Windows users have several options when it comes to zooming in on any video. This guide lists two of the best options to zoom videos on Windows. The first works for any local video file, the second for any video that you play on Windows.
Zoom is a useful feature to enlarge an entire video or part of it. It is ideal for looking closer at details in a video among other things.
It may come as a surprise, but many video players do not support zoom at all, or only in a way that is not very useful.
The new Media Player in Windows does not support zoom. The classic Media Player does, but it is only a matter of time before it gets removed. Popular apps like VLC Media Player support zoom functionality, but it too is lacking.
There is one video player on the other hand, that supports zoom in a user friendly way. All you have to do is hold down a key to draw a rectangle around the area that you want to zoom in. Or, and that is another option, you may tap on a key on the keyboard to zoom in or out at any time. Very convenient.
Zoom in on any video using PotPlayer
PotPlayer is a free media player for Windows. You can download it from the developer website or the Microsoft Store.
The media player is powerful; it offers lots of features and options. While that is great, it may also discourage some users.
PotPlayer supports major video formats out of the box. Just install the app on your device and make it the default media player to get started.
Videos play in windowed mode by default, but you may change that if you want. You can use zoom in and out functionality right away by pressing 9 or 1 on the numerical keypad.
A tap on 9 zooms in on the entire video. You may press 5 at any time to reset the zoom level.
To get the rectangle zoom option, do the following:
- Select PotPlayer in the top left corner and then Preferences from the menu. You may also press F5 directly to open the options.
- Switch to the Mouse tab in the Preferences.
- Check “Activate Alt, Ctrl, Shift + Mouse Drag to Pan, Zoom and Stretch the image”.
- Select OK to complete the process.
Once done, hold down one of the modifier keys, e.g., Ctrl, before drawing a rectangle on the video to zoom in that specific area.
You may then hold down the Ctrl-key while using the Numpad keys 2,4,6, and 8 to move around on the screen. Note that the zoom level is extreme, and that you may get better results using the Numpad to zoom in on a video.
Using the built-in Magnifier tool to zoom in on videos
Magnifier is a built-in accessibility tool that you may run with the keyboard shortcut Windows-+ (Windows-key and Plus-key). It opens the Magnifier interface, which you may use to change the zoom level and make some other changes.
You may want to open Start > Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier first to customize the zoom level. It defaults to 100% steps, which may be a bit much. You may change the steps on the page and make some other adjustments as you see fit.
Note: To exit Magnifier in Windows, press the Windows-key and the Esc-key at the same time,
Magnifier zooms in anywhere on the screen. This makes it a good tool for zooming in on videos. Just play a video in a browser or locally, and use Magnifier to zoom in or out while the video plays or is paused.
Now You: do you use zoom functionality on your systems?