Make text bigger in Apple Mail without changing sent mail
Updated October 2026
To make text bigger only on your screen, press Command-Plus while you read a message, or give Mail a bigger size in System Settings › Accessibility › Display › Text size. Neither one changes the mail you send. Be careful with Command-Plus while you write, which makes the text you send bigger, and with the message font in Mail's own settings, which is also the font you write in.
Make one message bigger
Open a message and press Command-Plus (+) to make its text bigger, or Command-Minus (–) to make it smaller. The same commands are in Format › Style › Bigger and Smaller. This zooms the message you're reading and nothing else.
Make all of Mail bigger
- Choose Apple menu › System Settings, then click Accessibility in the sidebar.
- Click Display, scroll down to Text, then click Text size.
- Click the pop-up menu next to Mail and choose a size. To make every app on the list bigger, drag the slider instead.
It's there on macOS 14 Sonoma and later. Apple's guide doesn't say which parts of Mail it covers. A developer on Apple's forums reports that it scales the text of messages, and a Mail user on Apple Community says the message list grows too. If Mail shows “Customized in App”, a size was set inside Mail, and choosing one here replaces it.
Make everything on screen bigger
- Larger Text: System Settings › Displays lets you pick a larger text setting, which makes everything bigger by showing less on screen.
- Hover Text: turn it on in System Settings › Accessibility › Hover Text, then hold Command over any text to see a large copy of it.
- Zoom: System Settings › Accessibility › Zoom magnifies part or all of the screen with a keyboard shortcut or a trackpad gesture.
- Sidebar: System Settings › Appearance › Sidebar icon size makes the sidebar's rows bigger in Mail and other apps.
What changes the mail you send
| Setting | Bigger on your screen | Changes what you send |
|---|---|---|
| Command-Plus while you read | The message you're reading | No |
| Text size in System Settings | Mail, or every app on the list | No |
| Larger Text, Hover Text, Zoom | Everything on screen | No |
| Message list font, in Mail › Settings › Fonts & Colors | The message list | No |
| Message font, in the same place | Messages you read and write | Usually not, but some people report it does |
| Command-Plus or Format › Style › Bigger while you write | The text you select or type | Yes |
From Apple's guides, and Apple Community threads for the message font.
The message font is the confusing one. Apple says it sets the font “for writing and viewing messages”. The long-time helpers on Apple Community say Mail keeps it to your Mac and sends only a font you pick in the message itself, yet some people say their big text arrived big. If you've changed it, send a message to yourself and open it somewhere else, like Gmail on the web or your phone.
In Gmail and other mail apps
- Gmail on the web: zoom the page with Command-Plus. In Safari, Settings › Websites › Page Zoom keeps a size for each site. Gmail's “Default text style”, in Settings › See all settings, is different: it sets the font of every new email you write.
- Outlook for Mac: Outlook › Settings › Reading sets a preview font for reading. The fonts under Settings › Composing are what you send.
- Mimestream: Settings › General › Text Size has seven sizes for reading messages.
- Spark: Settings › Accessibility › Zoom changes the size of the whole app.
Lambda Mail keeps the two sizes apart
We make Lambda Mail, a Gmail app for Mac, and how big you read and how big you send are separate settings.
- Text size: in Settings › Appearance, click Duplicate to Customize on any theme, then set Text size anywhere from 85% to 140%.
- It covers what you read: the message list, conversation headers, attachments and the emails themselves. Emails that set their own font sizes grow too, the way a page zooms in a browser.
- It never reaches what you send: your text goes out at the usual size, 14 pixels, with Title and Heading styles in the format bar when you want something bigger. The compose window shows your text at that size, so you see what your reader will.
- More room or less: Compact, Regular or Roomy rows, and a choice of four fonts: System, Rounded, Serif or Monospaced.
Lambda Mail works with Gmail and Google Workspace on macOS 14 and later, and the beta is free.
More guides
Sources, read October 2026: Apple's Mac User Guide, Increase font size and icons, Increase the size of what's on the screen and Hover Text; Mail User Guide, Fonts & Colors settings; Safari User Guide, Zoom in on webpages; Apple Community, Apple Mail viewing font too small (December 2023 to June 2024) and recipients don't see chosen font (November 2021); Apple Developer Forums, Preferred Font Size on macOS (March 2026); Google, Format your messages; Microsoft, Change font sizes in Outlook for Mac; Mimestream, General settings; Spark, Change the font for reading emails.