My page is way too big and all the menu texts are way too small !
bold text My FF web pages are way too wide and I have to scroll all the time from side to side, to see the whole page, back and forth! Hate it! Not workable. Not only that, the menu texts (not the fonts on the page) are way too small, unless I reduce the whole page with the limited percentage size, and then none of it is readable to me. For a while 67% size helped but not even that works right and I am CONSTANTLY trying to adjust things so I can see them! It used to work great and now it is a CONSTANT BATTLE TO FUNCTION!
All Replies (13)
Hi Pam, does the oversized text affect just the web page, or the entire browser including the toolbars, menus, sidebar, etc.?
Do you recall how long ago this problem started? Firefox traditionally used the Windows "Make everything bigger" setting as a zoom multiplier, and then several months ago, Firefox 103 started enlarging the browser based on the Windows "Make text bigger" as well (Release Notes).
If you do not need these system-level enlargement features for other applications, the simplest thing you can do is lower them to resolve the issue:
If that doesn't help or you can't do it for other reasons, let's us know (here at https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1396070, not by email) and we'll have other suggestions.
Like I printed, ALL the text is crazy wrong sized.
I tried Chrome and that's the first time I have seen that page look normal in weeks!
I prefer using FF, but look at all the impossible to read text!
See screenshots.
Thanks.
Like I printed, ALL the text is crazy wrong sized.
I tried Chrome and that's the first time I have seen that page look normal in weeks!
I prefer using FF, but look at all the impossible to read text!
See screenshots.
Thanks.
If they inflate the screen you can see it, but that is NOT how my 16" laptop sees it!
The text is like 1/8 of an inch in size!
If they inflate the screen you can see it, but that is NOT how my 16" laptop sees it!
The text is like 1/8 of an inch in size!
If you make the picture big, it does not look like the serious problem it is.
Things used to work real well and now this!
Since your screen resolution appears to be 1366x768, you should be able to fit more than two tabs on your tab bar. I am puzzled that the toolbar spacing is so large but the text is so tiny. What settings have you changed so far? You may need to undo or adjust those changes while making other changes.
Here's my suggestion. Since I can't work directly on your system, I'm going to suggest backing up your settings file first before making changes. Just in case. Here's how:
Back up the prefs.js file
Open your current Firefox settings (AKA Firefox profile) folder using either
- "3-bar" menu button > Help > More Troubleshooting Information
- (menu bar) Help > More Troubleshooting Information
- type or paste about:support in the address bar and press Enter
In the first table on the page, find the Profile Folder row, and click the "Open Folder" button on that row. This should launch a new window listing various files and folders in Windows File Explorer.
Right-click the prefs.js file and click Copy. If your Firefox hides file extensions, this file might just be called prefs. Right-click a blank area of the folder and click Paste. That should create a file called prefs - Copy.js which you could use later to replace prefs.js if needed.
Override the OS-Zoom preference
(1) In a new tab, type or paste about:config in the address bar and press Enter/Return. Click the button accepting the risk.
More info on about:config: Configuration Editor for Firefox. The moderators would like us to remind you that changes made through this back door aren't fully supported and aren't guaranteed to continue working in the future.
(2) In the search box in the page, type or paste os-zoom and pause while the list is filtered
(3) Double-click the browser.display.os-zoom-behavior preference to display an editing field, and change the value to 0 then press Enter or click the blue check mark button to save the change.
For reference, these are the accepted values:
- 0 => Ignore the OS-level scaling
- 1 => Apply OS-level scaling as proportional zoom [default in Firefox 103+]
- 2 => Apply OS-level scaling as text-only zoom [not recommended]
What difference does that make to the sizing of the toolbars, text, and content? If it's terrible, use the Reset button at the right end of the row to undo the change and return to the default value.
You had a question before about having issues.
- /questions/1394339 I can't size the pages to WORK! If I size it down, I can't read the text. It used to fit the page but no matter what I do, it's impossible to read a web page right. Fonts are crazy!
Do you remember what changes you made at that time ?
When did this start? With Windows update I believe!
I even went back to Windows 10 which helped some things but not the text readability!
Some text got bigger while all the menu texts got smaller!
Am I going to do a bunch of text adjustments in code that I don't understand? No.
It really should be AGAINST THE LAW to force that on people because the majority will NOT and the ones who do can get in worse shape! I am glad there are smart people like you guys, and I do know some tech stuff and have often helped others, but as I get older, the tiny print stops a lot of productivity and I am not going to let my mess up make it even worse. But I am serious about how it should be against the law to make things too hard for people. As a secondary option, maybe, but not for basic use. Some don't even speak English that well! It's just not right. Such little things can make SUCH a BIG difference!!!
I don't have the money either to be buying new machines over and over! SINCE the Chrome page is working better........ and Windows "update" changed things like the viewing functionality, I am guess now it's them? We are at their mercy?
I've reported this to them over and over and wrote you hoping that you may know something that would help. The SIZE of the too big page and then the outrageously TINY text, somebody knows something but I can't get into a bunch of fine print, literrally! I have preferred using FireFox, but when you can't size the page to see it right, it's a serious problem!
If I CHOOSE to make it bigger and scroll from side to side, that is one thing, but when making it smaller and it's still too wide and the fonts are smaller, that is a tech thing over my head! People do their WORK on these machines!!!
That Chrome shot I sent you is showing the whole page I should see, the FF page twice the size with the tinier text has to be adjusted to try to make it now function for me when before it was fine! I don't think my anti-virus program did it! Do you?
I am not a big Google fan anymore because they TAKE OVER everything and often don't follow up on programs you get used to. They just move on to the next. THE BASICS should be easy and FUNCTIONAL for everyone!!!
But you, in my opinion, should be able to let me see a normal page in a normal screen in a normal readable size. If I want to do "fancier" then if the tech works for me, okay. But it's NOT WORKING! And it's really hindering me.
Even the FF menu side bar doesn't show fully but gets partially gobbled up on the right and there is no way to adjust it, the settings!
Are we be taken over??? FEELS like it! I will add a screen shot of this page and show you the COMPARISON of this text and the menu tab. I CANNOT read the MENU TAB text, it's like 1/8 of an inch high! (And I wish we could just paste the image, not have to save and then upload, but I will do what might help!)
Endret
Hi Pam, I understand the problem. However, we don't have hands on your computer, so we can only help by suggesting things to try.
The toolbar buttons on that last screenshot look like the "Brave" browser. It's interesting that they have the same issue with text on the tab bar. Does it make any difference to adjust the Windows settings I mentioned earlier?
Did you make changes to layout.css.devPixelsPerPx on the about:config page?
This could be a font problem and that Firefox is using a very small font for the tab text for some reason as the text in the location bar looks OK.
You can create a new profile as a quick test to see if your current profile is causing the problem.
See "Creating a profile":
If the new profile works then you can transfer files from a previously used profile to the new profile, but be cautious not to copy corrupted files to avoid carrying over problems.
I am not sure how to create a new profile, and keep this one too. Or do I have to start all over? I am so weary of fighting this, but I can't read half the pages!
Here's how to create a secondary profile for testing:
Inside Firefox, type or paste about:profiles in the address bar and press Enter/Return to load it.
Take a quick glance at the page and make a mental note of which Profile has this notation: This is the profile in use and it cannot be deleted. That is your current default profile.
Click the "Create a New Profile" button, then click Next. Assign a name like Test2022, ignore the option to relocate the profile folder, and click the Finish button.
Firefox will switch your default profile to the new one, so click the Set as Default Profile button for your regular one to avoid an unwanted surprise at your next startup.
Scroll down to Test2022 and click its Launch profile in new browser button.
Firefox should open a new window that looks like a brand new, uncustomized installation. (Your existing Firefox window(s) should not be affected.) Please ignore any tabs enticing you to connect to a Sync account or to activate extensions found on your system to get a clean test.
Does the text size look any better in the new profile?
When you are done with the experiment, you can close the extra window without affecting your regular Firefox profile. (Test2022 will remain available for future testing.)