I wish to increase the size of the font used within explorer.exe
(aka My Computer) to list files/folders. I do not wish to increase/decrease the screen's overall DPI. I'd just like to change the system UI font used by Windows 10. I know how to use the System Registry.
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Here explain how to create a custom DPI, windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/…– GonzCommented Aug 20, 2015 at 7:40
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Found answer to this question, but it's locked by superuser.com/users/73918/dragonlord so I can't add it– KorayemCommented Sep 22, 2015 at 10:04
5 Answers
Update August 2019: in newer versions of Windows 10, you can increase only the text size in the new 'Make text bigger' option:
Settings > Ease of Access > Vision > Display > Make text bigger
Settings > System > Display > Change the size of text, apps and other items
You can adjust the size there.
Or if you want to specifically choose what you want the text size to change for, go to Control Panel > Appearance and Personalisation > Display > Make text and other items larger or smaller.
Here you can change the font size of title bars, menus, message boxes, palette titles, icons or tooltips:
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25This is not what I asked for. I specifically stated " I do not wish to increase/decrease the screen's overall DPI." The sliding 100%, 125%, 150% bar changes EVERYTHING. I specifically asked to change the system font size...nothing more, nothing less. Commented Aug 5, 2015 at 17:18
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11Control Panel > Appearance and Personalisation is no more available in Windows 10 after the recent "Creators Update". Commented Jun 30, 2017 at 9:13
I also used to be able to do this before the Creators update. But it no longer works natively in Windows. I'm now on Win 10 Creators Update v 1703 (build 15063.413).
They only way I've found to do this now is with Winaero Tweaker. Winaero Tweaker > Advanced Appearance Settings > Icons, and the bottom setting is "Change Icons font" This lets you change font type, style and size.
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1Any tips for using Winaero? For me, using a larger font size just does a pixillated zoom. No actual extra detail. I have a lot of Japanese file names and kind of need that extra detail. Pretty pissed about this last windows update. Commented Jan 16, 2018 at 11:37
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windows tweaker (should be alternative to winaero) can not do this. Commented Dec 7, 2018 at 2:08
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Note: you must click change font to change the size of the font, not just to choose a different font. Commented Dec 17, 2019 at 23:50
I use advchange.exe from https://www.wintools.info (from this answer).
advchange.exe is a plain tiny exe with 75k bytes size that does not need admin rights.
I think the setting you want is in the old Windows 7 style Control Panel. You can get there two ways:
Settings > Advanced Display Settings > Advanced sizing of text and other items
Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display
From there you have a section "Change only the text size", and a drop down menu where you can customize various font sizes. My defaults were at 9. This doesn't change everything (ironically not the Control Panel itself) but it seems to help.
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3I've used this successfully in Windows 10, but on a newly built PC with Windows 10 Creators Update I can't find it. Has it been removed?– Ed AvisCommented Jun 2, 2017 at 10:17
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4Microsoft are trying to do away with the control panel entirely, but it has to be done in small stages. Less and less will be driven by the control panel in subsequent updates. It used to be that you could configure everything, even things you would never even realise could be changed. Now it's a case of "get what you're given and be happy with it".– AlexCommented Aug 3, 2017 at 8:44
According to https://winaero.com/change-system-font-windows-10/#comment-26423, it's not possible:
You can find sizes that possible to change under the “Advanced appearance” section. System font doesn’t support it.
One can only replace the name of the font. This suggests a weird idea of just replacing it with a font that is "naturally" larger at whatever size Windows is forcing on us.