# Easy way to increase the font size displayed on the sceen on a Dell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764 "2011-01-24T10:11:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/1 "2011-01-24T10:11:49Z")
Sometimes I find that a webpage comes up on my screen with the font a bit too small for easy reading. On my Mac, it’s easy to change - hit "Apple key + " and the font all automatically goes up a notch. I’m having to use a Dell for a few days, running Windows XP - is there a similar easy key stroke? ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/2 "2011-01-24T10:14:02Z")
Control plus and minus changes the font size in most browsers. Control zero sets it back to the page’s default. ---
**Author:** ![\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/eada6e/32.png) [@\_Undecided\_Adrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Undecided_Adrian)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/3 "2011-01-24T10:15:20Z")
Of course, it’s CTRL + With CTRL 0 you can reset the fontsize, and you can also use CTRL with the mouse scrollwheel. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/4 "2011-01-24T10:21:12Z")
I’ve tried ctlr + and nothing happens. I’m using IE 7. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/5 "2011-01-24T13:25:54Z")
It’s Ctrl-plus using the plus key on the numeric pad, not the one that’s shift-equals. So it’s kinda hard to do on a laptop. From the menu it’s Page \>\> Text size \>\> choice . It doesn’t work on all sites & pages. For example, it doesn’t work on the SDMB. In the perpetual war between whether the website designer or the browser operator gets the last word on how a page looks, IE split the difference. A well-behaved website will be set up so the browser controls are effective. A lazily-designed website will lock those controls out. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/6 "2011-01-24T13:34:33Z")
If you’re using a mouse with a scrollwheel, you hold down Ctrl and roll the wheel. That actually does work on the SDMB (using Chrome). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/7 "2011-01-24T17:54:30Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > If you’re using a mouse with a scrollwheel, you hold down Ctrl and roll the wheel. That actually does work on the SDMB (using Chrome). This is the easiest way, unless you have an old school mouse. I can verify that this works in Firefox 3.6 and Internet Explorer 8 as well. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/8 "2011-01-24T21:02:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s Ctrl-plus using the plus key on the numeric pad, not the one that’s shift-equals. So it’s kinda hard to do on a laptop. I just tried this on my netbook without a numerical keypad and it works using the Ctrl = and Ctrl - keys. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/9 "2011-01-24T21:07:47Z")
thanks for the info, guys. guess I’ll just have to squint. another indicator of tempus fugit - sigh. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/easy-way-to-increase-the-font-size-displayed-on-the-sceen-on-a-dell/568764/10 "2011-01-25T16:35:08Z")
And all those “increase your font size” ads you see on the Internet – none of those things work.😉