A Filetonic reader asked this question today. My first reaction was to ask her to clarify whether she meant Web pages or other pages such as Microsoft Word documents, but then I realized that it didn’t matter. We all want to get the most of our screen space regardless of what program we happen to be using, don’t we? With that in mind, I’m going to share a few tips on how to view a variety of pages in full screen.
First, let’s start with viewing Web pages in full size. If you have Internet Explorer, you can simply hit the F11 key to toggle between full screen and your default window size. If you hit F11 once and like it, don’t toggle back and this setting should remain each time you open a new browser window.
The F11 trick displays Web pages in full screen mode, but you will lose the bottom Taskbar which can be annoying. Don’t worry; you can still access your other open programs without having to shrink the browser’s window. Simply use my all-time favorite key combination “ALT + Tab” to return to your previous window. If you go slowly, by clicking “ALT + Tab” and then releasing only the Tab key, you will see an on-screen display of all open windows. From there, you can Tab your way through to the exact program that you want. This is a neat little shortcut for quickly going back and forth between windows.
You can also free up screen space by removing menu bars and toolbars from view in the browser. In Internet Explorer 7.0, do this by clicking on the Tools arrow and then removing the checkmark next to Menu bar. Likewise, click the Toolbars link in this same area and remove checkmarks for various toolbars such as the Status bar, Links, and so forth.
Do you have a particular program that always opens in a small window? One of the easiest ways to change this is to go to the shortcut and make a simple change. It doesn’t matter whether the shortcut is located on the Desktop or the Start Menu. Simply right-click the program and click Properties. Next, click on the Shortcut tab and find the area that is labeled Run. By default, most shortcuts are set to open in a normal window. Change this to say, “Maximized.” The next time you launch the program using this shortcut, it will open in full screen mode.
Even then, you may want more viewing space. For example, I use Microsoft Word 2007 all day long. The View tab is useful for adjusting the document’s size. I prefer the Page Width view. In addition, you can use the Zoom tool which is located on this same tab as well as on a slider bar in the lower right portion of the screen.
The Word 2007 “Ribbon” can also be minimized for even more screen real estate. Simply double-click on the active tab and the Ribbon is temporarily minimized. Want it back? Double-click the active tab again and all of your favorite tools are back in view. To permanently minimize the Ribbon, click the down arrow located in the Quick Launch Bar area and choose Minimize Ribbon.
No matter what you are trying to maximize, there’s usually a way to do it. Feel free to post your own tips in the comments section below. We’d love to hear more ideas!
Celeste Stewart | July 26th, 2008
You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
