Modern Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones have excellent displays, but standard text settings don’t always work for everyone. There is often a need to increase the font size in Xiaomi to improve the readability of small text in menus, messengers or browsers, this is especially true for people with impaired vision or those who prefer large typography for comfort.
The MIUI operating system and the new HyperOS provide flexible tools to customize the interface. You can change not only the scale of letters, but also the size of controls, as well as the density of pixels for fine-tuning. In this article, we will take a detailed look at all available methods, including hidden engineering menus.
It's important to understand that changing one setting can affect the layout of some applications, so before making a global change, it's worth exploring the features of each method, and we'll look at both standard settings and advanced features for advanced users.
Basic text size setting through menu
The easiest and safest way to change the display is to use the system's built-in settings, which are suitable for most users and do not require superuser rights or third-party software installations. The changes take effect instantly and apply to the entire interface.
First, you need to open the main menu and find the Settings icon. Next, follow the Screen (or Display) path and select Text Size, and here you will see a slider that moves left or right will shrink or enlarge the font in real time.
Note that magnification can cause some words to be left out of their fields, in which case the text may be cropped or moved to a new line, sometimes breaking the interface layout, and it is best to choose averages that balance readability and image integrity.
Note that new versions of the HyperOS shell may have slightly changed the logic of the menu. If you do not find an item in the Screen section, try searching through the top line of the search in the settings, typing the request "text", the system will redirect you to the desired section.
Use of the “big text” regime for the elderly
For older people or those who don't get a standard zoom, Xiaomi has a special mode, which radically changes the interface, making icons and captions as large and clear as possible, and it's not just zooming, it's a separate profile of the device's usage.
To activate this feature, go to Settings and find Advanced Settings. Select Large Text Mode (sometimes called Simple Mode) from the list. Once activated, the interface will resemble push-button phones with huge controls.
- 📱 App icons on the desktop are becoming much larger than standard.
- 🔤 Font in system menus and contacts increases to the maximum available value.
- 🔍 The menu structure is simplified, unnecessary visual effects disappear.
⚠️ Note: When you enable large text mode, some widgets and third-party themes may not display correctly or disappear from the desktop.
This mode is ideal for transferring a smartphone to grandparents, minimizes the risk of accidental tapping and makes navigation easier, but for advanced users, it may seem too restrictive, because it hides some of the functionality.
☑️ Verification of interface availability
Size setting of interface elements (DPI)
If you don't change the standard slider enough, you can use a more powerful tool, the Least Width Change (DPI), which affects the pixel density and makes all the elements of the system, including buttons and input fields, much larger.
To access this feature, you need to activate the developer menu. Go to Settings → About Phone and quickly press 7 times on the MIUI Version (or OS Version). After a message about a successful activation, go back to the main settings menu, go to Advanced Settings → For developers.
In a long list of parameters, find Minimum width (or Smallest width) and remember or write down the initial value (usually 360, 392 or 411 dpi) to return it all back if necessary, and reducing this number makes the elements larger and zooming in smaller.
| Value of DPI | Impact on the interface | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| 360 - 320 | Notable enlargement of elements | Safe range for most models |
| 300 - 280 | Strong magnification, large buttons | For users with poor vision |
| 260 and below | Extremely large elements | Could break the layout of applications |
| 420 and above | Reduced elements (like on tablets) | To put more content on the screen |
What happens if the screen turns black after the DPI change?
Be careful when changing this setting. Too low can make the system unusable, as the control buttons can go beyond the visible area of the screen. Always change the value gradually, in steps of 20-30 units.
Increased font in the browser and applications
Often users don't want to increase text across the system, but only when reading articles on the Internet or books. Global scaling sometimes spoils the look of sites, so it's better to use built-in tools for specific applications, which gives more flexibility over content.
In Google Chrome or Mi Browser, settings are in the menu (three dots in the corner). Select Settings → Special Features (or Scale) and you can set a fixed scale for all pages or use the Text to Read feature, which adapts the article to a convenient format.
For book-reading applications like ReadEra or FBReader, typography settings are usually in the book opening menu (the Aa icon or gear) where you can not only increase your pin, but also change the line spacing, fields and font, which is critical for comfortable reading.
💡
Use the night mode in the browser along with a large font – this will reduce the load on the eyes when reading at night and make the text more contrasting.
On social networks such as Telegram or VK, text size settings often duplicate system sizes, but also have their own sliders. For example, in Telegram, the Settings path → Chats → Message text size allows you to customize the display of correspondence regardless of the rest of the system.
Functions of special opportunities for visually impaired
The Android ecosystem on which Xiaomi phones are based has a powerful arsenal of tools for people with visual impairments, which go far beyond simply zooming in the font, providing voice control and color inversion.
In Settings → Additional Features → Special features, you will find TalkBack, which voices all actions on the screen, and zoom in, which allows you to use the screen as a magnifier, zooming in any parts of the display with a triple tap or through a special menu.
- 🔊 Voice over the selected text by the voice engine.
- 🎨 Color inversion to increase contrast in black text.
- 👆 Increased gestures for detailed consideration of small details.
⚠️ Warning: Activation of TalkBack changes how you control your phone (voice appears and the click logic changes) and you can turn it off by holding two volume buttons for 3 seconds at the same time if you did it accidentally.
These tools are designed to make your smartphone accessible to everyone, and even if you don't have serious vision problems, zoom in can be useful when looking at small details on a photo or map without having to look for a magnifying glass.
Solving problems with layout after changing the font
After a significant increase in font size, users often encounter interface artifacts: Text can be overlaid on buttons, menus may not close completely, and in some applications, input fields may become inaccessible, an inevitable consequence of adapting an interface that is not designed for this scale.
The most common problems are in banking applications and older versions of programs that do not support dynamic scaling. In such cases, it is recommended to use the Full-screen Apps mode. Go to Settings → Screen → Full-screen applications and for the problem program, select the 16:9 option or forced scaling.
If the interface is completely unreadable and you can't get into settings to roll back changes, try the following method: Press the power button to call the off menu. In some versions of MIUI, long pressing on "Stop" or "Reset" causes you to enter Safe Mode. In this mode, only the default system fonts load, which will allow you to reset.
💡
Resetting special features settings via Safe Mode is the only way to get your phone back in control if the interface is rendered completely unworkable due to erroneous DPI settings.
Also, remember that some themes may conflict with large fonts, and if you have set up a theme and everything has gone “got started” after resizing the text, try temporarily switching to a standard theme in the Topic app.