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Font size and zoom - increase the size of web pages

The zoom controls allow you to increase or decrease either the size of a whole web page or just the size of all the text in order to improve readability. We’ll explain how it works.

Zoom in and out of a website

Here’s how you can zoom in and out of individual websites.

  1. Click the menu button menu button on the right. The Waterfox menu will open and you will see the zoom controls at the bottom. Fx103MenuPanel
  2. Use the + button to zoom in, and the - button to zoom out. The number in the middle is the current zoom level - click it to reset the zoom to the default zoom level. You can also see the current zoom level in the address bar:

Fx103addressBarZoomLevel

Keyboard shortcuts: You can also use the zoom controls without a mouse. Press and hold Ctrl while pressing + to zoom in, - to zoom out, or 0 to reset. The zoom level is saved per hostname, even after you close Waterfox. For example, all pages on support.mozilla.org share the same zoom level setting but it is different from the zoom level setting of the pages on blog.mozilla.org.

Pinch to zoom

This feature allows users to zoom in and out of pages by using a pinch motion without affecting the layout of the page. 

The pinch action is currently supported on Windows through touchscreen and high precision touchpads, on Mac through touchpads and on Linux through touchscreens. Linux touchpads are currently unsupported, with support expected to be added in the future.

How to only change the size of the text

Instead of changing the size of everything, you can just change the size of the text.

  1. Press the Alt key to temporarily bring up the traditional Waterfox menu. On the menu bar at the top of the screen, click View, then go to Zoom.
  2. Select Zoom Text Only. This makes the controls only change the size of text; not images.

Set a default zoom level for all websites

You can enlarge or reduce the size of all web content, as follows:

  1. Click the menu button menu button and select Settings.

  2. In the General panel, go to the Language and Appearance section.

  3. Under Zoom, use the drop-down menu for Default zoom to select a zoom level for all pages. Waterfox will still remember individual site zoom levels you set.

    • To set a zoom level for text only, select the Zoom text only checkbox.

  4. Close the about:preferences page. Any changes you’ve made will automatically be saved.

Set a minimum text size

You can set Waterfox to automatically display all text at a minimum font size. If a web page contains text that is smaller, Waterfox increases the font size of the text to this minimum.

  1. Click the menu button menu button and select Settings.

  2. In the General panel, go to the Language and Appearance section.

  3. Under Fonts and Colors, click Advanced…

  4. In the Minimum Font Size drop-down, select the minimum size in pixels in which all text must be displayed.

  5. Click OK to save your changes.

See Change the fonts and colors websites use for more information.