There are a few easy ways to zoom out on Google Sheets. These methods also allow you to zoom in. This guide shows where to find the view menu and how to control your zoom with keyboard shortcuts, so you can more easily view large datasets on a single screen.
How to Zoom In and Zoom Out in Google Sheets
There are three main ways to control your zoom in Google Sheets. Two of them use on-screen menus. The other is a super-simple keyboard and mouse shortcut. I’ll include a video to show exactly how to do it, and I will share screenshots of each step of the process.
Here are the three ways to control zoom in Google Sheets:
- The Shortcut Menu
- The View Drop-Down Menu
- Your Mouse Scroll Wheel
Explainer Video
Video Transcript
There are three really easy ways to zoom in and out on Google Sheets. The first is right here. It’s just on the bar at the top. The easiest way is to click zoom and to click whatever zoom you want. You want to zoom in. You can click 200%. That’s 200 percent the size it originally was. If you want it to be half the size it originally was, you want to see more cells on the page, click it down to 50%.
That’s probably the fastest way to zoom in and out with Google Sheets. You have a little bit more control by clicking the View menu, then clicking Zoom, and accessing the same menu here. But my favorite way to zoom out in Google Sheets is to hold down control on my PC and then to scroll back toward myself on my mouse wheel.
That allows me to zoom out and zoom in with even more magnitude than I would otherwise do. So that is the easiest way to zoom out in Google Sheets. Just click the drop down, click the view menu, or if you’re on a PC, ctrl, scroll your mouse wheel back toward you.
Thanks for watching this video. We have all sorts of tips at spreadsheetpoint.com. Come by, we’ve also got free templates. So if you want to very quickly build something like this and you’re not already using AI, we can help you with that.
You can download or copy any of our templates by clicking file, make a copy, just make sure you’re already signed into your Google account and you’ll be able to copy anything we have on our site for free.
Screenshot Walkthrough: Google Sheets Zoom
Here’s a step-by-step guide showing how to zoom out in Google Sheets. It controls the size of your cells and text without changing your browser zoom settings.
In this way, it’s similar to Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel. Both have easy way to access zoom options from shortcut menus.
Below is how to use the zoom function in Google Sheets:
- Click the Zoom option in the toolbar. This will show a drop-down with various zoom levels.
- Select the Zoom level you want. You can select from the existing ones or enter a custom value. Anything less than 100% will make the view smaller and anything more than that will make it bigger.
You also get the same options when you click the File tab and hover the cursor on the Zoom option.
Just choose the size you need for optimal viewing, and it will apply across each tab in your sheet.
While I am glad we finally have a way to zoom in and zoom out in Google Sheets, there are still two drawbacks that I wish weren’t there:
When you zoom one worksheet, it also applies the same zoom to all the other worksheets of the document.
Of course, there’s an easy way to zoom out of Google Sheets with a keyboard shortcut in your tab. If you’re working on a desktop, it’s easy to change the zoom for a tab in your browser. Here’s how to do that.
How to Zoom In on Google Sheets by Manually Using the Browser
You can also change the zoom level by manually changing the value in the browser.
To do this, use the keyboard shortcut CTRL while you scroll with your mouse wheel. This changes your settings for the entire browser tab. It works with Google Sheets in a desktop browser window.
I have screenshots to show what that looks like with a settings window, too.
Here’s how to change the zoom level on Google Sheets in the Chrome browser:
- Click the Customize and Control icon in Google Chrome browser (it’s at the top-right part of the browser)
- In the options that open, change the Zoom level by clicking on the plus or minus sign
You can also find a similar option to zoom in FireFox and all the other popular browsers.
The drawback with this method is that when you zoom in and zoom out the spreadsheet, it also does the same to the entire browser. This not only changes the zoom level of the cells in the worksheet area but also the menu and toolbar in Google Sheet. Not only this, but it also changes the zoom level of all the other windows you have open in that browser.
How to Zoom Out on Google Sheets Mobile
When using an Android or iOS device, just pinch the screen to zoom in or separate two fingers to zoom out.
That’s one of the things that makes the Google Sheets mobile application so helpful. The pinch function replaces any dropdown menu for zoom controls. It’s intuitive.
Related: How to make drop down lists in Google Sheets.
How to Control Zoom in Google Sheets: FAQ
Here’s a quick summary of the questions I most commonly hear about zooming in Google Sheets.
How Do You Zoom In and Zoom Out on Google Sheets?
The simplest way to zoom in Google Sheets is to use the zoom drop-down in the menu. It’s a little box with a percentage number in it. Alternatively, you can navigate to View > Zoom.
How Do I Change the Default Zoom Level In Google Sheets?
If you set the zoom level in any sheet, it will automatically become the new default. You can zoom out the spreadsheet by heading to View > Zoom. This is the same place where you choose your desired zoom level.
How Do I Make Google Sheets Smaller?
To make the cells in Google Sheets smaller, you just need to zoom out. Navigate to View > Zoom, then select a lower percentage than what your current settings are. Note that you can also control cell size with format settings.
How Do I Zoom In Google Sheets App?
In the Google Sheets app, it’s easy to zoom in and out. Just pinch your fingers together to zoom in or pinch out to zoom out. There’s no menu options needed for this. The pinch function works just fine when you want to zoom in on the Google Sheets app.
How Do You Zoom Out on Google Sheets on a Mac?
The same way you would on a PC. Navigate to View > Zoom and select the desired level of zoom. If you want to use the keyboard shortcut, just use CMD instead of CTRL when you scroll on your mouse.
How Do You Control Zoom with Google Docs, Google Slides, etc?
The shortcut menu on the navigation bar at the top of your screen also appears in Google Docs. So you can use this to zoom out in Google Sheets or in Google Docs. Note that the shortcuts described above also work across Google’s suite of products.
