Making text larger in Gnome

Text can be made easier to see by changing the resolution of your screen or by changing the size of the text using different fonts:

• Changing your screen resolution
• Using large fonts

Gnome versions before 2.1:

1. Click on the ' Applications ' menu and then click on ' Preferences ' or press ' Alt ' + ' F1' and then use the ' down ' arrow key to highlight ' Preferences ' .
2. Click on ' Screen resolution ' or press the ' right' arrow to expand the ' Preferences' sub menu, then press the ' down ' arrow until ' Screen resolution' is selected and then press ' Enter '. This will bring up the ' Screen Resolution Preferences ' box as shown in Fig 1.

Fig 1

1. Click on the drop down menu next to ' Resolution: ' and choose a lower setting such as 800 x 600 or 640 x 480 by clicking on it with the mouse or press the ' Spacebar' and then the ' up ' and ' down ' arrow keys to choose from the list of alternative settings and press ' Enter ' to select it
2. Click on the ' Apply ' button or press ' Alt ' + ' A '.
3. The screen resolution will change and you will be asked if you want to keep the new resolution or use the previous one, to use the new one click on ' Keep resolution ' or press ' Alt ' + ' K ' . To change back to the previous one click on the ' use previous resolution ' or press ' Alt ' + ' P ' and then click on ' Close ' or press ' Alt ' + ' C'.

Gnome versions 2.1 or newer:

1. Click on the ' System' menu and then click on ' Preferences ' or press ' Alt ' + ' F1' to access the application menu and then press the ' right ' arrow until the ' System' menu is highlighted and then press the ' down ' arrow until ' Preferences ' is highlighted.
2. Follow steps 2 to 5 above.

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The quickest way to change all the fonts in the operating system and applications is to make the change globally under ' Font ' properties. To do this:

Gnome versions before 2.1:

1. Click on the ' Applications ' menu and then click on ' Preferences ' or press ' Alt ' + ' F1' and then use the ' down ' arrow key to highlight ' Preferences ' .
2. Click on ' Font ' or press the ' right' arrow to expand the ' Preferences' sub menu, then press the ' down ' arrow until ' Font' is selected and then press ' Enter '. This will bring up the ' Fonts' box as shown in Fig 2 .

Fig 2

1. You can customize the fonts for use in applications, on the desktop, on window titles bars and for terminal use. To select Desktop font size for example click on the button text to 'Desktop font:' or press ' Alt ' + ' D ' alternatively yo can press ' Tab' until the button is highlighted and then press ' Enter '. This will bring up the ' Pick a Font ' window as shown in Fig 3.

Fig 3

1. Click on the box below ' Size' to select it and type in a number or use the scroll bar and click on a font size you want to use. Or press ' Alt ' + ' Z ' to highlight the box below ' Size' and then use the up and down arrows to select a font size you want to use 'Spacebar' keys, or your mouse, to select 'Size' .
2. Click ' OK ' or press ' Alt ' + ' O ' to confirm you choice return to the font preferences window.
3. Repeat as necessary for the other font options such as Application font by following steps 4 to 7 above ( note the shortcut keys for each font option is indicated by which letter is underlined in the word so for example ' Alt ' + ' A ' will bring up the the ' Pick a Font ' window for the ' Application font ' .
4. click on 'OK', or press ' Alt ' + ' C' to exit font preferences.

Gnome versions 2.1 or newer:

1. Click on the ' System' menu and then click on ' Preferences ' or press ' Alt ' + ' F1' to access the application menu and then press the ' right ' arrow until the ' System' menu is highlighted and then press the ' down ' arrow until ' Preferences ' is highlighted.
2. Follow steps 2 to 7 above.

Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help.