SOLVED Creators Update doesn't permit increased menu ribbon font

[Colin Hession]

Since installing W10 Creators Update version 1703, the facility via Display Settings to increase size of menu & ribbon fonts (without making everything enormous via the overall Scaling %) has seemingly been withdrawn - very, very annoying......anyone got any workarounds, short of changing screen resolution?

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Colin,

click on "Custom scaling" and put in your own value (110% or 115% and so on).

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Colin,

Welcome to the Forum.

The only work-around I am aware of would be to modify the WindowMetrics in your Registry; in particular, the Binary value: MenuFont, and the two String values: MenuHeight, and MenuWidth.

While this is relatively easy to do if you are familiar with HEX code, its not so easy otherwise.

To demonstrate this compare the default status of the three mentioned values with a modified status

Default Status:

Context Menu would display like so:

Status if modified to be 24 point size

Context Menu would display like so:

If that is the type of thing you want, then I guess the next stage would be to get you to let me know precisely what font size you want, and whether to make it bold or plain. Then I can send you the precise instructions on how to achieve this for your Ribbon, Context Menu etcetera.

Regards,

Regedit32

 

[Colin Hession]

Hi Colin,

click on "Custom scaling" and put in your own value (110% or 115% and so on).

View attachment 6079

Thanks for taking the trouble to respond, appreciate it. Yes, but using the scaling % it maintains the same size ratio between menus & rest of screen, so to increase menus, one has to live with enormous rest of screen. Whereas the previous (ie pre-June Creators Update) setting offered a menu-only enlarger - still have it on one of my other machines.....hey, ho......but thanks

 

[Colin Hession]

Hi Colin,

Welcome to the Forum.

The only work-around I am aware of would be to modify the WindowMetrics in your Registry; in particular, the Binary value: MenuFont, and the two String values: MenuHeight, and MenuWidth.

While this is relatively easy to do if you are familiar with HEX code, its not so easy otherwise.

To demonstrate this compare the default status of the three mentioned values with a modified status

Default Status:

View attachment 6083

Context Menu would display like so:

View attachment 6084


Status if modified to be 24 point size

View attachment 6085

Context Menu would display like so:

View attachment 6086


If that is the type of thing you want, then I guess the next stage would be to get you to let me know precisely what font size you want, and whether to make it bold or plain. Then I can send you the precise instructions on how to achieve this for your Ribbon, Context Menu etcetera.

Regards,

Regedit32

Many thanks, but this sort of Regedit is way above my pay grade (& appetite for risk!).

But much appreciate your responding.

 

[Regedit32]

If you let me know the font size you want I'll post a REG for you to download & merge.

I can also provide a second file to reverse the changes if you change your mind later.


As I originally said, this is the only way I know of you can achieve what it is you want.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Colin,

does this help at all?:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-make-text-apps-bigger-windows-10

 

[Regedit32]

That article Wolfie is from August 2015.

The suggestions it discusses are now deprecated in Windows 10 Versions 1703. I forget now whether it was deprecated back in any OS Build of Version 16xx [ it may have been ].


That is why Colin is seeking an alternate solution.


He does not want to scale things, he just wants to achieve the results of part 2 in that article, but the problem is that options is not available in Windows 10 now.


I know at one time there were some third party downloads to allow a User to run the older Control Desktop Personalization features (which used to have the option hidden away under Colors), but to my recollection these downloads were at best limited, and more than likely now would trigger the current Settings app rather than the Control Panel Desktop.


That is why in my earlier reply I said, that so far as I was aware the only current way to achieve what Colin wants is to modify the Registry WindowMetrics key, by modifying the Binary Value: MenuFont and the two String Values: MenuHeight & MenuWidth.


There may well be another way around this that does not involve rolling back Windows 10 to a Version and OS Build your article presumably is addressing. I just do not know what that other option is myself.


As it is interesting, I have mucked around a bit in the Registry trialling a few ideas that came to mind, but so far I've not been able to fool the System into restoring the old Control Panel options yet. It may not be possible to do it this way as it is reliant on the DLL files which might well be upgraded too and thus unusable in that sense, unless you grab a previous version from an older Windows.iso

I'll give the first Forum member who can figure it out an apple. They can give me a disprin in return to kill the headache of fiddling around when in fact what I all ready said will work.

Just take a look at my earlier post again. The fonts in Context Menu are indeed much larger after modifying those Values. It does not need to be that large of course, I just used an extreme so you could see that idea works.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi @Regedit32 ,

after reading the article myself I went to Control panel not knowing that as you say above; things had changed!.

@Colin Hession ,

Hi Colin, another option I can think of is to reduce your screen resolution which should increase your font size somewhat?.

 

[Colin Hession]

That article Wolfie is from August 2015.

The suggestions it discusses are now deprecated in Windows 10 Versions 1703. I forget now whether it was deprecated back in any OS Build of Version 16xx [ it may have been ].


That is why Colin is seeking an alternate solution.


He does not want to scale things, he just wants to achieve the results of part 2 in that article, but the problem is that options is not available in Windows 10 now.


I know at one time there were some third party downloads to allow a User to run the older Control Desktop Personalization features (which used to have the option hidden away under Colors), but to my recollection these downloads were at best limited, and more than likely now would trigger the current Settings app rather than the Control Panel Desktop.


That is why in my earlier reply I said, that so far as I was aware the only current way to achieve what Colin wants is to modify the Registry WindowMetrics key, by modifying the Binary Value: MenuFont and the two String Values: MenuHeight & MenuWidth.


There may well be another way around this that does not involve rolling back Windows 10 to a Version and OS Build your article presumably is addressing. I just do not know what that other option is myself.


As it is interesting, I have mucked around a bit in the Registry trialling a few ideas that came to mind, but so far I've not been able to fool the System into restoring the old Control Panel options yet. It may not be possible to do it this way as it is reliant on the DLL files which might well be upgraded too and thus unusable in that sense, unless you grab a previous version from an older Windows.iso

I'll give the first Forum member who can figure it out an apple. They can give me a disprin in return to kill the headache of fiddling around when in fact what I all ready said will work.

Just take a look at my earlier post again. The fonts in Context Menu are indeed much larger after modifying those Values. It does not need to be that large of course, I just used an extreme so you could see that idea works.

Do you think it's safe to use this Tweaking app, please?

http://winaero.com/blog/menu-text-size-windows-10-creators-update/

 

[Regedit32]

I'm not familiar with that tool, however, a lot of threads mention this person who is based in Russia I think.

It most likely would work.

A simpler tool can be downloaded from:

https://www.wintools.info/index.php/system-font-size-changer

Note: If you like the idea of the tool in the above url, scroll to bottom of page and click the Download there as all the other download options on the page open ads.

• I downloaded this tool which came zipped
• Right-click on it and select Extract all
• Once extracted you'll see changesize.exe which is a portable executable; meaning nothing to install, just click to run it.
• When it first opens it prompts you to save the WindowsMetric registry key. Click yes and by default it saves to your Documents folder. This can be used to restore all settings to default status. by right-clicking on it and selecting merge, then clicking Yes, yes again, and finally OK at the three prompts you will see from UAC, Registry Warning, and Registry Information prompts.

If you do not do this, you can instead click the Export button on the app itself to achieve same goal

The blank button to the right is the Apply button. You'll see the word Apply appear when you adjust the Slider above.​

• As you can see in above image, this is a very minimalistic tool, but you simply choose the object you want smaller or larger fonts on, using the radio dots then adjust slider. If you want bold fonts then check the Bold box before clicking Apply button

This tool automates the modification of the three Registry Values I previously mentioned to you. I've tested it and it works fine, and there are no signs of malware/virus in the executable.

If you click the Help, Theme or WinTool.Info on the app it will open your browser to the website of the person who created the tool. The same site in the url I gave you just a moment ago.

Simple to use, and only adjusts what you personally want to adjust.


The other tool you asked about, appears to offer a lot of other features, not just the things you specifically wanted to resolve. If the additional features appeal to you, then sure, give it a go. If you decide to download it, scan for malware/virus before running what ever is downloaded. Assuming it is safe, and you use it, please do let me know how you find it to use. I'd be interested as I am sure others in the Forum may also be interested to know.

Personally though, I'll stick to manual adjustments - but if I were to choose a tool, then the one from WinTools is simple but does the job.

 

[Regedit32]

Oh by the way, when you open the Feedback Hub app that comes with Windows 10, you can search your specific issue. Microsoft formally acknowledge they have removed the previous Control Desktop options, not because they will not do what you are you wanting to do, but because it will not work for the Store app, Start menu, and another app which off hand I have forgotten.

There is a lot of negative feedback being posted in response to Microsoft's decision,so watch this space, the next major update is in the Fall (Autumn), and you never know, Microsoft may take on board the feedback and restore the original Personalization options again.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Colin,

please read this first (from their download page) before deciding if you want Winareo!:

"The all-in-one app from Winaero. It will include almost all apps released by Winaero along with new tweaks and options.
Windows Tweaker supports Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10."

 

[Colin Hession]

I'm not familiar with that tool, however, a lot of threads mention this person who is based in Russia I think.

It most likely would work.

A simpler tool can be downloaded from:

https://www.wintools.info/index.php/system-font-size-changer

Note: If you like the idea of the tool in the above url, scroll to bottom of page and click the Download there as all the other download options on the page open ads.

View attachment 6094

• I downloaded this tool which came zipped
• Right-click on it and select Extract all
• Once extracted you'll see changesize.exe which is a portable executable; meaning nothing to install, just click to run it.
• When it first opens it prompts you to save the WindowsMetric registry key. Click yes and by default it saves to your Documents folder. This can be used to restore all settings to default status. by right-clicking on it and selecting merge, then clicking Yes, yes again, and finally OK at the three prompts you will see from UAC, Registry Warning, and Registry Information prompts.

If you do not do this, you can instead click the Export button on the app itself to achieve same goal

View attachment 6095

The blank button to the right is the Apply button. You'll see the word Apply appear when you adjust the Slider above.​

• As you can see in above image, this is a very minimalistic tool, but you simply choose the object you want smaller or larger fonts on, using the radio dots then adjust slider. If you want bold fonts then check the Bold box before clicking Apply button

This tool automates the modification of the three Registry Values I previously mentioned to you. I've tested it and it works fine, and there are no signs of malware/virus in the executable.

If you click the Help, Theme or WinTool.Info on the app it will open your browser to the website of the person who created the tool. The same site in the url I gave you just a moment ago.

Simple to use, and only adjusts what you personally want to adjust.


The other tool you asked about, appears to offer a lot of other features, not just the things you specifically wanted to resolve. If the additional features appeal to you, then sure, give it a go. If you decide to download it, scan for malware/virus before running what ever is downloaded. Assuming it is safe, and you use it, please do let me know how you find it to use. I'd be interested as I am sure others in the Forum may also be interested to know.

Personally though, I'll stick to manual adjustments - but if I were to choose a tool, then the one from WinTools is simple but does the job.

Great! Many thanks......this little app from Wintools does indeed do the job.....hurray (& why on earth did Redmond drop this facility in the first place? daft!)

 

[Regedit32]

They may bring this back in future releases.

Their concern at the moment is that it did not work with Start menu, and a couple of other apps. So that will type some programmers time to resolve.

I'm glad you found that tool useful. It's a handy work-around for you until Microsoft react to the pleas in their Feedback hub.