Zoom in or magnify your Chromebook screen

You can change your screen resolution, zoom in, or magnify your screen to find items on your Chromebook screen better.

Make a page bigger or smaller

You can make the page you look at bigger or smaller, but keep other parts of your screen the same size.

• Make the page bigger: Press Ctrl and +.
• Make the page smaller: Press Ctrl and -.
• Reset zoom: Press Ctrl + 0.

You can also make all pages bigger or change the font size.

Make everything on your screen bigger or smaller

You can make everything on your screen bigger or smaller, which includes your row of apps and tabs, by changing your screen resolution.

• Make your screen bigger, decrease resolution: Press Ctrl + Shift and +.
• Make your screen smaller, increase resolution: Press Ctrl + Shift and -.
• Reset resolution: Press Ctrl + Shift + 0.

Tip: On your touchscreen, you can touch and hold an area with 2 fingers, and then pinch open to zoom in, or pinch close to zoom out.

Magnify your screen

You can zoom in on your screen, like when you use a magnifying glass.

Magnify your whole screen

To quickly magnify your entire screen, press Ctrl + Search + m or press Ctrl + Launcher + m.

To manage screen magnification:

1. At the bottom right, select the time.
   • Or press Alt + Shift + s.
2. Select Settings   Accessibility.
3. Under "Display," turn on Full screen magnifier.
4. Choose how you want to move around the magnified screen.
   • Move around continuously: Turn Move screen continuously as mouse moves on.
   • Keep your mouse centered: Turn Move screen keeping mouse at center of screen on.
   • Move the screen when the mouse touches the edge: Turn Move screen when mouse touches edge of screen on.
5. To choose your zoom level, next to "Fullscreen zoom level," select Down arrow .

Tips:

• To move around, press Ctrl + Alt + Up , Down , Left , or Right . You can also press Tab to move from item to item on your screen.
• In full screen zoom mode on your touchscreen, use 2 fingers to move around the screen.

Magnify part of your screen

You can find the magnified section at the top third of your screen. Your default screen shows underneath. To magnify the top section of your screen, press Ctrl + Search + d or press Ctrl + Launcher + d.

1. At the bottom right, select the time.
   • Or press Alt + Shift + s.
2. Select Settings   Accessibility.
3. Under "Display," turn on Docked magnifier.
4. To choose your zoom level, next to "Docked zoom level," select Down arrow .
5. To change the part that’s magnified, move your cursor or press Tab.

Tip: When you type at the bottom section of your screen, it’s zoomed in at the top of your screen.

Change the magnification level

• Increase magnification: Press Ctrl + Alt + Brightness up .
  • You can also press Ctrl + Alt, then scroll with 2 fingers up on the touchpad.
• Decrease magnification: Press Ctrl + Alt + Brightness down .
  • You can also press Ctrl + Alt, then scroll with 2 fingers down.

Magnify the words you hear

When you read text aloud with Select-to-speak or Chromevox, the screen magnifier automatically follows the words, so you don’t lose your place.

Important: Review your settings first.

1. In the “Accessibility” settings, select Display and magnification.
2. Turn on either:
   • Docked magnifier
   • Full-screen magnifier
3. Go back to “Accessibility” settings, select Text-to-speech Select-to-speak. Learn how to use Select-to-speak.

To magnify the words you hear with Select-to-speak:

1. On your Chromebook, open a page you’d like to read.
2. On the page you’d like to read:
   • Adjust your preferred zoom level with Ctrl + Alt + Brightness up and Ctrl + Alt + Brightness down .
     • You can adjust the docked zoom level in the "Accessibility" settings. Under “Display and magnification,” next to “Docked zoom level,” select your preferred zoom level.
   • Select the text you want to read out Select-to-speak or Search + S.

To magnify the words you hear with Chromevox:

1. On your Chromebook, at the bottom right, select the time.
2. Select Settings .
3. On the left, select Accessibility Display and magnification.
4. Turn on either:
   1. Docked magnifier
   2. Full-screen magnifier
5. Select your preferred zoom level:
   1. For docked magnifier: To select your preferred zoom level, next to “Docked zoom level,” select the dropdown.
   2. For full-screen magnifier: To select your preferred zoom level, next to “Zoom level,” select the dropdown.
6. Turn on Magnifier follows ChromeVox focus.
   • This is turned on by default.
7. Open a page you’d like to read.
8. To turn “Chromevox” on or off, through your keyboard, press Ctrl + Alt + z. Learn how to use the built-in screen reader.

Tip: If you turn on the full-screen magnification feature, you can track the word level reading focus and keep it centered on the screen. To turn on, in the “Accessibility” settings, select Display and magnification Full-screen magnifier.

Related resources

• Use desk button in your Chromebook
• Turn on Chromebook accessibility features