# Help! How do I fix this computer appearance thingy . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406 "2006-08-20T02:06:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/1 "2006-08-20T02:06:42Z")
Yesterday something happened (probably to do with a kitten playing on the keyboard) and all my computer docs and webpages are now twice their size – as they would be for a vision-impaired person. How do I fix this? The “change text size” changes the text size, but not the overall size of everything. Eeek! ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/2 "2006-08-20T02:09:16Z")
What OS are you using? ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/3 "2006-08-20T02:17:31Z")
OS = Windows XP ---
**Author:** ![squeekster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@squeekster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeekster)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/4 "2006-08-20T02:23:33Z")
Right click a blank area of the desk top and choose properties. On the “settings” tab, there is an adjustment for screen resolution. Move it back and forth and click “apply” until you find the setting you had before. If it isn’t the right setting, as long as you don’t click “OK” it will automatically revert to the previous setting. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/5 "2006-08-20T02:23:41Z")
IANA computer guru, but… Did you check your monitor resolution (control panel) and make sure it is set properly? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/6 "2006-08-20T02:24:46Z")
The dreaded simul-post rears its ugly head… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/7 "2006-08-20T14:00:33Z")
GENIUS! It worked! Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/8 "2006-08-20T14:50:30Z")
> [@](#): > > something happened (probably to do with a kitten playing on the keyboard) it seems like this problem is likely to re-occur … I would recommend teaching the kitten to right click on “properties” when she’s finished playing. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-how-do-i-fix-this-computer-appearance-thingy/369406/9 "2006-08-20T22:26:59Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > it seems like this problem is likely to re-occur … I would recommend teaching the kitten to right click on “properties” when she’s finished playing. I’ll have a chat with her about cleaning up after keyboard frolics.