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susan_9558
December 11, 2025
Answered

Illustrator tools icon and header are so small I can't read them

  • December 11, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 251 views

I have tried the help instructions to change the scale in Illustrator but scale does not show up in my UI Preferences. I am using Windows 11. 3840 x 2400.

the Virtual help said some systems don't show scale. what system will show this 

Or does anyone know how to scale the tool and header in Illustrator?

susan_9558

Correct answer Anubhav M
Thank you.
It did not bring up the window you mentioned. And the text is so small I
don't know if the reset action took place.
I closed and reopened Illustrated, still too small. But thank you for the
suggestion

Hello @susan_9558,

Could you please try the following steps and check if they help:

- Revert all Illustrator UI scaling settings to the defaults (small).

- Change the resolution and scaling settings under Windows Display settings to the defaults.
- Relaunch Illustrator

If the problem persists, try the following steps:
- Launch Illustrator, set the UI Scaling to large, and then quit Illustrator.
- Create a desktop shortcut for Illustrator
- Right-click on the shortcut and go to Properties
- In the Properties panel, switch to the Compatibility tab and click on the option for Change high DPI settings
- In the High DPI Settings for Illustrator.exe check the box for Override High DPI Scaling behavior and switch between Scaling performed by between Application and System (Enhanced).

(Note: You will need to log out and log back into your User account after applying the setting for the changes to take effect, and then relaunch Illustrator each time.)

Anubhav

1 reply

Abhishek Rao
Community Manager
Abhishek RaoCommunity Manager
Community Manager
December 11, 2025

Hello @susan_9558,

 

I appreciate you for reaching out. Please let me know which version of Illustrator you are currently using. Additionally, try manually resetting your Illustrator preferences to see if that restores the UI scaling controls. You can refer to the steps on the Adobe help page you provided or follow the manual method demonstrated in the video. Ref: https://adobe.ly/4oPcEQY
https://adobe.ly/4qo73SX - manually
Once you reset, check the Edit menu, then Preferences, and then User Interface to see if the UI scaling option is available.

 

Please inform me of your findings, so I can assist you further.

Abhishek

S
susan_9558Author
December 11, 2025
Hi Abhishek,
Thank you for responding.
I am using CS6 pretty old. I can't remember when I updated the program,
which is when it did this. Photoshop is the same.
I went to Preferences - User Interface there is no scaling option
I tried control K again, no scale option.
The program is unusable as is.
as you can see.
[image: image.png]
anything you can suggest would be appreciated.
Bill Silbert
Community Expert
Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
Community Expert
December 12, 2025

UI scaling was not available in CS6. If the interface scale is not displaying correctly then you might want to try resetting your Illustrator preferences. This will restore the program to its defaults which should include the correctly sized interface.

To reset preferences on Windows:

You can try the quick way of resetting on a PC which is to hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. There have been some recent reports that the window asking if you want to reset is not popping up but that the prefs are being reset anyway. If this works great but if it doesn’t you may have to manually delete them.

To do so:

On Windows 7 and above the preference files are hidden. To find them go to the Control Panel and open Folder Options and then click the View tab. Then select “Show hidden files and folders” or “Show hidden files, folders or drive options” in Advanced Settings. Then delete (or rename) the folder at the end of this path: C:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version number]\ Settings\<Language>. Make sure that Illustrator is closed when you do this. When you relaunch the program it will create  new preference files and the program will be at its default settings.

The advantage of manually deleting preference files is that after you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, you can create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete.

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