Change Font Size on Your Phone and Tablet: Full Guide

Having trouble reading text on your phone or tablet? You are not alone. Fortunately, you can easily adjust the font size, brightness and display. In this comprehensive guide you will learn every option for making your screen easier to read.

Why adjust the font size?

There are several reasons why you might want to change the text size:

• Age-related changes: After 40, your eyes become less flexible
• Eye conditions: In case of low vision or eye diseases
• Comfort: Larger text is simply more pleasant to read
• Screen size: On smaller phones, larger text is more practical
• Fatigue: At the end of the day your eyes are more tired
• Using the bunq app: an online bank for everyone
• Using Duolingo: learn languages for free
• Scanning with the Notes app: iPhone and Android

Adjusting the font size on iPhone and iPad

Changing the standard font size

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Display & Brightness
3. Tap Text Size
4. Drag the slider to the right for larger letters
5. The change is visible right away

Even larger text (accessibility)

Standard setting not big enough? There are extra options:

1. Go to Settings → Accessibility
2. Tap Display & Text Size
3. Tap Larger Text
4. Turn on the Larger Accessibility Sizes switch
5. Now you can make the text much larger with the slider

Turning on bold text

Bold letters are often easier to read:

1. Go to Settings → Display & Brightness
2. Turn on Bold Text
3. Your iPhone may restart

Using the Zoom feature

With Zoom you magnify part of the screen:

1. Go to Settings → Accessibility → Zoom
2. Turn on Zoom
3. Double-tap with three fingers to zoom in
4. Drag with three fingers to move around
5. Double-tap with three fingers again to zoom out

Adjusting the font size on Android

Changing the text size

The exact steps differ by phone brand, but this is the general method:

1. Open Settings
2. Tap Display (or Screen/View)
3. Tap Font size or Text size
4. Drag the slider or choose a sample size

Samsung phones

1. Go to Settings → Display
2. Tap Font size and style
3. Drag the font size slider
4. Optional: turn on Bold font

Google Pixel / stock Android

1. Go to Settings → Accessibility
2. Tap Font size
3. Choose the size you want

Adjusting the display size (everything larger)

Besides the text size, you can also make all elements on your screen larger:

1. Go to Settings → Display
2. Tap Display size or Screen zoom
3. Drag the slider

This makes not only text larger, but also icons and buttons.

Turning on magnification

1. Go to Settings → Accessibility
2. Tap Magnification
3. Choose how you want to magnify:
   • Triple-tap to magnify
   • Using a shortcut

Setting the brightness just right

Good brightness is just as important as the right font size.

Adjusting manually

iPhone: Swipe down from the top right corner and drag the sun slider

Android: Swipe down from the top and drag the brightness slider

Automatic brightness

Let your phone automatically adjust the brightness to the ambient light:

iPhone:

1. Go to Settings → Accessibility
2. Tap Display & Text Size
3. Scroll down and turn on Auto-Brightness

Android:

1. Go to Settings → Display
2. Turn on Adaptive brightness

Turning on dark mode

Dark mode is easier on your eyes in low light and can help with light sensitivity.

iPhone/iPad

1. Go to Settings → Display & Brightness
2. Choose Dark
3. Or turn on Automatic to switch at sunrise and sunset

Android

1. Go to Settings → Display
2. Tap Dark theme
3. Optional: set a schedule

Extra accessibility features

Increasing contrast

iPhone: Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Increase Contrast

Android: Settings → Accessibility → High contrast text

Color filters (for color blindness)

If you have trouble with certain colors:

iPhone: Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Color Filters

Android: Settings → Accessibility → Color correction

Grayscale

Some people find a black and white screen calmer:

iPhone: Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Color Filters → Grayscale

Tips for specific apps

WhatsApp font size

1. Open WhatsApp
2. Go to Settings → Chats
3. Tap Font size
4. Choose Small, Medium or Large

Browser font size (Chrome/Safari)

In the browser you can zoom in by spreading two fingers apart on the screen. This works on most websites.

E-book apps

In apps such as Kindle and Kobo, you can adjust the font size per book using the Aa icon.

Frequently asked questions

Does the font size work in all apps?

Most apps respect your system setting, but not all of them. Some apps have their own text size setting.

Will larger letters make my phone slower?

No, changing the font size has no effect on your phone's speed.

Can I set a different size per app?

On iPhone you can do this via Settings → Accessibility → Per-App Settings. On Android this is only available to a limited extent.

I wear reading glasses, should I still adjust the letters?

That depends on your personal preference. Try out different sizes and see what feels comfortable with and without glasses.

With the right settings, your phone or tablet becomes a lot more pleasant to use!