How to zoom the display on your PC or Mac

Earlier this month, I showed you how to zoom in on the entire display of your iPhone—a handy trick, especially for anyone with iffy eyesight. But did you know that you can also magnify the screen on your PC or Mac? You sure can, and it’s easy. Here’s how.

Just click a button on the Windows 7 magnification toolbar to zoom the entire screen.

For Windows 7:

• Go to the Control Panel from the Windows Start Menu, then click “Optimize visual display” under the “Ease of Access” section.
• Next, under the heading that reads “Make things on the screen larger,” check the box next to “Turn on Magnifier,” then click the Apply button.
• You should now see a medium-size magnifying glass icon floating on your desktop. Click it to reveal the magnification controls, then try clicking the “+” button.
• And … zoom! Your entire Windows desktop should double in size, to a magnification of 200 percent. Click the “+” button again to increase the magnification, or click “-” to return the zoom to normal.
• The Windows magnification tool has three modes: full screen, which you just tried; “lens,” which lets you drag a square magnification lens across the screen; and “docked,” which opens a slim magnification window that’s docked at the top of the desktop.

You can zoom the Mac's display in full-screen mode or with a smaller magnification lens.

For Mac:

• Open System Preferences, click the Universal Access icon, then click the Seeing tab.
• Click the “On” setting in the “Zoom” section, or just use this keyboard combination: OPTION + COMMAND + 8.
• To zoom in, hit OPTION + COMMAND + “=”, or tap OPTION + COMMAND + “-” to zoom back out.
• If you’d rather use a virtual magnifying lens than zoom the entire screen, check the box next to “Zoom in window.”
• All done zooming? Then click “Off” in the “Zoom” section, or tap OPTION + COMMAND + 8 again.