Change Icons Text Size in Windows 10  

ferglets said:

Sadly, I only have backups of files, but no disk image. And even when using the largest font size you've made available, my icon titles and--more importantly-- the file lists in all my directories are now smaller than they were when I started the process. Let this be a cautionary note to all who try this.

Open Control Panel>Recovery>Open System Restore

and see if you have a recent Registry backup , if not Open Config. System Restore , and enable it of c:\ , so you have one for next time you play in the Registry.

Brink has also made a tutorial on how to make a Custom desktop Restore Icon , you can click anytime to make a System Restore Point ( ie make a registry backup)

Create System Restore Point shortcut in Windows 10 Windows 10 Customization Tutorials



PS what numb nut at M$ decided it was a good idea to remove the ability to adjust Icon and Menu Text heights...




KB

Brink said:

This tutorial has been updated to add OPTION TWO to change the text size of icons using a REG file since OPTION ONE is no longer available starting with Windows 10 build 15019. :)

Hi Brink, I got to page four of this thread then decided to back track to page one and reply. I just bought a new Laptop it is a Microsoft Surface Book 1TB i7 16GB GPU2 and it came with Windows 10 Pro Build14393.rs1_release.170706-2004. I found that I could barely read the Icon text on the desktop. It must be an age thing at 76 or maybe too much scotch.

I have it set up in a dual monitor scheme. The Laptop screen is 3000 x 2000 resolution. The second monitor is an older HP w2338h set at 1920 x 1080. I followed your instructions using Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Display to "Change only the text size". I set the size to 10 and Bold and it worked perfectly for me. The Desktop Icon text with just about any wallpaper is now a strong bright white and is legible.

I just wish I was as clever and knowledgeable as you. Thanks very much for sharing with us.
Peter B.

On my Surface 3 I have the DPI set to 150% scale to make it more legible and on the Monitor I have it set to 125%
scale for the Same reason.

Did you look at Brink's Tutorial on doing that too?

Change DPI Scaling Level for Displays in Windows 10 Windows 10 Customization Tutorials




Also I tend to change the default text Size or Zoom Level in Internet Explorer , and Firefox/Chrome etc for Web Browsing which helps too.

Once you get the Creator's Edition (CE) of Win10 , you will Need to use Option 2 here to do this . At least at themoment my Surface 3 still can use Option 1 like you but my Desktop cannot , as that option was removed in C.E.

Brink said:

You're most welcome Peter. I'm glad it could help. :)

I just discovered that it also changed the text in File Explorer to slightly larger and BOLD. Hurrah now I can see what I am doing. :)

Thanks again Brink.

Peter B. in a wet and rainy part of Florida.

mb300e said:

I just discovered that it also changed the text in File Explorer to slightly larger and BOLD. Hurrah now I can see what I am doing. :)

Thanks again Brink.

Peter B. in a wet and rainy part of Florida.

Yes the Icon Text size and Style Controls that , and like you I like it larger in Explorer too.

Hi,

I just joined this forum after getting a new PC with Windows 10 and a 27" UHD monitor about 2 weeks ago. The first thing I noticed is how tiny the text is in certain menus and websites. This forum came up in my search on how to fix this problem and I've been reading just about everything I could find on the subject.

My problem is that I'm not computer savy at all and I don't feel very comfortable doing things like going into the registry and changing this or that. I'm prone to really messing things like that up. Answering something yes when it should have been no and things like that.

I'm not even sure what it is that I would like to change. Some websites have small text on them. This one however is ok. I think my major problem is when I look at my system my menus seem to be very small. If I'm saving a picture and trying to rename it that text is very tiny and hard to read. What's that called?

Brink said:

Hello Jezza, and welcome to Ten Forums. :)

You may need to try different sizes until you find one that works best for you.

No worries though. You can create a restore point before making any changes. This way if it should have an adverse affect, you could do a quick system restore to undo the changes.

Create System Restore Point in Windows 10 Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

System Restore Windows 10 Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

Hi Brink and thanks,

But if I don't want to try the registry things, what other choice do I have? I think I've read about a tool that Wintools has that will go in and allow you to change font and text size without having to dig into the registry.