Font size and zoom - increase the size of web pages

The zoom controls allow you to increase or decrease either the size of a whole web page or just the size of all the text in order to improve readability. We'll explain how it works.

Zoom in and out of a website

Here's how you can zoom in and out of individual websites.

  • Keyboard shortcut:
    • To zoom in, increasing the size, press and hold commandCtrl while pressing +.
    • To zoom out, decreasing the size, press and hold commandCtrl while pressing -.
    • To reset size back to normal, press and hold commandCtrl while pressing 0.
  • Add zoom controls to your toolbar:
    1. Right-click on an empty section of the Tab Strip, select Customize... and the Customize Toolbar window will open.
    2. In the Customize Toolbar window, click and drag the "Zoom Controls" toolbar item to the desired place on one of your toolbars.
    3. Click Done to save the changes to your toolbars. Two new magnifying glass icons will be added to your toolbar, one with a plus (+) and one with a minus (-).
      Zoom Controls
      • You can now use the + magnifying glass icon on the customized toolbar to zoom in, and the - magnifying glass icon on the customized toolbar to zoom out.
        Zoom Control - Win
  1. Click the menu button New Fx Menu on the right. The customization menu will open and you will see the zoom controls at the top.
    Zoom 29 - Win8 Zoom 29 - Mac Zoom 29 - Linux
  2. Use the + button to zoom in, and the - button to zoom out. The number in the middle is the current zoom level - click it to reset the zoom to 100%.
Keyboard shortcuts: You can also use the zoom controls without a mouse. Press and hold commandCtrl while pressing + to zoom in, - to zoom out, or 0 to reset.
Tip: To set the default zoom level for all websites, try the NoSquint add-on.

How to only change the size of the text

Instead of changing the size of everything, you can just change the size of the text.

  1. Press the Alt key to temporarily bring up the traditional Firefox menus. On the menu at the top, click View, then go to Zoom.
  2. Select Zoom Text Only. This makes the controls only change the size of text; not images.

Set a minimum text size

You can set Firefox to automatically display all text at a minimum font size. If a web page contains text that is smaller, Firefox increases the font size of the text to this minimum.

  1. At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Firefox button and then select Options.At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Tools menu and then select Options.On the menu bar, click on the Firefox menu and select Preferences....At the top of the Firefox window, click on the Edit menu and select Preferences.

    Click the menu button New Fx Menu and choose Options.Preferences.

  2. Select the Content panel.
  3. In the Fonts & Colors pane, click Advanced....
  4. In the Minimum Font Size drop-down, select the minimum size in pixels in which all text must be displayed.
    db77c7d84de3d81d1ef8a3b990b24ad6-1259464375-924-1.png
  5. Click OK to save your changes.
Alternate method: If you're unable to access your font settings through the menu button, type about:config into your address bar. Search for the font.minimum-size preference and change the value to 0.


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