Use magnification on your screen

You can zoom or magnify to see your Android device's screen better.

Important:

• Some of these steps work only on Android 13 and up. Learn how to check your Android version.

• Some of these steps require you to touch the screen.

Contents

• Zoom in and make everything bigger
• Zoom in temporarily
• Tips for using magnification
• Partial screen magnification
• Switch between full and partial screens
• Use Magnify typing to follow text as you type

Step 1: Turn on magnification

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility Magnification.
3. Turn on Magnification shortcut.
4. Optional: To change your shortcut, tap Magnification shortcut, then choose one of these options:
   • Accessibility button: At the bottom of your screen, tap Accessibility .
     • The position of the button can vary based on your navigation set up.
   • Hold volume keys: Press and hold both volume keys.
   • Triple-tap screen: Quickly tap the screen 3 times and hold the gesture. This shortcut may slow down your device.

Step 2: Use magnification

Full screen magnification: Zoom in & make everything bigger

1. Tap Accessibility .
   • If you set up a different magnification shortcut, use that instead.
2. Tap anywhere on the screen, except the keyboard or navigation bar.
   • On devices with Android 16 and above, you can zoom in on the keyboard to find emojis and letters. Turn on Magnify keyboard, to clarify the instruction.
3. Drag 2 fingers to move around the screen.
4. Pinch with 2 fingers to adjust zoom.
5. To stop magnification, use your magnification shortcut again.

Full screen magnification: Zoom in temporarily

1. Tap Accessibility .
   • If you set up a different magnification shortcut, use that instead.
2. Touch and hold anywhere on the screen, except the keyboard or navigation bar.
   • On devices with Android 16 and above, you can zoom in on the keyboard to find emojis and letters. Turn on Magnify keyboard, to clarify the instruction.
3. Drag your finger to move around the screen.
4. Lift your finger to stop magnification.

Partial screen magnification

1. Tap Accessibility .
   • If you set up a different magnification shortcut, use that instead.
2. Drag 2 fingers to move around the magnification window.
3. Pinch with 2 fingers to adjust zoom.
4. To stop magnification, use your magnification shortcut again.

Switch between full & partial screens

1. On your device, open the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility Magnification.
3. Tap Magnification type Switch to magnify full screen or partial screen.

Use Follow typing to follow text as you type

Important: Follow typing was previously called Magnify typing.

1. On your device, open the Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility Magnification Follow typing.

To help you change settings quickly, you can use the Magnifier Settings panel on Android 14 and up. You can access this feature when you use full or partial screen magnification.

1. Start using full or partial screen magnification.
2. Tap the magnifier settings icon.
3. You can customize:
   • Magnifier size: Change how much of the screen you’d like to be magnified, or switch between full screen and partial screen magnification.
   • Zoom: Zoom in and out of a specific section of the screen.
   • Allow diagonal scrolling (partial screen magnification only): Change whether diagonal scrolling is on or off. To easily move around and locate the magnified section on the screen, turn off Allow diagonal scrolling.

Use Magnify keyboard in full-screen magnification

Important: This feature is only available on devices with Android 16 and above.

You can use this feature to zoom into the keyboard to find emojis and letters when you use full-screen magnification. To change this setting, you can use the magnification settings panel.

1. Open your device’s Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility Magnification Magnify keyboard.

Use keyboard shortcuts for magnification

You can use these keyboard shortcuts to control magnification on Android devices with an external keyboard:

• Turn Magnification on or off: Action + Alt + M
• Zoom in or out: Action + Alt + - or +
• Pan the viewport: Action + Alt + Arrow up, down, right, or left

You can complete quick actions, like accessing system menus or performing platform specific shortcuts, through the Action key. This can vary based on the keyboard:

• Windows keyboard: Use the Windows key.
• Mac keyboard: Use the Command key ⌘.

Follow mouse cursor modes

To make the magnified viewport follow your mouse cursor, use these new modes. These modes are available for full screen magnification.

1. Open your device's Settings app.
2. Tap Accessibility Magnification.
3. Select a mode:
   • Centered: The cursor stays in the center of the screen, and the magnified viewport moves with it until it reaches the content’s edge.
   • Edge: The cursor moves normally until it reaches the screen’s edge, then the viewport starts to move to follow it.
   • Continuous: The cursor moves across the display while the viewport adjusts to keep the cursor visible.

Set focus & magnification

When you want magnification to track focus and other UI elements, you can use these new features on Android devices:

• Focus following settings: You can choose which focus type magnification follows, like keyboard focus or text cursor.
  • Text cursor following: You can make magnification follow the text cursor while you type in text boxes.
  • Keyboard focus following: You can make the magnification viewport follow the keyboard focus when you use an external keyboard to navigate.

Tips for using magnification

• Magnification can range up to 8x.
• If you open or close an app when zoomed in, it may automatically zoom out, depending on your settings. To zoom in again, use your magnification shortcut.
• If you selected the triple-tap magnification shortcut: After you turn on magnification, single taps take slightly longer. This short delay lets your device find out if your tap is part of a triple-tap.

Get more help

For more Accessibility help, contact the Disability Support team.