Technology in terms you understand. Sign up for the Confident Computing newsletter for weekly solutions to make your life easier. Click here and get The Ask Leo! Guide to Staying Safe on the Internet — FREE Edition as my thank you for subscribing!

How do I get my browser window larger after something made it small?

Question:

I used a benchmarking program the other day and ever since then, all of my pages on my browsers have been condensed into a frame that is only around 600 pixels wide and on a 1080p screen. That looks a little silly. Everything is squished into a thin section and when I zoom to get the fonts the right size to read, they hardly fit into the panel especially if they are links. Is there a way of setting the maximum frame within Firefox as it does this also on many other sites, but most noticeably on Facebook?

In this excerpt from 
Answercast #26
, I look at how browser windows resize and how to get the text larger.

Become a Patron of Ask Leo! and go ad-free!

Resizing a browser window

So it’s a little unclear as to exactly what’s happening here, but what I’m going to suggest you do first is resize the window. I’m assuming that the benchmarking program did not change the resolution of your screen. In other words, you still are at that 1080p which would be 1929 x 1080 native screen resolution.

  • Drag the lower right-hand corner of that window and simply make it bigger.

If the fonts are not the proper size when you have done that, then start to play with your zoom. That way, you should be able to see the text in a form that you expect.

Window size memory

That being said, it sounds like the benchmarking program did nothing more than resize the window. What happens is, when the browser exits, it saves its last known window size so that the next time it starts, it starts up in the same place and at the same size.

So, the only thing to do in a case like that (if that’s what’s happening here) is simply resize the window by grabbing the lower right-hand corner and dragging it to a size that you want it. Then, when you exit the browser, that’s the new size that it will remember. The browser should open later at this new size that you’ve left it at.

Do this

Subscribe to Confident Computing! Less frustration and more confidence, solutions, answers, and tips in your inbox every week.

I'll see you there!

3 comments on “How do I get my browser window larger after something made it small?”

  1. I am running Win 7 Pro 64-bit and have observed what I believe to be a bug in the window sizing. I try to size my windows to fill the screen except for not covering the gadgets. If I place the window in the upper left corner and then drag the lower right corner to the finished size, exit and restart the application, it usually fails to retain the changes I have made.

    To resolve this issue, I first drag the window height, close the window, re-open the window, drag the window width, and reopen again. Doing that usually accomplishes the goal.

    I say “usually” because it does not work 100% of the time. On a customer’s brand new computer, using Win 7 home 64-bit and attempting to retain the opening window configuration for Word 2010 Basic (the non-purchased option), Windows simply refused to retain the previous window size and only allowed “normal” or “maximized” to be retained. So, good luck. For most applications, my work-around will work.

    Reply
  2. solution you offer for changing screen size not possible because there is no handle nor any place at the lower right corner to darg tghe screen either larger or smaller/. A,lso, no way tlo correct errors here.

    Reply
  3. Leo – Thank you, thank you. thank you! Your articles have always helped me! When I’m at my wits end with all the answers from everyone else, I have learned to always Ask Leo!

    Reply

Leave a reply:

Before commenting please:

  • Read the article.
  • Comment on the article.
  • No personal information.
  • No spam.

Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication.

I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.