Want to set a default zoom level for safari? Here's how you do it.
If you like to set a default zoom level for safari so you don't have to hit Ctrl+ (or Ctrl-) every time you start Safari and open a new tab, here's how you can do that. This should work on Safari for mac, too:
1) create a file named defaultzoom.css (or any name you like, just make sure it has a css extension.)
2) copy and paste in the following:
body {
zoom: 130%;
}
change 130 to whatever number suits you. >100 means zoom in, <100 means zoom out. Don't forget the % percent sign!
3) in safari, go to Preferences > Advanced. Under style sheet, select Other... and point to the file you created.
4) you may need to restart safari for the change to take effect.
Thank you!!!! The new zoom in Safari 4 is excellent now that it retains the page formatting but have had no luck finding a way to set the default zoom until now. Great little tip. Thanks again.
i'm having trouble implementing your css. this is my first time creating css. i'm on mac os.
i used textedit to create a .txt file, then altered to an .css via 'get info' in finder (no option to save directly as .css in textedit).
i have closed and reopened safari to no result.
can anyone shed some light on the matter? as a new mac user i'm really enjoying safari but it's killing me not being able to set the default zoom to 120%.
I needed this becaus for some odd reason, since i updated to safari 4.0.3, Ctrl+ has ceased to work within Safari, but works just fine in other programs. But I can still zoom out in safari using Ctrl-
Crazy eh?
Also, I found using Textedit on my Mac, I could just ask it to save as defaultzoom.css by just adding the css extension in place of the txt that comes up. It does warn you that its an unusual extension, but does allow you to proceed if you want.
"Also, I found using Textedit on my Mac, I could just ask it to save as defaultzoom.css by just adding the css extension in place of the txt that comes up. It does warn you that its an unusual extension, but does allow you to proceed if you want."
Brilliant. When I did this, it worked.
Thanks, so much. Was very hesitant to move away from Safari but being unable to set the default zoom meant I almost had to. Thanks, once more.
Thanks dearlt for you post, and thanks for a perfect subject. I was able to find your post in two clicks and implenetent your solution with ease. I have been clicking Ctrl + on every page I been opening for a year and just knew others had issues with this.
I'm guessing that you probably have Textedit set as a Rich Text format as your default setting. Your document must be in Plain Text format.
Wen you have the document open that you wish to save as css extension, go to got to the menu named "Format" you will see the option to "Make Plain Text" then give the document the appropriate name and add .css (that's dot css).
A Warning will come up stating that txt is the standard extension, but you will be given the option of txt or css
Very good tip, but it seems to have some problems.
I was just trying it and i found that in Gmail you have to use horizontal scrolling to see the logout link, because the page layout does not adjust to the screen size. On the other hand, if you start with a 0 zoom level and then you use Ctrl+, the behavior is correct.
Could you confirm if the problem is general or limited to my config/computer?
This CSS zooming is a crude hack. I think it basically treats a web page like a pdf document where you just enlarges everything.
When you zoom manually, safari does a smarter sort of zoom where it enlarges but tries to keep widths of the elements the same size, reflowing text where needed and scrolling only when necessary.
If the web page has a fixed size that is smaller than your browser window, like this forum, css zoom works ok. But with a page like gmail, which has no width constraint, you get into trouble.
Hmm, wait, I just checked out wiki, which also uses up all available screen real estate, but does NOT have this problem.
Notice in gmail, even if you zoom way out below what should be 100%, the login is still off the screen. The font gets real small but the width of the page stays the same. The css zoom basically "sticks" and isn't completely reversible.
Bottom line: you have to decide which is more annoying: having to hit Ctrl+ for every tab you open, or running into some problematic pages.
On Windows, I use autohotkey (a kdb and mouse macro scripting program) to switch off the CSS on the fly when I need to. I think Mac has similar capability built in, right? If I were really clever, I guess I could program autohotkey to send a few ctrl+ whenever it detects a new window or tab in safari, but I'm not there yet.
Bottom bottom line: Apple needs to add this feature. It's a pretty basic accessibility feature. Doesn't Apple have like an accessibility guru/advocate?
Made file with textedit (copy paste)
Changed the ending to .css
in Safari-preferenes-Advanced-SheetStyles-defaultzoom(the file I created and saved to My documents)
Nothing happens !
I even changed one time to 200% just to see - nothing happens.
Please Help
I have been crawling on my knees for months in the Defaultless Zoom Safai desert :C