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In IE 9 you can type in whatever number you want to get the perfect zoom but in Chrome all I see is the + and - in the drop menu. How do I choose a custom zoom and set it as the default?

8 Answers 8

23

Update 01-Oct-2015: The Zoom extension suggested by Thomas Ploeger now also works with Google Spreadsheets. Remember to change zoom via extension button 'Z' right to the omnibox, don't try using Ctrl-+/-). If his answer helps you, go ahead and vote for it.

(For Google Spreadsheets specifically, it now has built-in Zoom feature as of 03-Dec-2017).

Another extension not mentioned here is Custom Zoom. Unlike Zoom, it:

  1. supports keyboard shortcuts for Zoom In & Zoom Out
  2. allows setting custom increment
  3. don't have bloated Options that heavily advertise other extensions

Earlier answer (which also still works):

This solution by Ciprian Stan needs elementary HTML skills and need re-doing it every time you restart Google Chrome. But unlike both extensions mentioned here I tried (Zoom and ZoomAll), it works even for Google Docs Spreadsheet--allows truly custom zoom levels.

It affect only zoom levels available for default zoom, but not the zooming increments in Wrench>Zoom or Ctrl-+/- behavior.

Open Settings in Google Chrome.

Inspect the zoom chooser element with the Developer Tools (right click -> Inspect Element). Expand the select and double click on any of the choice values (where you see value="1.1") to edit. Set the value of your choosing (e.g. value="1.15" for 115%). Then select the value from the list (the text may remain the old one, but it doesn't matter). When you close the settings and open them again, you'll find your value.

screenshot by Ciprian Stan

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  • 1
    Worked perfectly, and most importantly, I didn't need to redo it after restarting Chrome (as suggested in the answer): it saved my 105% default zoom, and even still shows 105% in the Settings dropdown.
    – acatalept
    Mar 17, 2015 at 15:00
  • 1
    The manual method does not require overwriting existing zoom levels. Just right-click the Elements panel in Dev Tools, then choose Edit as HTML. You may insert a completely new <option> in between the two closest values. Once you actually select the new option one time from the Page zoom dropdown in Settings, it becomes part of the list used by Ctrl-+ and Ctrl- - hotkeys. 😊
    – skylize
    Oct 6, 2017 at 23:32
  • This answer should be updated to say how to find the Web Content section of the dev tools.
    – user76871
    Nov 30, 2017 at 2:29
  • @skylize I tried your method and it works great if you set the customized zoom option as default. However, if you then select another zoom option as default, the customized zoom option, though still in the list of the options at the settings page, won't appear in the list used by Ctrl-+ and Ctrl- - hotkeys, which is a pity. 😞
    – Betty
    Sep 8, 2018 at 4:53
  • It is crazy that this solution actually works but it does and it did exactly what I needed it to. My custom zooms disappear every time I open the zoom settings, but until I do, they remain an option. Jan 12, 2019 at 18:35
14

Background

The devs got a lot of pressure about implementing a built-in default-zoom function. They did implement this in version 10 and reports have confirmed that it works as far back as December, 2010.

Since verve asked this question in August, 2012, either you are using an extremely old version of Chrome (<10), or your browser did (does?) indeed have the function. The same goes for Thomas Ploeger; an extension should not be necessary.

Solution

If you are using an older version, then you need to enable tabbed-options to see the setting, otherwise it is not accessible (figure 2). You can either use the command-line option --enable-tabbed-options or toggle it in about:flags or chrome://flags (figure 3). If you are using a newer version (Chrome ~11+, Chromium ~12+), then tabbed-options is the default setting (actually, the only setting). Look for the the Page Zoom field in chrome://settings under the Web Content section (figure 1).

Work-Around

If you have to use a very old version that does not include tabbed-options at all, then you can try manually entering the setting (before the "exited_cleanly" entry) in the preferences file in your User-Data-Directory. However, there’s two problems with this method. First, (for some reason) the setting uses floating-point numbers instead of a simple integer to represent the zoom-level. This makes it difficult to set it manually, but you can refer to the chart below (table 1). Second, a version that predates the inclusion of tabbed-options at all probably won’t include the default-zoom setting anyway.

Caveats

In any case, you should be aware that the default-zoom setting (currently) only affects pages that you have not already zoomed. Any pages that you have modified the zoom for will not be affected by the new default scaling and will retain the previously assigned zoom setting. This is a nuisance because there is currently no way to modify the list of page/site-specific zoom settings, so you will have to manually set previously-zoomed pages to use the default setting.

Note however that simply zooming a page to 100% is not sufficient to reset the zoom for a page/site. To reset it, you can press Ctrl+Numpad-0 or click the magnifying glass on the toolbar and then click the Reset Zoom button. Another way to reset the zoom is to zoom it to match the current default-zoom setting. For example, if the current default zoom is set to 125% and the page has previously been zoomed to 110%, you must zoom the page to 125% to remove its page-specific setting. (This is actually a bug because if you then change the default zoom to 150%, the page will not retain its 125% zoom!)

Appendices

Figure 1: Default-Zoom setting in newer versions of Chrome

Screenshot of Default-Zoom setting in current versions of Chrome


Figure 2: Non-tabbed settings dialog in older version has no default-zoom setting

Screenshot of Settings dialog of older versions of Chrome


Figure 3: Enabling tabbed-options in about:flags (or chrome://flags)

Screenshot of Chrome’s flags page


Figure 4: Default-Zoom setting in Tabbed-options page of older versions of Chrome

Screenshot of tabbed-options setting of older versions of Chrome


Figure 5: Reset page-zoom to the default setting with the Reset Zoom (in case they fix the bug of zooming to reset)

Screenshot of Chrome’s reset zoom button


Table 1: (Non-obvious) values for default-zoom settings in the Preferences file:

 25% :     "default_zoom_level": -7.6035680338478615,
 33% :     "default_zoom_level": -6.0311726618503405,
 50% :     "default_zoom_level": -3.8017840169239308,
 67% :     "default_zoom_level": -2.2293886449264093,
 75% :     "default_zoom_level": -1.5778829311823859,
 90% :     "default_zoom_level": -0.5778829311823857,
100% :     "default_zoom_level": 0.0,
110% :     "default_zoom_level": 0.5227586988632231,
125% :     "default_zoom_level": 1.2239010857415449,
150% :     "default_zoom_level": 2.223901085741545,
175% :     "default_zoom_level": 3.069389038663465,
200% :     "default_zoom_level": 3.8017840169239308,
250% :     "default_zoom_level": 5.025685102665476,
300% :     "default_zoom_level": 6.025685102665476,
400% :     "default_zoom_level": 7.6035680338478615,
500% :     "default_zoom_level": 8.827469119589406,
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  • Using the most recent version of Chrome I would like to set default zoom to 110%. I see how to set 100%, 150%, ... but is there an option to do custom, such as 110% ?
    – Ωmega Δ
    Feb 21, 2014 at 18:44
  • 1
    Is there no 110% line in the Preferences file?
    – Synetech
    Feb 21, 2014 at 20:38
  • Thank you for posting the default_zoom_level table
    – shrewmouse
    Jan 22, 2020 at 21:01
  • It's mind-boggling how they used logarithms of actual zoom ratios to the base 1.2 as default_zoom_values while not providing a 120% (1.2x) zoom at all.
    – Fred Qian
    Dec 4, 2022 at 2:08
9

There is a Google Chrome extension called Zoom which allows you to set custom zoom percentages via a slider, or by entering a certain percentage. It remembers the zoom percentages per website (like Chrome already does, but now you can at least set a custom percentage).

Chrome does not allow you to set a universal zoom setting as far as I am aware. But, to set a universal default zoom for all webpages (again, in a percentage of your choosing), you could use the Zoom All extension.

I would suggest you try these extensions, they might work for you.

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    Ugh, the extensions does not use same method as Chromes inbuilt zoom. They don't for instance work correctly pages with media-queries as Chromes own zoom does. I can't understand why Google didn't simply make the percentage number clickable so one could write own number there.
    – Ciantic
    Mar 28, 2013 at 11:19
  • The extension does not work with pdf files.
    – Black
    Jan 22, 2020 at 12:04
5

I'm looking way to set different custom zooms for specific websites (not for ALL websites) but I can't find a way to do it using Chrome settings. If you're looking to set a default custom zoom for all pages looks like some answers here could work.

As a workaround (other than installing an extension that does this) you could also try using javascript. Enter in your browser address bar and press Enter

javascript: document.body.style.zoom = 2;

This will double your zoom. You can enter any other zoom level you want.

You have to type the 'javascript' part, if you paste it chrome will remove it for security (you could type the 'j' and paste 'avascript: ..." which is allowed).

The downside is that it's not saved, you have to run the javascript each time you visit the page, but you can bookmark this, create a bookmark and write your javascript code instead of a url, then every time you click it it will run. This is called a bookmarklet.

This might not work sometimes, depending how the website was designed

Pro tip: If you want to write javascript code and run it automatically on a page every time you visit it, you could look into using Tampermonkey


Another bookmarklet you might find useful:

When you click it it increases the zoom by 25%, after 4 clicks it resets it to 1.

javascript: z = document.body.style.zoom; if(!z) z=1; 
document.body.style.zoom = z<2 ? z*1.25 : 1;

I use it when I want to change the zoom temporarily, without the setting being saved. When I visit the page next time it will show me the normal zoom amount.

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  • Added the option to set the zoom level manually with a prompt(): javascript: var z = prompt('Set zoom level!'); document.body.style.zoom = parseFloat(z). This was EXACTLY what I was hoping for. It's the perfect solution for me. Now I also have a keyboard shortcut that takes my mouse cursor to the bookmark location, so I can zoom very easily, at will! Sep 5, 2018 at 20:19
  • 1
    or javascript: document.body.style.zoom = parseFloat(prompt('Set zoom level!')) :) also if you don't want to use the mouse, you could press ctrl+L so it'll focus on the url bar, then type the first letters of the name you give to the bookmark and it will show up for you to run (I also run some bookmarlets on my phone's browser from the url bar. I mentioned one I use here android.stackexchange.com/a/129752/138255)
    – aljgom
    Sep 6, 2018 at 0:52
  • Does not work in pdf files.
    – Black
    Jan 22, 2020 at 12:06
0

you can try this Chrome extension, wZoom. It can customize custom zoom factors.

0

Zoomba simply let you set a desired % increment/decrement step and assign it to a keyboard and/or mouse shortcuts. Thus you can reach any custom zoom like 136% or 87% and since it uses the browser built-in zoom engine it will be automatically set as the default zoom of that particular website.

E.g. you can set 10% increment/decrement step and assign it to the default zoom shortcuts which are Ctrl++/- and Ctrl+mouse-wheel up/down.

And/or set 1% increment/decrement step and assign it to Ctrl+Shift++/- and/or Ctrl+Shift+mouse-wheel up/down.

Zoomba's options screenshot

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    It sounds like spam. Is it your website ? Jul 22, 2023 at 14:19
  • No, it's not. I just was a little bit excited after finding something which correctly works. I edit it and I hope it will be helpfull.
    – Mehrab7fm
    Jul 22, 2023 at 14:47
0

Easy solution

  1. Open dev tools with command + shift + j on macOS, or ctrl + shift + j on windows.
  2. In the console tab, click next to the little > so you can enter some code
  3. Enter this and press enter:
document.body.style.zoom = "48%"

Obviously change 48 in the above to whatever level of zoom you prefer.

-1

Works out-of-the-box for custom zoom levels per (sub-)domain, e.g.:

  • https://pupco.net/...every-page-in-here-can-be-at-a-custom-zoom-level
  • https://subdomain.pupco.net/...every-page-in-here-can-be-at-a-different-zoom-level

Steps:

  1. Open tab to url at domain of choosing.
  2. Set custom zoom level with CTRL or ⌘++/-
  3. Open new (empty) tab.
  4. Set default zoom level with CTRL or ⌘++/-

    [Chrome 33.0.1750.146 m, Windows 7] (I've not verified on Mac)


Also helpful:

Press Ctrl+Numpad-0 to reset a page's zoom level.


Credit goes to the "Caveats" section (below) of Synetech's awesome answer. I posted this solution because it was all I needed in my case.

...the default-zoom setting (currently) only affects pages that you have not already zoomed. Any pages that you have modified the zoom for will not be affected by the new default scaling and will retain the previously assigned zoom setting.

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  • what is wrong with this solution that would garner a downvote??
    – Pup
    Jun 19, 2014 at 19:05
  • What people are looking for is a way to set your own values for zoom, with ctrl +/- you change the zoom, but you have only limited options, predetermined by chrome. People are looking to set their custom values
    – aljgom
    Mar 16, 2017 at 18:05

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