mouse with the left button held down to drag the slider to the right to increase the Zoom or left to decrease it. Click on the webpage to close the Settings pane.
Other ways to Zoom in different browsers
If you use Internet Explorer, you can also have a Zoom control in the bottom right hand corner of the window – if you can’t see this, do a right mouse click right at the top of the window, now left click on Status Bar – it should put a tick next to it. There should now be a percentage in the bottom right hand corner with a plus next to it – clicking on this will make the page bigger. If you click the small arrow next to it, you can choose from a list of percentages.
In Google Chrome, click the ‘spanner’ icon in the top right hand corner, you should see Zoom in the menu with a plus and minus you can click on to make the page bigger or smaller.
In Firefox, the Zoom control is in the View menu across the top of the window. If you can’t see the menu bar, do a right mouse click at the top of the window and left click on Menu Bar – a tick should appear next to it and the Menu bar will appear.
Don’t forget that if you make the page bigger, you will need to do more scrolling to see everything on the page. You may have to scroll horizontally as well as vertically if the page is too wide for the screen. You can do this by dragging the scroll bar at the bottom of the window to the left or right with your mouse. Or use the cursor (arrow) keys on your keyboard.
Fiona Syrett is a Digital Unite Tutor.