Magnify your screen and more with PowerToys' new ZoomIt tool – here's how

Looking for a way to magnify your computer screen, either for yourself or for public presentations? A new PowerToys tool from Microsoft may be exactly what you need. Added to the latest version of PowerToys, ZoomIt can zoom in on the screen, let you write on it, and take a screenshot or recording of your current activity.

Microsoft is touting ZoomIt as a tool for presentations and demos. By zooming in on specific areas of the screen, you can emphasize certain points or simply enlarge text and images for your audience. The writing and annotation features let you mark up the screen to highlight key elements. 

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Beyond its worth as a presentation tool, ZoomIt can magnify the screen if you have trouble seeing or reading small print on a web page or document.

ZoomIt was originally a Sysinternals tool. Recently, its source code was released, allowing it to be included in PowerToys. However, it will still be available as an external tool, updated, and offered by Sysinternals for anyone who’d rather use it as a standalone program.

How does the PowerToys version of ZoomIt work and how can you use it?

First, make sure you’re running the latest version of PowerToys. If you already use the utility, click the PowerToys icon in the Windows System Tray and you’ll see a notification to update it. Otherwise, head to the PowerToys GitHub page and download the executable file for your edition of Windows.

Open PowerToys, click the drop-down arrow for System Tools, and then select ZoomIt. Turn on the switch for Enable ZoomIt and make sure the System Tray icon is switched on. You can now try zooming in and out. For that, press Ctrl+1 on your keyboard. The first time you do this, be sure you agree to the notice from Sysinternals.

The screen will then automatically zoom in. Move your mouse’s scroll wheel or swipe up and down on your laptop’s touchpad to zoom in and out. You can then move your mouse or your finger to navigate the screen. To revert to normal screen mode, just press Esc. Back at the ZoomIt settings in PowerToys, go to the Zoom section and you’re able to change the hotkey, turn the zoom animation on and off, and adjust the zoom level.

Next, you can zoom in and still use your mouse or touchpad to move up and down the screen. To activate this Live Zoom mode, press Crtl+4. Your screen zooms in. Use your mouse’s scroll wheel or swipe up and down on a touchpad, and the screen will move up and down as expected. You can also move left and right with your mouse or touchpad to read or see an entire zoomed-in page. To exit this mode, press Ctrl+4 again.

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ZoomIt also offers a few options for drawing on the screen.

Press Ctrl+2, and the cursor turns into a pen tool. Just hold down the left mouse button or the touchpad and you can then draw on the screen. To change the thickness of the pen, press the Ctrl key and swipe up and down on the scroll wheel or touchpad. To switch to a different color, press the R key on your keyboard for red, G for green, B for blue, Y for yellow, P for pink, and O for orange. Go to the Draw section in ZoomIt settings to check out more drawing options. Press Esc to exit drawing mode.

While in drawing mode, you can type text on the screen. Press Ctrl+2 to return to drawing mode, press the T key, and start typing. Use your mouse’s scroll wheel or swipe up and down on the touchpad to change the font size. Press Esc once to exit text mode and then again to exit drawing mode.

ZoomIt offers a couple of other modes, including Demo Type and Break. Return to its settings screen in PowerToys to try these out.

To record your screen while in zoomed mode, press Ctrl+5. You can then move around and navigate the screen. When done, press Ctrl+5 again to stop the recording. You’re prompted to save your screen activity as an MP4 file. 

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To capture a static shot of your screen in zoomed mode, press Ctrl+6. Draw the area you want to snip. The resulting image is saved to the Windows clipboard for you to paste elsewhere.

Finally, you can more quickly access ZoomIt’s key modes through the System Tray shortcut. Just click on the shortcut and you’re able to zoom in, draw, and record your screen.