How To Increase Font Size In Eclipse

I like to take equally many lines of source code visible on my notebook or desktop monitor. And I call back I accept found a expert residue between font size and readability.

On the other side: I'grand getting older and my eyes are not getting any better. At the same fourth dimension I noticed that students beginning using these 'high-resolution-retina-displays'. They are great, but issue in tiny default system fonts, and then I have a difficult time to read the source code on their machines.

Another challenge I noticed are the loftier-resolution projectors in class rooms or conferences. They are not well suited to show source code or text files because of the tiny fonts. Starting with Eclipse Neon there is an crawly feature which I can use to dynamically increment and subtract the font size which solves that trouble:

Eclipse with Large Font Size

Outline

This article describes how to change the Eclipse editor font size 'on the fly'. I'k using an Eclipse Neon based IDE (NXP MCUXpresso IDE) in the screenshots, but things are applicable for any Eclipse Neon based IDE or after.

The 'text zoom feature' is bachelor out of the box with Eclipse Neon. Previously some extra plugins had to be installed which did not always work (at to the lowest degree in my experience).

Full general Eclipse Font Preferences

To change the font size as a workspace settings, there are several configuration items under Window > Preferences > Full general > Appearance > Colors and Fonts:

Font Preferences

The above setting exists for a long fourth dimension in Eclipse. But information technology is rather painful to go into this dialog to increase and subtract the font size.

Keyboard Shortcut

To increase the font size or to zoom into the source text, starting with Eclipse Neon I use the <CTRL>+<+> shortcut (printing the CTRL key in combination with the '+' key). To zoom out and to decrease the font size use the '-' with <CTRL>+<->. The shortcut changes both the text size in the source editor view and in the console view.

💡 On Mac Os Ten, information technology is <CTRL>+<=> and <CTRL>+'-'

Eclipse with Large Font Size

Of grade it tin become fifty-fifty college than that:

Big Font

Zooming Shortcuts

The zooming shortcuts can exist configured in Window > Preferences > General > Keys:

Zooming Shortcuts

Summary

Changing the font size is a very useful feature: I can zoom in and out with increasing and decreasing the font size which is very useful presenting source lawmaking with a projector. Information technology merely changes the font size of text editors, and not the font size of other items like menus or dialogs. Zooming is in Eclipse only available as a shortcut, and I wish there would exist support for information technology using the mouse whorl wheel (east.g. CTRL + Mouse Cycle). Still, the keyboard shortcut is very useful.