How do I increase Big Sur system font size?

I don't have any problem with Stickies or Notes - they are operating as before and I can change the size using the normal controls for that.. command + or command -

For me it is the line of menus and icons across the top of my screen that have shrunk

Yes the stickies are adjustable within the note. I’m talking about if you double click the title bar to collapse the note like a shade - the title bar font is tiny.

and I totally agree the menu font is scrunched vertically and too small.

Oh, my. That observation about stickies is perfect. I don't think I've ever collapsed one ever before. It is very germane because it is so extreme that nobody sane could say it is just good design.

It is proof positive that there is some serious technical issue in the transition from Mac OS X to the brave new world of whatever-it's called. There wasn't the time or the commitment to solve it, so Apple just punted and gambled that it wouldn't matter enough to hurt them.

I don't think it's as simple as "young designers." It's true that there's a fashion trend for print page layouts with lots of white space and small and spidery type. On the other hand, over the last decade just about every street sign for miles and miles around on every corner of every residential street had been increased in size, from 4" high to 6" high I think (who knows maybe from 10 cm. high to 15 cm high? :) )

The very fact that you cannot use your 4K display in 4K and still adjust the font size of the menu bar is just plain dumb. This question has filled the search pages for more than 6 years and Apple really needs to address this!

I just bought a MacBook Air, preloaded with Big Sur. As soon as I transferred all my information to it, I was ready to enjoy it. Big Surprise! The title text size is way smaller than I was used to. I immediately went to system settings to enlarge it. Surprise! There is no option to do size. That led me to this forum, and it seems it wasn’t just me. I have to assume that the designers are youngster and didn’t think twice about this. I have tried the options listed in this forum but none simply returns a title text size that’s easy to read. This new MacBook is a pound lighter than my old one, has great speakers, a jillion colors, is faster, and looks great. All this is wasted on me since I have to squint to read them. Someone even suggested buying reading glasses. I didn’t need them with the old MacBook. My solution is to return the MacBook Air. It’s not worth a thousand bucks if it causes issues. I’ll follow the forum. When Apple fixes this I’ll buy one.

Wow - I cant believe that A) its so difficult to find a setting to increase font size system-wide and B) the ability to do so without changing the resolution to something from 10-15yrs ago. All the praises I sing about Mac being so better than Windows and PC are certainly being muted now. I still love my Mac but changing font size in Windows is a BREEZE - yet here we are 2021 and Big Sur really doesnt have the ability??? Just wow - soooo lame

I now have my 27 inch iMac and my 1980x1200 24 inch acer monitor hooked to my new macbook pro 13. Especially the 1980x1200 acer is perfect for font size and clicking on small Adobe buttons. So now my Macbook is really just for finger print open and a pretty desktop photo. BLAH My wife bought an M1... of course same problem but it pops. My brother bought an M1 mac mini for engineering/drafting/surveying and he says it's great. Of course he has his old big monitors so hasn't said anything. On my iMac 27 inch though the font is quite small a full res. It's a 2009 which works if you buy a special cable. I read that newer 2013 and up? do not work as an external monitor.

Anyway, hoping Mac OS Eureka fixes the font size problem.

Soooooo agree. This big sur is an abominable "upgrade" and does not even warrant being capitalized, one might notice in this message. Wow is all I can say. I've loved Apple until this new "new" that is so bad, it's just awful.

OMG! YOU are a magician! Thank you so very much! You are my hero-ine for today and every day since upgrading to this Big Sur. It is sooooo bad in so many ways. IMHO

To Apple: WHY was this, among tons more Big Sur "features," so TERRIBLY counter-intuitive? Apple?

It is not the size of the font that is the problem, it is the design of the font. The accessibility option just makes things larger and crowds the menu bars. Neither is an elegant or workable solution for my visual impairment. The changes in focus required to perform other visual tasks in the soft edged low contrast interface design and reading the menu font are the underlying problem. I have had months of headaches caused by the poorly designed interface. I cannot revert to a previous system because Big Sur broke the time machine restore option.

RJ you are bang on. Especially you description of the "trend in recent years to show less information on a given piece of display real-estate". Who is teaching this crap? We all get 'white space' but that is for ADVERTISING. Even then some advertising is unreadable. Tiny white print size doused in 4 colours of smudge. Looks great in the screen. Crap in print. Especially newspapers.

So it's the same trend. I'm glad I have my 24 inch 1920 x 1200 screen plugged into my new MacBook 13. I never use the laptop and it was bought so I could work away. My reading glasses are 1.5. I need 3's. As you say RJ it's a "nuclear option" to change the display resolution. Not happening. 13 inches is small enough and to limit the room even more just because some Apple designer kinda prefers the "show less information on a given piece of real estate" just is not logical. Hopefully they are all Star Trek fans and know that Spock agrees with 1000's of MacUsers. Hmmm it makes me wonder if ANY MacUsers like the new style. That menu is the main problem. It's squished. Like taking a font and squeezing it vertically about 80%. Just deepen it.

The phone book did this years ago and bragged how much easier it was to read. All they did was make the font about 125% deeper. Oh crap, I mentioned a phone book. I think I just lost the young Star Trek fans. :(

This is a problem. I have a couple of screens up and running, have been using HiDPI on the 4k monitor for over a year etc. All this to say, I understand how to set the resolution and/or adjust the font size.

Big Sur has a horrible font scaling issue, for me using my LG 34" ultrawide. There is no way I can use this OS at the default font size. Increasing the menu font size does nothing - nadda. Bug?? I know I'm not the only one. Then, when I take the resolution down (no longer the recommended resolution), horrible, horrible clarity. What has Apple done!!! I recall an early video of Steve Jobs getting furious at engineers for not providing the fonts he was expecting for a launch in the 90s. He would be furious now with Big Sur - fonts = 101.

Thanks Apple for now having me waste a bunch of time trying to figure this out. Two years ago, it was iOS upgrades slamming my iPhone, now Big Sur ruining my display setup.

PS: The 4k HiDPI monitor works as I did.

Having the same problems you are...I'm running a 32" LG monitor UHD and a Cintiq Pro 24". The resolution issue is driving us nuts. Especially when we disconnect the laptop to work at a coffee shop, then come back to the monitors.

Big Sur has a horrible font scaling issue, for me using my LG 34" ultrawide. There is no way I can use this OS at the default font size. Increasing the menu font size does nothing - nadda. Bug?? I know I'm not the only one. Then, when I take the resolution down (no longer the recommended resolution), horrible, horrible clarity. What has Apple done!!! I recall an early video of Steve Jobs getting furious at engineers for not providing the fonts he was expecting for a launch in the 90s. He would be furious now with Big Sur - fonts = 101.

Yes, menu font looks even smaller after upgrade.

This issue is years and years old. and what are they doing? OS after OS. nothing about it. in Big Sur font is even smaller!

dear Apple, I won't trade these new feature for a one ridiculous fix. just let me choose font size, would you please.

AlexZone wrote: "dear Apple..."

Alex ~ Although Apple administers this community, that doesn't include reading each of thousands of daily posts for possible feedback. However, Apple will "read all feedback carefully" here:

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