If you work across more than one display, Magnifier gives you two ways to magnify them. This article applies only to Windows 11. If you're using Windows 10, these instructions may not apply to your device.
Note
Before you start: Set your displays to Extend (not Duplicate) in Settings > System > Display, so Windows treats each monitor as a separate screen.
Choose how Magnifier works across your monitors
Once your displays are set to Extend, you can choose between two options:
| Option | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Zoom each display independently: On (default) | Magnifier treats each monitor as its own space. Each screen keeps its own view and its own zoom level, and the magnified view stops at the edge of each screen instead of spilling into the next. You can also use viewport locking to hold one screen's view in place. | Giving each screen a different job, for example writing at 300% on one screen while a reference document stays at 150% on another |
| Zoom each display independently: Off (span mode) | Magnifier treats all your displays as one large screen. The same zoom level applies everywhere, and the magnified view spans across your monitors, so screen boundaries don't hold and the view moves from one display into the next as you pan. Viewport locking isn't available. | Using one zoom level everywhere, the way Magnifier worked in earlier versions of Windows |
To switch between them, turn Zoom each display independently on or off from the Magnifier toolbar, or in Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier under Multiple display controls. You can change it at any time.
Set a different zoom level on each monitor
With Zoom each display independently on, use whichever way feels most natural to set the zoom for a screen:
- With the keyboard or mouse: Move your mouse pointer onto the screen you want to change, then press Windows
key+Plus sign (+) or Windows
key+Minus sign (−), or hold Ctrl+Alt and scroll the mouse wheel. The zoom changes only on that screen. - From Settings: Set the zoom level for each screen in Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier.
- From the Magnifier toolbar: drag the toolbar onto a screen, then use its zoom controls to adjust that screen.
Keep a view in place with viewport locking
Requires independent zoom. Viewport locking is only available when Zoom each display independently is on.
As you move your pointer from screen to screen, the magnified view follows it. Sometimes, though, the thing you need to see is on a screen you aren't pointing at. Viewport locking holds that screen's view steady while you work somewhere else.
For example, say you're writing an email based on a paragraph in a document on your other monitor:
- Move your pointer onto the screen with the document and scroll until the paragraph you need is in view.
- Press Ctrl+Windows
key+K. A message appears on that screen to show it's locked.
- Move your pointer to the other screen and write your email. The locked screen keeps showing the same paragraph.
The locked screen stays live, so you can still glance back at it, click, or copy from it. Its view stays put until you unlock it.
- Unlock a screen: Point at the locked screen and press Ctrl+Windows
key+K again.
- Lock more than one screen: Point at each screen you want to hold and press the shortcut on each one.
- Release all locks at once: Press Windows
key+Esc. When a screen is locked, the first press releases every lock and keeps Magnifier on. Press Windows
key+Esc again (with no screens locked) to turn Magnifier off.
- Use a different shortcut: Under Multiple display controls in Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier, open the Lock view shortcut dropdown and choose Ctrl+Alt+P.
Note
This feature is available only in Windows 11.
Previous chapter: Chapter 3: Zooming and panning
Next chapter: Chapter 5: Making content clearer
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