Xfce entered zoom mode. How do I exit?

Question

I pressed something around my mouse pad (keys in the altgr region+mousepad - quite possibly multitouch) and suddenly the whole X11 display zoomed around 10%. That means I can see 90% of the 1920x1080 screen in a somewhat blurry version. When I move the cursor, the 90% follows the cursor, so by panning around I can see everything on the screen. Since it applies to everything my guess is that it is caused by xfwm or Xorg.

If I suspend the machine, it seems to go away in the lock screen, but when the lock screen is unlocked, the blurriness and zoom re-appears. Taking a screenshot grabs what is displayed on my screen (i.e. the 90% but scaled to 1920x1080).

I can see the usefulness of this in certain situations, but I would really like to exit it (other than rebooting).

I use xfce on Linux Mint.

Not sure if this is related, but I somehow ended up with an extremely large InitialZoom=6.327399706912535e+119 in my .config/kwinrc file, changing that to 1 solved my 'stuck in zoom' problem — Willem Hengeveld, Aug 21 '21 at 20:50

score 154 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 06 '24 at 15:16

154

Alt + scrollwheel.

So in my case, I had pressed Alt + two fingers on the mouse pad.

(If you are in a Linux VM using a Mac, then the combination is Cmd + scroll wheel)

edited Feb 06 '24 at 15:16

AdminBee

22,803

answered Mar 15 '15 at 15:59

Ole Tange

35,514

14

PHEW! That's a relief. – A. B. Jan 26 '21 at 06:05
It works, but in my case, only after logging in. on the logging screen works Only the Alt+Windows+8keyboard shortcut (@Lin's answer). – simhumileco Jan 04 '22 at 10:44
1

If you've bound window dragging to Super+drag (in Window Manager Tweaks -> Accessibility), zoom is controlled by Super+scroll rather than Alt+scroll. – nyanpasu64 Aug 10 '22 at 11:45
Is it possible to have high definition while zooming? – Tomasz Waszczyk Nov 27 '22 at 20:45

score 16 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 04 '22 at 14:30

16

To Turn on or Turn off Zoom within login screen,
you may use: Alt+Windows+8.

edited Jan 04 '22 at 14:30

simhumileco

489

answered Feb 26 '18 at 19:32

Lin

171
1
2

2

Not every keyboard that is being used with Linux has a 'Windows' key ;-) – Time4Tea Feb 26 '18 at 22:44
2

@Time4Tea That's all very nice and elite and superior for you to say, but alt+super+8 does indeed toggle a global screen magnifier in ubuntu 18.10. – Mumbleskates Feb 24 '19 at 05:04
1

This saved me thanks -- zoom is a really poorly implemented feature in Ubuntu 18.04, acessibility my a$$. :'D – mitchus Aug 14 '19 at 08:35
Oh, is that some key binding specific to Xfce version of Linux Mint? What does it run? – jarno Jul 07 '20 at 13:43
1

I'm using only the mousepad on my laptop, and the "accepted answer" of Alt+scrollwheel didn't work for me. This suggestion worked, on Ubuntu 20.04. – mcduffee Jan 15 '21 at 11:19
1

This works in PopOS as well, but take not they it's 8 not F8. I initially misread that. – David Parks Sep 12 '21 at 15:51

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 15 '15 at 23:11

3

This zoom mode is traditionally bound to Ctrl+Alt+Keypad + to zoom in and Ctrl+Alt+Keypad - to zoom out. These keys are not available if the DontZoom option is set in the ServerFlags section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf.

This feature is operated by the server, I don't know how to set it from a client. The xrandr command may influence it with its --scale option, or some other option may be able to reset the zoom setting; I'm unfamiliar with the interactions between the old-time server zoom and the modern RandR support.

answered Mar 15 '15 at 23:11

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'

829,060

I thought it might be that, but ctrl-alt-+ and - do nothing and also was clearly not the keys I pressed. It would also require several mode lines (or equivalent), and there is only one resolution. But I found the solution: Alt+scrollwheel (which on my mouse pad is two fingers). http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2208553 – Ole Tange Mar 16 '15 at 07:24
Also the Xorg-zoom mode would not explain why the zoom is disabled at the screen lock. – Ole Tange Mar 16 '15 at 07:27

Suraj Ingle · Answer 4 · 2020-10-24T15:14:32.723

3

I had the same problem. As mentioned above alt + scroll button or alt + two-finger tap has worked for most but didn't work for me. I had to go to System Settings > Desktop Effects - workspace behavior. In there the Accessibility section has a Zoom option. I had to disable that option

Edit: I am using KDE and not Xfce but was facing the exact same problem

edited Oct 24 '20 at 15:14

answered Oct 24 '20 at 07:23

Suraj Ingle

131

That is because you use KDE, not Xfce, right? – jarno Oct 24 '20 at 07:52
As for disabling the feature in Xfce, see here. – jarno Oct 24 '20 at 08:21
@jarno, Yes you are correct : ) – Suraj Ingle Oct 24 '20 at 15:13

score 1 · Answer 5 · edited May 23 '18 at 04:55

1

Try using xrandr.
My problem (with Linux Mint and losing the margins to overscan on a TV) was corrected that way.

edited May 23 '18 at 04:55

Iskustvo

957

answered May 22 '18 at 22:25

Dave

11

Xfce entered zoom mode. How do I exit?

5 Answers5