18

In OS X, you just assign Cmd or ctrl + mouse scroll for zooming in. This works anywhere, in any app.

Windows 7 also has a nice magnifier, and has some hotkeys:

Magnifier keyboard shortcuts

The following table contains keyboard shortcuts for working with Magnifier.

Windows logo key + Plus Sign or Minus Sign    Zoom in or out
Ctrl+Alt+Spacebar Preview the desktop in full-screen mode
Ctrl+Alt+F    Switch to full-screen mode
Ctrl+Alt+L    Switch to lens mode
Ctrl+Alt+D    Switch to docked mode
Ctrl+Alt+I    Invert colors
Ctrl+Alt+arrow keys   Pan in the direction of the arrow keys
Ctrl+Alt+R    Resize the lens
Windows logo key + Esc    Exit Magnifier

... but I want to use the mouse for zooming in and out like in OS X. Is that possible?

slhck
  • 235,242
Nimbuz
  • 675

3 Answers3

10

Try ZoomIt for the zooming (free from SysInternals). I prefer ZoomIt more than Windows Magnifier. It even allows me to draw on the screen -- perfect for presentations. The thing is, you'll still have to use the keyboard to activate ZoomIt; zooming in and out can be done using the mouse wheel.

The only way to get exactly -- at least based on my knowledge -- what you want is to use AutoHotKey script that traps the Ctrl+Wheel events and emulate WinKey+Plus Sign or WinKey+Minus Sign key press.

Larssend
  • 3,971
7

AeroZoom does exactly what you want.

It uses the Windows Magnifier as a back-end, but allows you to set up Ctrl or some other key in combination with the scroll wheel to zoom in and zoom out.

It also has many other settings not accessible from the Magnifier, like hiding the magnifying lens from the screen.

-2
  1. Press Windows Key + "+" key to activate. The Magnifier Window appears.

  2. In the magnifier window that appears, click on the gear icon to select the settings.

  3. Sroll down in the settings till you find the "Have Magnifier follow:" settings. Here uncheck all the settings except for "Mouse cursor" as shown in the attached image.

  4. Close the settings.

Now, when ever you want to zoom in, move the mouse to the center of your zoom and press the Windows Key + "+" key combination to zoom in and the Windows Key + "-" key combination to zoom out. Having the other settings checked makes the magnifier jump about unpredictably.