To zoom out on a Mac, press Command-Minus (-). Press Command-Plus (+) to zoom in and Command-0 to go back to actual size. That works in Safari, Chrome, Preview and many other apps that show a page. To zoom the whole screen, turn on Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom in System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom, then use Option-Command-Plus and Option-Command-Minus. If your whole screen is stuck zoomed in, press Option-Command-8.
Which fix you need depends on what you’re zooming: a page or app, the whole screen, or a screen that’s stuck.
Zoom in and out in apps and browsers
This is the zoom most people want: make a web page, PDF or document bigger or smaller without touching anything else on the screen.
Keyboard shortcuts
| To | Press |
|---|---|
| Zoom in | Command-Plus (+) |
| Zoom out | Command-Minus (-) |
| Back to actual size | Command-0 |
These are the View menu shortcuts in Safari (Zoom In, Zoom Out, Actual Size) and in Preview, as the apps’ own menus showed on macOS 27.0 on 14 October 2026. Apple’s Safari shortcut list gives Command-Plus and Command-Minus for zooming website content. Google’s Chrome help lists the same pair for Mac, plus Command-0 to reset the zoom (checked 14 October 2026).
One exception worth knowing: Notes uses Shift-Command-Period (.) to zoom in, Shift-Command-Comma (,) to zoom out and Shift-Command-0 for actual size (its View menu on macOS 27.0). If a shortcut does nothing in an app, open its View menu: the zoom commands and their shortcuts are listed there.
Pinch and smart zoom on a trackpad
- Pinch: pinch two fingers apart to zoom in and together to zoom out.
- Smart zoom: double-tap with two fingers to zoom in on a web page or PDF, and double-tap again to zoom back out.
- Magic Mouse: double-tap with one finger for the same smart zoom.
Apple lists these in its guide to Multi-Touch gestures on Mac (published 6 May 2026, checked 14 October 2026). If a gesture doesn’t work, open System Settings > Trackpad (or Mouse for a Magic Mouse) and check that it’s turned on.
Make one website bigger every time
Safari can remember a zoom level per site. Go to the site, click the Page menu in the address field and choose a Page Zoom level. To set a default for every site, open Safari > Settings > Websites > Page Zoom and choose a size for “When visiting other websites” (Apple’s Safari User Guide, “Zoom in on webpages”, checked 14 October 2026). Apple notes that Safari doesn’t remember a zoom you made with a pinch.
In Chrome, the default lives in Settings > Appearance > Page zoom (Google Chrome Help, checked 14 October 2026).
Zoom the whole screen with Accessibility Zoom
Accessibility Zoom magnifies the screen itself, not just one app. It’s built into macOS and costs nothing. Every step below is from Apple’s guide Zoom in on your Mac screen, checked on 14 October 2026 for macOS 27. Apple’s page also has versions for macOS 26, 15 and 14.
Turn it on
Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar (you may need to scroll down), then click Zoom. Turn on one or more of the ways to zoom below.
Keyboard shortcuts
Turn on Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom, then:
| To | Press |
|---|---|
| Zoom in | Option-Command-Plus (+) |
| Zoom out | Option-Command-Minus (-) |
| Switch between zoomed in and zoomed out | Option-Command-8 |
Scroll with a modifier key (mouse or trackpad)
Turn on Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom, then pick Control, Option or Command from the “Modifier key for scroll gesture” menu. Hold that key and scroll to zoom in or out. This is the way to zoom the whole screen with a mouse, and it works with a trackpad too.
Trackpad gesture
Turn on Use trackpad gesture to zoom. Double-tap with three fingers and drag to zoom gradually, or double-tap with three fingers to jump in and out.
Pick a zoom style
The Zoom style menu decides what gets magnified:
- Full Screen: the whole screen zooms. With more than one display, each can zoom on its own.
- Split Screen: the zoomed view sits along one edge of the screen, and you can drag the divider to resize it.
- Picture-in-Picture: a box around the pointer acts like a magnifying glass. Drag its edges to resize it.
Size and Location adjusts the Split Screen and Picture-in-Picture views, and Advanced holds the rest of the options.
Two related tools
- Hover Text: in System Settings > Accessibility > Hover Text, turn it on, point at text and hold Command to see a large copy of it (Apple’s guide “Hover to zoom in on text and colors on Mac”, checked 14 October 2026).
- Accessibility Shortcuts: press Option-Command-F5 (on a MacBook or Magic Keyboard you may need to hold Fn too) to open a panel that turns Zoom and other accessibility features on or off. On a Mac or Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, pressing Touch ID three times quickly opens it too (Apple Mac User Guide, checked 14 October 2026).
How to zoom out when your Mac screen is stuck zoomed in
Work down this list. The first one is the usual cause.
- Accessibility Zoom is on. Press Option-Command-8. If nothing happens, the keyboard shortcuts are probably off: open System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom, turn on Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom, then press Option-Command-8 again. Option-Command-F5 (on a MacBook or Magic Keyboard you may need to hold Fn too) opens Accessibility Shortcuts, which can also turn Zoom off.
- You zoomed by accident while scrolling. If Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom is on, holding Control (or whichever key you chose) while you scroll zooms the screen. Hold the same key and scroll the other way to zoom back out. If it keeps happening, turn that option off.
- A three-finger double-tap. With the trackpad gesture on, a stray double-tap with three fingers zooms in. Do it again to zoom out.
- Everything is bigger, but nothing follows the pointer. That’s not Zoom. Check System Settings > Displays: the Larger Text setting lowers the display resolution so everything looks bigger, and Apple notes that your Mac normally uses the best resolution for your display (Apple’s guides “Increase the size of what’s on the Mac screen” and “Change your Mac display’s resolution”, checked 14 October 2026). Click Default to undo it. The Text size slider in Accessibility > Display is the other setting that makes text larger on the desktop, in sidebars and in supported apps, and the Pointer size slider in the same pane makes the cursor bigger.
- Only one website or document looks huge. Press Command-0 in that app. In Safari, check Settings > Websites > Page Zoom for a saved size for that site.
- A big box of text appears when you hold Command. That’s Hover Text. Turn it off in System Settings > Accessibility > Hover Text.
Zoom on a MacBook vs a Mac with a mouse
The keyboard shortcuts are the same on every Mac. The difference is the pointing device.
- MacBook or Magic Trackpad: pinch with two fingers to zoom a page, double-tap with two fingers for smart zoom, and for the whole screen use Option-Command-Plus and Minus, or turn on the three-finger trackpad gesture in Accessibility > Zoom.
- iMac, Mac mini or Mac Studio with a mouse: a regular mouse has no pinch, so use Command-Plus and Minus for a page, and turn on Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom to zoom the whole screen by holding a key and scrolling. A Magic Mouse adds one-finger double-tap smart zoom for web pages and PDFs.
Zooming in a screen recording
If you’re zooming so viewers can read your screen in a tutorial or demo, there are two ways to do it.
Live, with Accessibility Zoom. Turn on the keyboard shortcuts above and zoom in and out as you talk. It’s free and already on your Mac. The catch: every zoom happens by hand, mid-sentence, and once you stop recording you can’t move or undo one. Before the real recording, make a ten-second test recording and play it back to check that the zoomed view is in the file.
Afterwards, in an editor. CursorClip, a Mac screen recorder, places zooms where you click when you stop recording. A single click gets a zoom of about 4 seconds, and clicks close together in the same area share one longer zoom. Zooms magnify 1.7x by default, adjustable from 1x to 4x. Every zoom sits on the Zoom lane, where you can move it, trim it, delete it or add your own, and the Camera motion settings change the framing (Roomy, Balanced or Tight) and the zoom speed.
The limit to know: zooms come from clicks only. Typing or scrolling doesn’t add one, so expect to place a few by hand. And for a quick zoom on a live call, Accessibility Zoom is the simpler tool.
Recording and editing in CursorClip are free; you need a license to export. Try it free.
Frequently asked questions
How do I zoom out on a Mac with the keyboard?
In Safari, Chrome, Preview and many other apps that show a page or document, press Command-Minus (-) to zoom out, Command-Plus (+) to zoom in, and Command-0 to go back to actual size. To zoom out of the whole screen, turn on Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom in System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom, then press Option-Command-Minus (-), or Option-Command-8 to switch zoom off.
Why is my Mac screen zoomed in and how do I fix it?
Usually Accessibility Zoom is on. Press Option-Command-8. If nothing happens, open System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom, turn on Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom, and press Option-Command-8 again. Option-Command-F5 (on a MacBook or Magic Keyboard you may need to hold Fn too) opens Accessibility Shortcuts, which can also turn Zoom off. If everything looks bigger but nothing moves with the pointer, check System Settings > Displays: the Larger Text setting lowers the resolution so everything appears bigger. Click Default to undo it. If only one website looks big, press Command-0 in the browser.
How do I zoom in on a Mac with a mouse?
Open System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom, turn on Use scroll gesture with modifier keys to zoom, and pick Control, Option or Command as the modifier key. Then hold that key and scroll with your mouse to zoom the whole screen in or out. On a Magic Mouse, double-tapping with one finger zooms in and back out of a webpage or PDF (smart zoom).
What is the zoom shortcut on a Mac?
For a page or document: Command-Plus (+) to zoom in, Command-Minus (-) to zoom out and Command-0 for actual size in Safari, Chrome and Preview. For the whole screen with Accessibility Zoom: Option-Command-Plus (+) to zoom in, Option-Command-Minus (-) to zoom out and Option-Command-8 to switch zoom on or off, once Use keyboard shortcuts to zoom is turned on in System Settings > Accessibility > Zoom.
Can I zoom in while screen recording on a Mac?
You can turn on Accessibility Zoom and zoom in and out by hand while you record. Make a ten-second test recording first and play it back to check that the zoomed view is in the file. The other route is adding zooms after you stop: a screen recorder such as CursorClip places zooms where you clicked when the recording ends, and you can move, trim, delete or add zooms before you export.
Is CursorClip free?
Free to record and edit. A license to export. CursorClip is a native Mac app for macOS 13.5 or later, and a license covers up to 3 Macs. See cursorclip.com/pricing for the lifetime, yearly and monthly prices.
Sources and dates
Accessibility steps are what Apple’s support pages stated on 14 October 2026: “Zoom in on your Mac screen” and “Change Zoom settings for accessibility on Mac” (Mac User Guide, macOS 27; the page also has versions for macOS 26, 15 and 14), “Increase the size of what’s on the Mac screen”, “Change your Mac display’s resolution”, “Hover to zoom in on text and colors on Mac”, the Accessibility Shortcuts entry, and “Use Multi-Touch gestures on Mac” (Apple Support 102482, published 6 May 2026). Safari steps are from Apple’s Safari User Guide (“Zoom in on webpages” and “Keyboard and other shortcuts in Safari”), and Chrome steps from Google Chrome Help (“Change text, image, and video sizes” and “Chrome keyboard shortcuts”), all checked 14 October 2026. The View menu shortcuts for Safari 27.0, Preview 11.0 and Notes 4.13 were read from those apps on macOS 27.0 on 14 October 2026. Menus and settings move between macOS releases, so if a step doesn’t match your screen, use the version menu on Apple’s page. CursorClip behavior is from CursorClip 2.0.4.
Related reading
- Zooms in a recording, in depth: how auto zoom works in a Mac screen recorder.
- Make the whole video readable: how to make tutorial videos on Mac.
- Every built-in way to record: how to screen record videos on Mac, the complete guide.