The zoom is a basic function for browsers, which allows you to zoom in on web pages that are written too small or to zoom out on those that are too large. Users who wear glasses or have low vision can use the zoom feature to increase the size of text on all Web pages and may also be able to increase or decrease the size of individual items that are too small or too large.The zoom can be useful when you visit a website written too small or too large, or simply to make better use of the large space of a high resolution monitor, to enlarge text and images on all open web pages.
In the following guide we will show you in detail how to enlarge web pages on the main browsers on a PC, so that we can adapt all the pages we visit or only the problematic ones based on the screen resolution and viewing distance.
READ ALSO -> How to change the screen resolution in Windows 11 and 10 (and resize text and icons)
How to adjust the zoom on Google Chrome
The zoom features can be configured in two different ways: on a single web page or on all websites. In Google Chrome we can control the level of zoom of the web page you are viewing pressing the key with three dots at the top right and then clicking the + and - keys next to the Zoom item.
The changes take effect immediately so you can see right away if the zoom level is satisfactory or if it needs further adjustments. These zoom settings only affect the site you are currently viewing.
After configuring the zoom, a small icon in the shape of a magnifying glass will appear in the address bar (top right): we can press on it to control the zoom level or to return to the default zoom level (by clicking on the Reset).
To change the default zoom of all web pages, press the three dots at the top right, let's go to the menu Settings, let's open the menu Appearance and change the zoom level to the item Zoom of pages.
If instead of enlarging all the pages we want to enlarge only the characters we can also go to the Settings -> Appearance path and press on the menu Customize fonts, so as to be able to modify the two slides in the upper part of the window (Font size and Minimum font size).
If we're not happy with Chrome's built-in zoom controls we can always expand this functionality with extensions, such as those below:
- W Zoom allows you to set a different magnification level for pages, sites or paths.
- Zoom for Google Chrome adds zoom controls to the toolbar and introduces more precise zoom levels, such as 97% or 92%.
- Zoom Page WE allows you to zoom in different ways, even with automatic adaptation.
These extensions are to be used only if we are not happy with the built-in tools, as adding extensions inevitably makes Google's browser slower.
How to adjust the zoom on Microsoft Edge
The web browser built into Windows 10 and Windows 11, that is Microsoft Edge, is based on Chromium, the open source project on which Google Chrome is also based. This means that the steps to adjust the zoom are really very similar to those seen above for Chrome.
To adjust the zoom of a single page, press the three dots at the top right and act on the commands next to the item Zoom. Also in this case we can adjust the zoom again by pressing the magnifying glass icon visible in the address bar (only after having changed the zoom at least once).
If, on the other hand, we want to change the zoom to all the pages opened with Edge, press the three dots at the top right, let's go to the menu Settings, click on Appearance and adjust the zoom in the section Zoom page, choosing the desired percentage value.
To change the font size, all we have to do is take us to the Settings -> Appearance path and scroll down the page until you find the Fonts section, where you can expand the item Font size and choose the desired font size.
There are no dedicated zoom extensions for Edge, but we always can use Chrome extensions to enhance this function.
How to adjust the zoom on Mozilla Firefox
Also in Mozilla Firefox we can change the zoom by going to the options menu at the top right (button with three lines). In the menu you can find the keys to increase and decrease the zoom of the current page, in a simple and immediate way.
To change the zoom of all pages, open the menu at the top right, press on Settings and, in the card General, scroll down to find the section Zoom, so you can choose the zoom level to apply to web pages.
In the same section we can check the item Enlarge the text only, so as to apply the zoom only to the texts on the page (the layout will remain the same). If, on the other hand, we want to change the font size, just change the indicator next to the Size item in the section Fonts and colors.
If we want to use extensions to enhance Firefox's zoom function, below we have collected the best ones to install:
- Zoom Page WE
- fixed-zoom
- Zoom for Firefox
As already seen for Chrome we advise you to install them only if we were not happy with the integrated tools, since each additional extension will inevitably slow down the browser.
Conclusions
On all three browsers mentioned, the zoom can also be controlled via keyboard shortcut, using the key combination CTRL + and CTRL - or even holding down the CTRL keys, mouse wheel up to zoom in, down to zoom out.
We saw in another article how enlarge text and icons on Windows, changes that will also take effect when we use the browser.
