6 Ways to Quickly Zoom Out on a Mac

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Learn the best ways to zoom out using your keyboard, trackpad, or mouse
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Your Mac makes it easy to change your zoom level on either your whole screen or just an active window or document. You’ll need to activate some of these features in your computer’s accessibility settings, but don’t worry—it’s very simple to set up. We’ll teach you how to zoom in or out on all or part of your screen with a simple keyboard shortcut, trackpad gesture, or mouse action.

Quick Guide to Zooming Out on Mac

  • If you’ve enabled zoom keyboard shortcuts in Accessibility, zoom out with Option + Command + - or Option + Command + 8 .
  • If you’ve enabled zoom trackpad gestures, zoom in or out by double-tapping your trackpad with three fingers.
  • Quickly zoom out in any active window by making a pinching gesture on your trackpad with two fingers.
Method 1
Method 1 of 6:

Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Zoom the Whole Screen

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  1. If you want to use your keyboard to zoom in or out on the entire screen (rather than a single window), use this method to set up Accessibility keyboard shortcuts. Start by clicking the Apple menu at the top-left corner of the screen. [1]
  2. If you’re using an earlier version of macOS, this might be called System Preferences instead.
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  3. It's the blue-and-white person icon in the left-hand menu bar.
    • In older versions of macOS, you might need to look for this icon in the main System Preferences window instead.
  4. It’s under the Vision header in the main Accessibility menu.
  5. This will enable you to use a quick keyboard shortcut to zoom in and out on your entire screen.
  6. This is an all-purpose keyboard shortcut that will switch you from one zoom mode to the other. If you’re zoomed in, press Option-Command-8 to zoom out, and vice versa.
    • If you’re zoomed really far in, this command will instantly zoom you all the way out to your screen’s normal resolution.
  7. This enlarges the entire screen. Continue pressing this keyboard shortcut to zoom in as far as you'd like to go.
    • Unlike the Option-Command-8 keyboard combo, this shortcut allows you to keep zooming in closer and closer.
  8. This zooms the entire screen back out. As with zooming in, you can continue pressing this shortcut to zoom out as far as necessary.
    • Unlike the Option-Command-8 command, this command will zoom you out in increments. So, if you zoomed in multiple times for a really close-up view, you’d have to use this command repeatedly to return to default resolution.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 6:

Using Trackpad Gestures to Zoom the Whole Screen

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  1. If you prefer using your mouse or trackpad to zoom in on your screen, you can set this up using the Accessibility settings. Click the
    Mac Apple
    Apple menu at the top of your screen, then select System Settings . [2]
  2. It’s located in the left-hand menu bar.
  3. You’ll see this in the right-hand panel under the Vision header.
  4. You can have this option toggled on at the same time as other zoom methods, like Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom .
  5. This is a simple toggle method. Performing the gesture once will zoom in. Performing it again will zoom you out again.
  6. To control how much you zoom in or out, use a slightly modified version of the gesture. Double tap with three fingers to zoom in, and then, with your fingers still on the trackpad, drag them up or down to change the amount of zoom.
    • If you double tap and drag to zoom in, double tapping again will instantly zoom you all the way back out.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 6:

Using a Modifier Key with a Mouse or Trackpad

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  1. If you're using a mouse that has a physical scroll wheel, a mouse with a multi-touch surface (such as the Apple Magic Mouse), or a laptop trackpad, you can use it to zoom and out in any window by associating a "modifier" key. This makes it so you can press a key (such as Command) while you scroll up or down on the wheel/surface to zoom. Here's how to enable this:
    • Click the Apple menu and select System Settings .
    • Click the Accessibility icon (the blue-and-white person icon).
    • Click Zoom in the right panel.
    • Toggle the switch next to "Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom."
    • Select a modifier key, such as Control or Command .
    • Note that you can use this method alongside other zoom options, like using a keyboard shortcut or a trackpad gesture.
  2. For example, if you selected the Control key, press and hold it down now.
  3. If you're using a Magic Mouse or laptop trackpad, use two fingers to swipe upward on the surface instead.
  4. Using a Magic Mouse or trackpad, use two fingers to swipe downward instead.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 6:

Modifying Your Zoom Style

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  1. With any of the zoom options in accessibility, you can modify your zoom style depending on your preferences. Go to
    Mac Apple
    Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom to adjust these settings. [3]
  2. Next to the Zoom style header, click the dropdown menu. You can choose from Full Screen, Split Screen, or Picture-in-Picture.
    • Full screen will show your entire screen zoomed in or out, while the other options will use a split screen or a smaller window to show the screen both zoomed in and at regular resolution.
    • Click the Size and Location button to modify the appearance of your split screen or picture-in-picture zoom display.
    • If you have Full Screen selected, you can click Choose Display… to show the zoomed in screen on a secondary monitor.
  3. For even more control over your Mac’s zoom behavior, click the Advanced… button at the bottom right corner of the window. When you’re done making any adjustments, click OK . You can always return to this menu and click Restore shortcuts and modifiers to reset your changes. The Advanced menu allows you to modify things like:
    • How zoomed images move when you’re interacting with your screen.
    • The minimum and maximum zoom factors for rapid zoom actions.
    • Which keyboard shortcuts you use to control various zoom actions (like toggling between full screen and picture-in-picture).
    • How quickly the screen image moves when you’re focusing on a particular item.
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Method 5
Method 5 of 6:

Using Keyboard Shortcuts to Zoom in One Window

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  1. If you just want to zoom in or out in a single application window, such as Safari or Pages, you can use a quick keyboard shortcut on any Mac without having to configure special settings.
  2. Holding these keys down at the same time enlarges the content of the window so you can get a better look.
    • Continue pressing the + (plus) key to zoom in as far as you need to.
    • This won’t work in all apps (e.g., Microsoft Word). If these keyboard shortcuts are already associated with a different function in the app you’re using, you’ll have to use another method.
  3. This zooms out the open window.
    • As with zooming in, keep pressing the - (minus) key to zoom out as much as necessary.
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Method 6
Method 6 of 6:

Using the Pinch Gesture on a Trackpad

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  1. If you're using your laptop's trackpad or an external Magic Trackpad, you can use it to zoom in or out with a quick finger gesture. Start by moving the cursor to the location where you want to zoom out. [4]
  2. Do this right over the area where you want to zoom in or out.
  3. This motion is sort of a reverse-pinch. You can repeat the gesture to zoom in closer if you wish.
  4. Like with zooming in, you can repeat the pinch gesture to zoom out as far as you need to go.
  5. If you’re using a web browser or a PDF viewer, you can zoom in or out by double-tapping your trackpad with two fingers. Place your cursor over the part of the page where you want to zoom in, then double tap with both fingers. Double tap again to zoom out.
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  • Question
    How can I just view larger text in a Mac email, without increasing the font or zooming the whole Window, like you would use the zoom slider in a word processor or Outlook?
    Community Answer
    I believe if you go to Settings and click on display, you may be able to change the font size of your applications.
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      Tips

      • If you’ve enabled Zoom in the Accessibility settings, you can quickly toggle it off using the Accessibility Shortcuts menu. If you have a Mac with function keys, press Option-Command-F5 to launch this menu. If you have a Touch ID key, press that quickly 3 times. Uncheck the box next to Zoom in the menu when it pops up. [5]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/zoom-in-on-whats-onscreen-mchl779716b8/mac
      2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/zoom-in-on-whats-onscreen-mchl779716b8/mac
      3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/zoom-in-on-whats-onscreen-mchl779716b8/mac
      4. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102482
      5. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/zoom-in-on-whats-onscreen-mchl779716b8/mac

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Open an application.
      2. Press the Command key and the plus (+) key to zoom in.
      3. Press the Command key and the minus (-) key to zoom out.

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