How to Fix Screen Size Too Big or Small on a Mac

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

Fixing Screen Size Too Big or Small on a Mac

Having the right screen size and resolution on your Mac is essential for a comfortable and efficient user experience. Sometimes, screen size settings can be too large or too small, affecting the usability of your Mac. This guide will show you how to adjust screen size settings to fix issues with display size on your Mac.

Step-by-Step Guide:

  1. Open System Preferences:
    • Click on the Apple menu at the top left corner of your screen and select ‘System Preferences.’
  2. Go to Displays:
    • In the System Preferences window, click on ‘Displays.’
  3. Adjust Resolution Settings:
    • Under the ‘Display’ tab, you will see a list of available resolutions. Select the resolution that best fits your screen size preference.
  4. Use Display Zoom:
    • If text and images appear too small or too large, use the ‘Scaled’ option to manually adjust the display scaling to your preference.
  5. Check for Display Driver Updates:
    • Make sure your Mac’s display drivers are up-to-date by clicking on ‘Software Update’ in the Apple menu.
  6. Restart Your Mac:
    • After making changes, restart your Mac to apply the new settings.
By adjusting your Mac’s display resolution and scaling settings, you can fix issues with screen size being too big or too small. These steps ensure that your display is optimized for the best viewing experience.

Contact Support.Com

If you are still having trouble, refer to the Step-By-Step Guide below, or Contact Support.Com for Personalized Assistance.

1. Introduction

When the size of the text and objects are too large or too small for you to see on your Mac's display, it can become incredibly difficult to use.

This guide will walk you through making sure your display settings are configured just right to make it as easy to use.

What You'll Need:

  • No extra tools or supplies are needed.

-->

Before You Begin:

Extra instructions.

  • hyperlink

-->

Large and small resolutions on Mac, side by side.
Having the right screen size and resolution on your Mac is essential for a comfortable and efficient user experience.

2. Adjust the Display Resolution

Display resolution is the amount of dots making up your screen. It's represented by the number of horizontal dots multiplied by the number of vertical dots on your screen. The higher the numbers, the smaller everything will be on your screen, and the other way around. Retina Displays have a much higher number of dots per inch making up the screen, also known as density, which brings a lot more detail to what you see. This gives content incredible detail and dramatically improves your viewing experience. Whether you have a Retina Display or not, the settings for controlling the size of things on your screen are in the same place.

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
Apple menu with system preferences highlighted
  1. Go to Displays.
system preferences with displays highlighted
  1. Here you can choose between Default for display or Scaled. Default for display gives the sharpest text and most detailed images. Scaled allows you to pick a resolution that best fits your needs. The choices you can pick from will be different based on the type of display you have:
  2. For regular screens without Retina Display you can pick a Display Resolution.
Text size picker highlighted in macOS display settings.
  1. For screens with Retina Display you can pick out of four or five scaled resolutions, depending on your Mac model. With scaled resolutions, text and objects can appear larger and more visible, or smaller to provide more space for windows and apps.
Screen resolution picker highlighted in macOS display settings.