How to: make fonts in Windows XP bigger

Hi everyone, I decided to post a little bit of info for those who might be interested in using high resolution on a relatively small screen w/o killing their eyes. I've received a PM today asking for this info, and decided to post it here so others can benefit as well.

So, how do you get text to become bigger without changing the resolution (or the screen size)? By changing font sizes of course!

First let me say that web browsers and possibly other applications will have to be adjusted separately. Onceyou adjust fonts in web browsers you may also see artefacts on some web pages (text out of place, etc but usually it's nothing too major).

So, how did I become an 'expert' on this? I have a 17" LCD w/ WUXGA (1900x1200) resolution. Regular fonts were way too small for me and I didn't want to drop the resolution, so here I am.

Now, as to the instructions... They are quite simple.

1. Go to your desktop, right click and select Properties.
2. Display Properties window will open. Select Appearance tab.
3. In the Font size drop-down select Large Fonts and click Apply.

Now all of the text on screen will become really big. If you're happy with that font size - great! If not, and most likely you won't be we're going to adjust the font sizes:
4. Click the Advanced button. Advanced Appearance window will appear.
5. In the Advanced Appearance window take a look at the Item drop down. Now, let's scroll through the selections. The item settings you see on this screen govern the appearance of various graphical components in Windows. You should also notice that for some you can change fonts and font sizes and for some you can't. Those items that have font and font size associated with them govern the appearance of various text. These are the items that we're going to change.

Here's a list of the items and their corresponding settings that I use. Feel free to use these or play around on your own, but don't forget that when you change font/font size you might also have to change the actual component size. I would recommend trying the settings I use first and then making necessary adjustments. Anyway, here are my settings:

Format: Item - Size - Font - Font Size

Active Title Bar - 22 - Trebuchet MS - 11
Icon - 32 - Tahoma - 10
Inactive Title Bar - 22 - Trebuchet MS - 11
Menu - 19 - Tahoma - 10
Palette Title - 19 - Tahoma - 9
Selected Items - 19 - Tahoma - 10


Don't forget to click OK on the Advanced Appearance window and then OK again on the Display Properties window when you're done.

 

Did you try increasing the DPI?

 

I have to agree with Zaz. I have a 14 inch screen and found the fonts and icons a bit small. After much experimentation with all the different options available to me (including some that the original poster listed), I found the easiest and most desirable method was to use the Display Properties --> Settings --> Advanced --> DPI Setting --> Large size. Very happy with my display now!

 

thanks ZaZ, but I wanted to change fonts only and then adjust graphical component sizes as needed. DPI setting resizes everything and I didn't like that.

 

What is the "Palette Title" anyway? I don't see any changes when the settings are changed.

 

Check out this link

http://computerhelp.mwsi.net/Windows/Windows.htm

Then go to "Display Properties Part III" & "Display Properties Part IV". This will explain what all those windows, titles, & palettes are.

 

NICE! Thanks.