How to Enlarge the Email Font in Windows Mail

Enlarge Email Font for Reading in Windows 10 Mail

Frustrated with tiny text in emails that is impossible to read? Find out here how to enlarge the text font for reading email in Mail for Windows.

First, How Many Heads Does It Take

How many heads does one need to make a person?

When sketching, one rule of thumb (and index and middle finger) is to make people around eight heads tall: a little less than four heads for the lower body, a wee more than three for the upper and one head for, well, the head.

Now, do the people and letters in your emails look like around three toenails tall?

Let’s make them bigger with, typically, your index finger alone in Mail for Windows:

How to Enlarge the Email Font for Reading in Windows Mail

To increase the font size for reading an email in Mail for Windows, you have two options:

Zoom In on Any Email’s Content in Mail for Windows

To quickly zoom in on any message that has particularly small text or image content in Microsoft Mail for Windows:

  1. Open the message whose text you want to enlarge for reading.
    Here or there: You can open the message in the reading pane or in its own window (click Open message in a new window, Open message in a new window in Mail for Windows)
  2. Select Zoom in the Mail for Windows toolbar.
    No “Zoom”: If you do not see Zoom in the toolbar, try clicking the Actions toolbar item (•••) for additional choices.
  3. Select a zooming level greater than 100% to enlarge the message’s content.
    Mail for Windows keyboard shortcut: You can also press Ctrl + to increase the zoom level. (Press Ctrl - to decrease the level of zooming again.)

This will zoom in on the message laid out as is. You can use the scrollbars or mouse or trackpad scrolling to move around in the message.

How to Enlarge the Font in Windows (and Read Larger Text in Mail)

Time needed: 3 minutes

To have Windows use larger font sizes throughout without enlarging images or interface elements:

  1. Open the Start menu in Windows.

  2. Open the Settings app from the menu.

    Windows keyboard shortcut: You can also press Windows I to open the Windows Settings window.

  3. Select Accessibility.

  4. Open Text size under Vision.

  5. Use the Text size slider to enlarge the typeface size across Windows.

    How big: Try 135%.

  6. Click Apply.

    You can enlarge text across Windows in Settings

Windows 10

To make all text larger and easier to read in Windows 10:

  1. Open the Start menu in Windows and choose Settings.
  2. Open the Ease of Access category.
  3. Now go to Display (under Vision).
  4. Use the slider under Make text bigger to increase the size of Sample text until you can comfortably read it.
  5. Click Apply.
    Make text bigger in Windows 10

Zoom All Content in Windows and Have Emails Laid Out with a Larger Font in Mail

To enlarge the Windows interface and have Mail render messages with a larger font (and larger images) so they still fit in the space allotted to them, so you do not have to scroll horizontally like mad:

  1. Go to the Windows start menu.
  2. Select Settings from the menu.
  3. Open the System settings category.
  4. Make sure Display is selected.
  5. Now make sure 125% or 150% is selected under Scale (or Change the size of text, apps, and other items) in the Scale and layout section.

The Windows interface (including Mail) and all emails in it will immediately be enlarged for easier reading.

How to Enlarge Email Font for Reading in Windows Mail: FAQ

Will Mail for Windows remember the zoom level?

No, you have to zoom in every time anew—or, of course, use Windows preferences to change the display font size.

Will changing the Windows zoom level make text bigger as I draft emails in Mail?

Yes.

The general Windows text zooming (or all-around interface scaling) will make text in emails bigger as you write them, too.

Note: This will not change the email’s font size for the recipient.

Can I enlarge the interface only for Windows Mail?

No.

You can change the interface size and zoom level only across all Windows applications and the operating system itself. You can, however, zoom in to a message’s content right in Mail for Windows.

(How to enlarge email font for reading tested with Mail for Windows 16005 on Windows 11 Version 22H2 and Windows 10 Version 22H2; updated February 2024)

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