Egtverchi

Q: How do I adjust the FONT SIZE on Safari 10?

I'm using OS X 10.11.6, and I just downloaded Safari 10.0. It seems to have replaced the "minimum font size" with a "zoom" function; but there's a big problem: If I make the font size as large as I prefer, the page runs off the screen; if I make the page zoom optimal, the font is too small! So I have to either squint at the text, or keep sliding back and forth to see the whole page. This is annoying and stupid. Isn't there a way to adjust the font size ALONE?

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 20, 2016 11:12 AM

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Q: How do I adjust the FONT SIZE on Safari 10?

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  • by Crissa,

    Crissa Crissa Sep 25, 2016 12:48 AM in response to s2art
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 25, 2016 12:48 AM in response to s2art

    They took away Larger system fonts and haven;t put them back.  If the option existed, it would be in Accessibility under System Preferences.

     

    I coudn't stand the new Safari 10 so I restored from backup, nuking my drive.  Drastic, but I could't handle the auto-playing ads any longer.  Put the font-size idiocy atop it and it was just a pain.

     

    We don't get to read perfect web pages where the designer has thought of everything - we have to read messy pages designed to be viewed with perfect sight on some other computer with a different dot pitch and windows just the right size for the design.

     

    Being able to change the font size on the fly is indispensable.

  • by Egtverchi,

    Egtverchi Egtverchi Sep 25, 2016 5:52 AM in response to Crissa
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 25, 2016 5:52 AM in response to Crissa

    I can't do anything about fonts (though Kaeve's solution above is incredibly helpful), or poor web page design, but as for auto-playing ads - you might want to check out Adblock Plus.

  • by kahjot,

    kahjot kahjot Sep 25, 2016 7:52 AM in response to Egtverchi
    Level 4 (1,357 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 25, 2016 7:52 AM in response to Egtverchi

    Aside from using the fix described earlier, why not just use a browser other than Safari? It's not as if it's the best browser available.

  • by Egtverchi,

    Egtverchi Egtverchi Sep 25, 2016 8:15 AM in response to kahjot
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 25, 2016 8:15 AM in response to kahjot

    True, and for many people that will be the solution of choice. For some of us, though, it's a matter of inertia, convenience, and familiarity. Most browsers do basically the same things in basically the same way, so it's not that hard to learn a new one; but Safari has all my bookmarks (many, many bookmarks), knows my browsing history (for better and for worse) and has learned my preferences, so it becomes a question of whether the inconvenience of starting over with a whole new browser outweighs the inconvenience of putting up with Safari 10's foolishness. Chacun à son goût (and I apologize if the non-English characters get mangled in translation).

  • by johnhs99,

    johnhs99 johnhs99 Sep 25, 2016 8:28 AM in response to kahjot
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 25, 2016 8:28 AM in response to kahjot

    Kahjot, one becomes accustomed to the idiosyncracies of a browser. They all have plusses and minuses. I use Opera for video because, the last time I checked, it uses less energy and works more easily than Safari. But, I use Safari for everything else. Chrome ***** the battery like a vampire (the last time I checked). Firefox doesn't do anything in particular for me. Have you another browser in mind?

  • by Harold Holbrook,

    Harold Holbrook Harold Holbrook Sep 25, 2016 9:09 AM in response to kahjot
    Level 1 (43 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 25, 2016 9:09 AM in response to kahjot

    Do the other browsers use iCloud Keychain to sync your userIDs and passwords for all websites across all of your devices? That's the main reason I can't switch.

  • by Vanzuyl,

    Vanzuyl Vanzuyl Sep 27, 2016 12:22 AM in response to Egtverchi
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 27, 2016 12:22 AM in response to Egtverchi

    Hello, there is a terminal command which overrides the default minimum size!

     

    Look at this post: Re: Font size in Safari 10 can not be changed

     

    You'll need to restart safari for the change taking effect.

     

    Regards

  • by Egtverchi,

    Egtverchi Egtverchi Sep 27, 2016 7:25 AM in response to Vanzuyl
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2016 7:25 AM in response to Vanzuyl

    Much appreciated. Kaeve was actually the first one to post that solution on this thread, and someone (Apple, maybe?) selected that answer as the "Solved" entry. I hope it was Apple - that would mean they actually took a look at this discussion!

     

    My apologies to Harold Holbrook, whose clarification of Kaeve's solution was at least as helpful to a non-techie like me, for being unable to also mark his post as the "Solved" answer; it's clear from the other thread that I'm not the only one who benefitted from a fuller explanation. My apologies also to all the people whose answers I found helpful, because for some reason I have been unable to mark any answers as helpful, either directly on this site or via the e-mail link; not sure why that is (a new Safari bug?), but I guess all I can offer is my verbal appreciation.

  • by JPanimal,

    JPanimal JPanimal Sep 28, 2016 10:04 PM in response to Egtverchi
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 28, 2016 10:04 PM in response to Egtverchi

    Hey all, Apple didn't take away the text size setting in Safari 10.0!  I just came across this thread with the same problem and refused to accept the Terminal solution (although I don't mind it).

     

    Shortcut: "Option" + "Command"  + "+"

    or,

    Menu: Safari > View > hold  the "option" key; "Zoom In/Out" turns into "Make Text Bigger/Smaller"

     

    Instantly made the text bigger and when I quit Safari and re-opened, it kept the setting.

     

    I made an account just to post this! I hope this is the solution everyone's looking for.

  • by AppleMacBrett,

    AppleMacBrett AppleMacBrett Sep 28, 2016 10:13 PM in response to JPanimal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 28, 2016 10:13 PM in response to JPanimal

    Simultaneously holding down the Option and Command keys and pressing the + key does nothing in Safari in my MB Air early 2015 build, nothing.

     

    In Safari HELP, I typed "how to adjust font" and it gave me the same answer you posted above. Still nothing.

  • by PAWatkins,

    PAWatkins PAWatkins Sep 28, 2016 10:58 PM in response to JPanimal
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 28, 2016 10:58 PM in response to JPanimal

    Menu: Safari > View > hold  the "option" key; "Zoom In/Out" turns into "Make Text Bigger/Smaller"

    That works but is on a per site not global.

    Option command +  is full screen zoom for me even though it is the keyboard shortcut for the above action.

  • by johnnylundy,

    johnnylundy johnnylundy Sep 29, 2016 7:17 AM in response to JPanimal
    Level 1 (18 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 7:17 AM in response to JPanimal

    I found that I had to go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Zoom and uncheck the "Use Keyboard Shortcuts to Zoom" setting, in order to be able to use those same shortcuts to change text size.

     

    If you were using the mouse scroll wheel to zoom, this does NOT affect that.

     

    So now in a round-about way I think we have a solution.

     

    Font sizes still look wonky, and text in some places runs into other text, but that's the web programmer's fault.

  • by Egtverchi,

    Egtverchi Egtverchi Sep 29, 2016 8:23 AM in response to PAWatkins
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 8:23 AM in response to PAWatkins

    JPanimal, AppleMacBrett, and PAWatkins: First of all, I don't know why Apple tells you to simultaneously press the "option", "command", and "+" or "-" keys. As AppleMacBrett observed, pushing down all three keys does nothing, on his MacBook Air or my much older one. The key with the curly four-leaf-clover thing is not the "option" key, but the "command" key; and if you press "command" and "+"/"-" together, it does affect the screen. I don't know whether the keys work differently on a MacBook Pro or an iMac, however.

     

    But [command]+ isn't the ideal solution, at least for me, because it doesn't zoom just the font size. It also affects the size of the whole page, and/or the individual size of various fields, including the boxes which contain the text; on some pages, it alters the fields more than it changes the text size. I may be able to make the text more readable, but on pages where the fields zoom up more than the letters, I end up with lots of wasted space, and boxes that are too large for the text; and if certain fields expand to the point where they are no longer displayed side-by-side, but instead are placed one above the other, I have to keep scrolling up and down to see everything which used to be easily visible on one screen. On other pages, when the text and the whole page get bigger, the page ends up too big for the screen, and I have to keep sliding back and forth to see the whole width. The "Zoom In" command in the Safari View menu seems to work exactly the same way.

     

    The now-deleted "Minimum font size" option, and the equally effective but more inconvenient Terminal command, are the only ways to change the text size without affecting any other features of the page. (Actually, this is only mostly true. There were a few pages where a key button disappeared off-screen when I was using a large font size; the button could only be displayed and used when I made the font size much smaller.)

     

    I have to say, though, that I actually like the fact that the [command]+ function is page-specific. If I use it only for minor adjustments, and use the Terminal command (or Page Zoom) to set the global appearance, then I can tweak individual pages without changing every other page.

  • by Egtverchi,

    Egtverchi Egtverchi Sep 29, 2016 8:33 AM in response to JPanimal
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 8:33 AM in response to JPanimal

    Welcome to the Forum! - and I appreciate your taking the time to create an account and offer a solution. I replied to your post and the two which followed, but in case you weren't following the whole discussion, I wanted to give you a heads up; that (much longer) reply should be right above this one.

  • by Egtverchi,

    Egtverchi Egtverchi Sep 29, 2016 8:37 AM in response to johnnylundy
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 29, 2016 8:37 AM in response to johnnylundy

    Hey - how did you manage to create an avatar which isn't one of the limited choices offered by Apple?? Please let me know! My picture (an antique Mac) is not inappropriate, but not terribly personal either.

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