Windows Magnifier: Zoom Into Any Part of Your Screen to See It Better

Windows comes with a built-in tool called Magnifier that can zoom in on any part of your screen, making text, images, and buttons much easier to see. You do not need to buy anything or download any software — Magnifier is already installed on every Windows computer, and turning it on takes just a few seconds.

Magnifier works in three different modes. Full screen mode enlarges the entire screen — everything you see is zoomed in. And you scroll around by moving your mouse. Lens mode creates a rectangular magnifying window that follows your mouse cursor around the screen, like holding a magnifying glass over the screen. Docked mode attaches a zoomed-in panel to the top of your screen that always shows a magnified view of wherever your cursor is pointing.

For most people who want to make text easier to read, Full screen mode works best. You can set the zoom level anywhere from 100% (no zoom) all the way to 1600%. A zoom level of 150% to 200% makes most text noticeably larger without feeling overwhelming.

Magnifier also includes a text-to-speech feature called "Read from here". You can have it read aloud whatever is under your cursor, which is helpful for anyone who wants both visual and audio help.

The quickest way to turn Magnifier on or off is the keyboard shortcut Windows key + Plus sign (+) to turn it on, and Windows key + Escape to turn it off. You can also increase the zoom with Windows key + Plus and decrease it with Windows key + Minus. These shortcuts work instantly from anywhere on your computer without needing to open any menus.