How to make text bigger on a phone or tablet

If you’re squinting at your phone or holding it at arm’s length, you don’t have to. A few settings make text and buttons a lot bigger, and they take about two minutes.

iPhone and iPad

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Display & Brightness, then Text Size. Drag the slider to the right until the sample text is comfortable.
3. Back on Display & Brightness, turn on Bold Text. Thicker letters are easier to read than bigger thin ones.
4. Need it even bigger? Go to Settings, then Accessibility, then Display & Text Size, then Larger Text, and turn on Larger Accessibility Sizes.
5. On iPhone, Display Zoom (under Display & Brightness) makes icons, buttons and the keyboard bigger too.

Not every app follows these settings. For anything that stays small, Accessibility, then Zoom, lets you magnify the whole screen with a three-finger double-tap.

Android phones and tablets

Android looks different from brand to brand, so the names vary a little. On most phones:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Display (Samsung) or Accessibility, then Display size and text (Google Pixel).
3. Move the Font size slider to the right. Turn on Bold font or Bold text if you see it.
4. Move the Screen zoom or Display size slider to make icons and buttons bigger.

Can’t find it? Open Settings and type "font" in the search box at the top.

More ways to make the screen easier on your eyes

• Turn up brightness, or turn off auto-brightness if the screen keeps dimming on you.
• Increase contrast: on iPhone, Accessibility, then Display & Text Size, then Increase Contrast. Many Android phones have a High contrast text option.
• Keep the screen on longer: set Auto-Lock (iPhone) or Screen timeout (Android) to a few minutes so it doesn’t go dark while you’re reading.
• Use your voice: Siri or Google Assistant can read messages aloud and dictate replies.
• Websites: in most browsers you can pinch with two fingers to zoom in on a page.

On a computer

Hold the Ctrl key (Command on a Mac) and press the + key to make a web page bigger. Press 0 with the same key to go back to normal size.