emacs zoom in/out globally

Question

I know that I can zoom in/out using C-x C-+, but this applies only to the current file. Once I open another one, the text goes back to the default value and it's really tiresome to do it over and over. How can I keep the zoom level global for the current emacs session?

I know it's possible to set this in the init file if you know the exact font size, which I don't. Plus, I don't want to keep it that permanent - I usually need this when I'm without an external screen for a couple of hours or connected to a beamer while giving a presentation.

Does this answer your question? [Increase/decrease font size in an emacs frame (not just buffer)](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24705984/increase-decrease-font-size-in-an-emacs-frame-not-just-buffer) — Clément, May 09 '21 at 07:04

score 10 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 13 '13 at 10:30

10

This piece of code modify the zoom in/out functionality to apply the commands to every buffer. That should achieve what you are trying to do.

(defadvice text-scale-increase (around all-buffers (arg) activate)
  (dolist (buffer (buffer-list))
    (with-current-buffer buffer
      ad-do-it)))

answered Sep 13 '13 at 10:30

juanleon

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Excellent, thanks! Added it to my init file. You should maybe mention the method to [this related discussion](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GlobalTextScaleMode) I just bumped into. – metakermit Sep 13 '13 at 10:41
4

OK, great! Although, the first method on the page works for new files you visit and yours only works for all the open buffers (just noticed that now). Maybe it's because they also set the `text-scale-mode-amount` or something - I don't really know elisp. – metakermit Sep 13 '13 at 10:50

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 13 '13 at 21:51

All of the answers given here, and more, are available on the EmacsWiki page dedicated to the question of setting and changing font size, including changing it incrementally.

The answer from @abo-abo is on the right track, regardless of whether you think the size he used in the example code was too big, and regardless of whether the solution does not address incremental adjustment.

The answer from @juanleon essentially makes text scaling simulate changing the default character size (@abo-abo's answer).

The point of text scaling is to scale the buffer text (one buffer, no matter where it is shown), not the frame text (all buffers shown in the frame). But if you want all buffers to have their text size changed in a given frame then there is no reason to bother with text scaling in that case: just change the font size.

You can do either or both (scale the buffer text everywhere or zoom a frame), and do so incrementally, using the same command, if you use command zoom-in/out from library zoom-frm.el.

On the other hand, if you really do want to incrementally change the text size of all buffers in all frames, then the best approaches are either (1) @juanleon's suggestion or (2) incrementally zoom the standard face default.

To do the latter, you can use commands zoom-all-frames-in and zoom-all-frames-out in library zoom-frm.el

Thanks for the explanation of the implications of scaling w.r.t. frames and buffers. Like you said - I really want to change the text size in all buffers and frames, so [this method from the wiki](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GlobalTextScaleMode#toc1) and juanleon's answer work for me. I'll keep the zoom-frm.el in mind too. — metakermit, Sep 15 '13 at 13:09

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 13 '13 at 09:55

8

Just paste this in *scratch* and evaluate (with C-j or C-x C-e):

(set-face-attribute 'default nil :height 150)

There's nothing wrong in putting this in the init file and commenting it out later, when you don't need it.

answered Sep 13 '13 at 09:55

abo-abo

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Hm, this just made my window so large it went outside of the screen - this is exactly why I would want to avoid guessing the exact font sizes for some strange screen I'm connected to and I don't know the resolution of. I like the option of iteratively zooming in I get with C-x C-+ and I just want to persist that value throughout the session. That's the same behaviour I have, for example, in a web browser. – metakermit Sep 13 '13 at 10:20

score 5 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 27 '16 at 09:52

5

Its possible to scale all text (including status-line & line-numbers) using a little mode that handles this exact problem: purcell/default-text-scale. It's available in Melpa.

This scales all text to avoid text scale mismatch such as line-numbers of fill-column indicator being offset incorrectly.

The other answers here either don't work for new buffers or require too much manual intervention.

edited Oct 27 '16 at 09:52

ideasman42

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answered Dec 12 '15 at 23:32

mgalgs

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Works great! seems the best solution. – ideasman42 Oct 27 '16 at 09:51

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 12 '19 at 20:27

connected to a beamer while giving a presentation.

There is another package for that!

emacs-presentation-mode

Quoting from the site

Execute M-x presentation-mode to start the presentation.
Adjust scale size by C-x C-+ or C-x C-- See https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Text-Scale.html
After the presentation, execute M-x presentation-mode again.
And then execute M-x presentation-mode again, the last scale will be reproduced.
If you want to persistize its size as the default size of presentation-mode after restarting Emacs, set presentation-default-text-scale.

It's also have description of differences from other similar modes/package.

emacs zoom in/out globally

5 Answers5

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