Windows 7 - DPI Display Size Settings - Change

   Information

This will show you how to change the DPI (Dots per Inch) size settings to allow text and other items, such as icons, fonts, and windows, to display larger or smaller in Windows 7.

The DPI setting you set below only affects the current user account that you are logged in, and not all users.

   Note

Setting the DPI size to a smaller number or percentage will decrease all items size on the display, while setting the DPI size to a larger number or percentage will increase all items size on the display.

   Tip

Typically, the higher the dots per inch (DPI), the better the fonts will look. If you set the DPI higher than 96, and you are running a Windows Aero theme, the text and other items on the screen might appear blurry in some programs that are not designed for high–DPI display in this version of Windows. You can avoid this issue by using legacy DPI scaling (Windows XP style DPI scaling) for these programs.

1. Open the Control Panel (All Items View).

A) Click on the Display icon.

B) Go to step 4.

OR

2. Right click on a empty area of your desktop and click on Personalize. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: The Windows 7 Starter and Home Basic editions do not have Personalize included in them.

A) Towards the bottom left corner, click on the Display link. (See screenshot below)

B) Go to step 4.

OR

3. Right click on a empty area of your desktop and click on Screen Resolution. (See screenshot below step 2)

A) Click on the Make text and other items larger or smaller link. (See screenshot below)

4. You will now see this screen. (See screenshot below)

5. To Select a DPI Size

A) Dot a size that you want for the Display DPI size. (See screenshot above)

• Smaller - 100% = 96 DPI (Pixels/Dots Per Inch)
• Medium - 125% = 120 DPI (Pixels/Dots Per Inch)
• Larger - 150% = 144 DPI (Pixels/Dots Per Inch)

B) Go to step 7.

6. To Set a Custom DPI Size

A) In the left pane, click on the Set custom text size (DPI) link. (See screenshot below step 4)

B) To the right of Scale to this percentage of normal size, click on the drop down arrow and select a percentage you want the DPI size to be. (See screenshot below step 6D)
NOTE: You can also click and hold on the Inch Scale below this and drag it to change the percentage.

C) If needed, check the Use Windows XP style DPI scaling box to make text and items clearer in programs that are not designed for higher settings than 96 DPI (100%). (See screenshot below step 6D)
NOTE: See the TIP box at the top of the tutorial.

D) Click on OK. (See screenshot below)

8. Click on the Apply button. (See screenshot below step 4)

9. Click on the Log off now button to apply the DPI changes. (See screenshot below)
WARNING: This will log you off immediately. Be sure to save anything you are working on before you click on this.

10. Log back on.

1. Open the Start Menu, then type regedit in the search box and press enter.

2. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

3. In regedit, navigate to the location below: (see screenshot below)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

4. In the right pane of Desktop, right click on LogPixels and click on Modify. (see screenshot above)
NOTE: If you do not have the LogPixels DWORD value, then right click on a empty space in the right pane of Desktop, click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value, type LogPixels, and press Enter.

5. In the edit/modify window, select (dot) Decimal, type in the registry data value from the table below for the DPI setting that you want to use, and click on OK.

DPI Setting	Registry Data Value
Smaller - 100%	96
Medium - 125%	120
Larger - 150%	144

6. Close regedit.

7. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to apply.

1. Click on the download button below to download the file below.

Restore_Default_96_DPI.reg

2. Click on Save, and save the .reg file to the desktop.

3. Right click on the downloaded .reg file and click on Merge.

4. Click on Run, Yes, Yes, and OK when prompted.

5. Log off and Log on, or restart the computer to apply changes.

6. When done, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.