iMac screen zooms in randomly

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Level 1

26 points

iMac screen zooms in randomly

Every so often, out of the blue my screen zooms in, making everything look larger. I'm not holding down any particular keys. It just happens. To go back to my normal screen size I hit "command/0". I have no idea why more how to stop it. I've checked the Accessibility section in System Settings, and everything is turned off. Is there a preference file somewhere I can delete? This was happening with my previous Mac (late 2012 with macOS 10 something) too, but since I transferred all my data to the new Mac, I guess I still have the problem. Ugh!

M3 iMac

macOS 15.1.1

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iMac 24″, macOS 15.1

Posted on Jan 24, 2025 12:40 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

den.thed

Level 10

90,850 points

Jan 25, 2025 8:17 AM in response to pwrmacbob

If you are not accidentally hitting those keys...?

Then it sounds like maybe the keyboard has a faulty/sticky ⌘ or ➕ key.

To determine if that keyboard is responsible for the zoom...?

Test a different keyboard with your iMac and/or test that keyboard with another Mac.

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Answer 2

pwrmacbob Author

Level 1

26 points

Jan 25, 2025 8:31 AM in response to pwrmacbob

Ah ha! It was a setting for the mouse. I just turned that off. It's a very sensitive feature. Just a light finger spasm and the screen enlarges. Well now I know.

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

215,244 points

Jan 25, 2025 9:42 AM in response to pwrmacbob

Do a search in System Settings for Zoom. Then check the various areas to make sure zoom hasn't been activated via some option, like Control+slide finger on mouse, etc. Sometime a system upgrade or update will change a setting for some unknown reason.

There are a lot of areas where zoom is mentioned and controlled to some extent:

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Answer 4

pwrmacbob Author

Level 1

26 points

Jan 25, 2025 8:27 AM in response to den.thed

This was happening with my previous Mac, which used its own keyboard. This usually happens while I'm not even touching the keyboard, just holding the mouse.

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Answer 5

den.thed

Level 10

90,850 points

Jan 25, 2025 8:37 AM in response to pwrmacbob

👍 Good work. Glad to hear that you found the problem.

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iMac screen zooms in randomly

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