Simple: Enlarging Text

By Ricky Buchanan • October 2, 2007

This entry is part 2 of 14 in the series Mac Accessibility 101

The keystroke ⌘+ (in other words command and shift and equals at the same time) will enlarge the text size in many OS X applications. If you’re using Safari to read this, try typing it now - the text on the web page should get bigger.

As a general rule ⌘+ works where there are big blocks of text, but not for smaller amounts of text, menus, or any pictures. Try pressing it when you’re reading mail with Mail.app, using Safari, or using the Help Viewer and watch what expands and what doesn’t. If you are using TextEdit, then only the text that you have selected will enlarge. This may be similar for other editors too.

The keystroke ⌘- (in other words command and minus) will make the text smaller in all the same places that ⌘+ makes it larger, so if you overshoot or don’t like the effect you can go back. Also, you have to enlarge the text for every new window and after you restart a program - the effect doesn’t stick.

On the plus side, the command works on all OS X computers - there’s nothing to download or configure or set up. And command-plus for bigger and command-minus for smaller is easy to remember. Try it anywhere - the worst that can happen is nothing!

- ATMac

Series Navigation«Series: Simple accessibility hintsSimple: Bigger Mouse Pointer»

Categories: Information, Simple, Vision Impaired
Tags: bigger print, enlarge text, large print, magnify, zoom text

About the Author

Ricky Buchanan

Ricky Buchanan is 34 years old and the founder and main writer for ATMac. She's bedridden with severe CFS/ME or perhaps a primary mitochondrial disorder - the doctors are not sure. When she's not working on ATMac or her other websites she composes music, listens to audio books, does other disability advocacy, watches TV with her flatmate, and enjoys her cat.

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