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How to Zoom In and Out on Mac

How to Zoom In and Out on Mac

Liza Brown
Liza Brown Originally published Jul 14, 22, updated Dec 10, 24

Having difficulties seeing the small print on your Mac's screen? You can easily enlarge the whole screen with just a few clicks with this guide of how-to un-zoom on mac; which is useful for anybody with poor vision in particular. Users of the macOS operating system may zoom in and out on tiny, difficult-to-read text and pictures in a variety of ways. Would you want to interact closely with anything on your Mac? Maybe you'd like to see things from a broader angle so you would require a how to zoom out on Mac tutorial.

In any case, you have our support. There are various ways to zoom in and out on a Mac, whether you want to do it for the whole screen or just a specific window. For your benefit, we went through many different methods to zoom out on a Mac today. Apple provides a wide range of customizing possibilities. We'll provide you practical advice on how to utilize your keyboard, mouse, trackpad, or browser to zoom in MacBook. Let's get started straight now without further ado.

In this article
  1. Way 1: Use Keyboard Shortcuts
  2. Way 2: Use Trackpad Gestures
  3. Way 3: Use Scroll Gesture
  4. Way 4: Enable Hover Text to Zoom
  5. Way 5: Enable Touch Bar

Way 1: Use Keyboard Shortcuts

When using an app, holding down Command key while using the plus (+) or minus (-) keys will allow you to zoom in or out as needed. Using the keyboard on your Mac, you may zoom in and out at intervals of 10%; when you do, a pop-up menu with the option to reset (i.e., return to the default, or 100%, zoom level) will display at the top of the screen. Instead of touching or repeating the shortcut, just keep holding the plus or minus key to zoom farther. Accessibility Zoom, which was created as a tool for the blind and enables you to zoom in on a Mac to see tiny text and precisely change settings with checkboxes, must be enabled if you wish to zoom in on the whole screen rather than just an app window (such as Utilities).

Steps to Use Keyboard Shortcut to Zoom in MacBook:

Step1Go to Accessibility > System Preferences > Zoom, then click Zoom in the sidebar. Check the check next to "Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom" after that. Click the command key (located on either side of the space bar).

how to zoom in/out on mac

Step2Press the plus/equal sign ("+ =") button, which is adjacent to the delete button on the top right side of the keyboard, while continuing to hold down the command button to zoom in.

Step3Press the dash/underscore button ("- _"), which is situated next to the "+ =" button on the top right side of the keyboard, while still holding down the command button, to zoom out.

Way 2: Use Trackpad Gestures

You may quickly learn how to zoom in on a Mac using trackpad movements if you prefer using a touchpad versus learning any kind of keyboard shortcuts. With a MacBook, there is another, maybe simpler way to zoom in and out in addition to the approach mentioned above. If your keyboard isn't entirely working, it may still be helpful. However, make sure that gesture support is turned on in the settings on your Mac. Although a Mac still supports the usage of a mouse, new Mac software is designed to be used with a trackpad. Apple is abandoning the mouse. And with a little practice, you can do it too. What you must do is as follows:

Steps to Enable Trackpad Gestures:

Step1Open System Preferences and choose Trackpad. Next, choose the Scroll & Zoom tab and select the "Smart zoom" checkbox. Zooming in on web sites, photos, and documents couldn't be much simpler after gesture support was set up:

how to zoom in/out on mac

Step2You can zoom in or out on Mac by placing two fingers on the touchpad and moving one finger closer to the other or further apart (repeat for additional zooming)

Step3Another option is to simply zoom in and out by double-tapping the touchpad with two fingers.

Way 3: Use Scroll Gesture

If you'd like to use your mouse, you may utilize the screen zoom option, which enlarges everything on your screen rather than just the app window you're now viewing. This would need holding down one of the designated modifier keys while scrolling in order to zoom in on a Mac. Just like on an iPhone or iPad, you can zoom in and out by pinching and un-pinching. The smart zoom motion, on the other hand, is executed by double-tapping with two fingers. This immediately zooms into or immediately zooms out of a web page or pdf.

Steps to Enable Scroll Gesture:

Step1To make this feature active, from the Apple menu, choose System Preferences and select Accessibility. Choose Zoom from the sidebar.

how to zoom in/out on mac

Step2Select "Use scroll motion with modifier keys to zoom" from the drop-down menu as shown above.

Step3Select the desired modifier key from the dropdown menu.

Way 4: Enable Hover Text to Zoom

Use the wonderful assistive feature called Hover Text to enlarge a single macOS user interface piece without zooming out the whole Mac screen. One of your alternatives is to enable zooming while hovering over text. The "Enable Hover Text" option is part of the Zoom menu but does not directly magnify the display. The function allows users to use the Command key to momentarily enlarge just the text below the pointer and is accessible without Zoom having to be activated. When Hover Text is enabled on your Mac, you may drag the cursor over anything on the screen, such as text, input fields, menu items, or buttons, and a high-resolution magnified version of those objects will appear in a new window. Find out here how to make Hover Text available on your Mac:

Steps to Use Hover Text to Zoom:

Step1When you choose this option, a larger, higher-resolution picture of the text your cursor is over will show as long as you press and hold down the "Command" key. Click "Options" to modify the text's appearance.

how to zoom in/out on mac

Step2Additional customization options are available in the Options menu, including the ability to alter the font, the size of the zoomed-in text (which may range from 14pt to 128pt), the font's appearance surrounding the cursor, and the modifier key that activates the function.

how to zoom in/out on mac

Way 5: Enable Touch Bar

This substitute is only accessible on Macs equipped with Touch Bars. A handy feature is the Touch Bar. The Touch Bar is a feature on every current MacBook Pro model, including the 13-inch and 16-inch versions. On the Touch Bar, there is a mix of App Controls and a Control Strip. To use with your compatible MacBook Pro, the Touch Bar has additional features. Although it is helpful right out of the box, some customization may be required for your advantage. Fortunately, Apple makes modifications rather straightforward. You may change your default by following the instructions below.

Steps to Enable Touch Bar on MacBook:

Step1The Touch Bar at the bottom of your display will grow and become easier to view if you choose the "Enable Touch Bar zoom" option. Now all you have to do is touch and hold the Touch Bar to test it out.

Step2Click the Apple symbol in the upper left corner of your screen and choose "System Preferences" to activate the touch bar in another method.

Step3Select "Keyboard" > "Keyboard" and then select "Touch Bar shows" under the Touch Bar settings. Then choose an option from the menu, which also includes the larger Control Strip and app buttons.

how to zoom in/out on mac

Conclusion

Even the most experienced Mac users sometimes get lost and google topics that should be obvious, like how to zoom in and out on a Mac. But it's also not as evident as you may believe. You'll be astonished by how many options there are for zooming on a Mac. Use the Zoom accessibility tool on your Mac's desktop to enlarge the area of the screen you need if you're having problems seeing certain components. We're certain that this article will help you learn something new and use your Mac to its fullest potential. Check out the useful guide to Mac zoom above to see how these zoom tips and solutions may help you make the most of your time on a Mac.

Liza Brown
Liza Brown Dec 10, 24
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