How to Make Text Larger (or Smaller) on Your iPhone and iPad

Do you sometimes find the text on your screen too small to read comfortably? Good news: you can adjust the text size on your iPhone and iPad yourself. And the best part is: you can choose whether to make the text larger everywhere or just in certain apps. For example, you can make the messages in WhatsApp nice and big while leaving Google Maps exactly as it is. In this article, we’ll explain both methods step by step. No prior knowledge is needed, and you can’t break anything—everything can be reset with just a few taps.

Works on: iPhone and iPad

To do this, we’ll use a handy button with a large and a small “A” on it. First, we’ll set up that button in the Control Panel. Then we’ll show you how to adjust the text size for all apps at once, or for each app individually.

Step 1: Add the “A” button to the Control Panel

The Control Center is a quick-access menu on your iPhone or iPad. You can open it by swiping down from the top-right corner of your screen (or swiping up from the bottom on a device with a round Home button). First, let’s add the text size button there.

Open the Settings app. It’s the icon with the gray gears.
Swipe down and tap Control Panel.
You’ll see a list. At the bottom, under ” More controls ” (or “Additional controls“), you’ll find the buttons you can still add.
Look for “Text Size” in that list. The icon is a capital A next to a lowercase a.
Tap the green plus sign (+) next to it. The button will now move up to the buttons you use.
All done! You can close the Settings app now.

Step 2: Adjust the text size for all apps

Open the Control Panel (swipe down from the top-right corner).
Tap the button with the A that you just added.
You’ll now see a bar with dots appear. Drag it up to make the text larger, or down to make it smaller.
There is a small button at the bottom of the bar. Make sure ” All apps ” is selected (not the name of a single app). This way, the new size will apply everywhere.

The text is adjusted immediately, so you can see right away what reads well.

Step 3: Set the text size separately for each app

Here’s a handy trick: you can also change the size for just a single app. That way, you can make WhatsApp bigger, while Google Maps, for example, stays the same.

First, open the app whose text you want to edit, such as WhatsApp.
While that app is open, open the Control Center (swipe down from the top-right corner).
Tap the button with the letter A on it.
At the bottom of the bar, you’ll now see a choice between ” Only [app name] ” (for example, “Only WhatsApp”) and ” All apps.”
Tap ” WhatsApp Only.”
Drag the slider up to increase the text size in WhatsApp.

From now on, the text in WhatsApp will be larger, but all other apps will remain exactly as they were. Want to make Google Maps larger later on? Just do the same thing, but while Google Maps is open.

In short: Using the “A” button in your Control Panel, you can adjust the text size whenever you want—for all apps at once or for a single app. This way, you can tailor each app to provide exactly the reading experience you prefer.