Magnifier - Settings

This page lists the settings on the Screen Magnifier page. Settings marked GDI+ only are hidden when Capture Method is set to Magnification API. For how the lens behaves, see Magnifier and Controls.

Capture method

Setting	Options	Default
Capture Method	GDI+ Capture, Magnification API	GDI+ Capture

See Capture & image quality for the differences.

Lens

Setting	Range or options	Default
Lens Size (px)	50 to 600	150
Lens Shape	Circular, Rectangular	Circular
Image Quality (GDI+ only)	Fast, Standard, Enhanced (Sharp), Smooth (Blur), Text Optimized	Enhanced (Sharp)
Sharpening Amount (GDI+ only)	0 to 100	50

The 50 to 600 px limits of Lens Size (px) are fixed. For the image quality modes and sharpening, see Image quality modes.

Zoom

Setting	Range	Default
Zoom Level	Minimum Zoom to Maximum Zoom	2.0x
Minimum Zoom	1.0x to 4.0x	1.5x
Maximum Zoom	2.0x to 16.0x	8.0x
Zoom Step Size	0.10 to 1.00	0.25
Size Step (px)	5 to 50	15

Zoom Level is the zoom used when the lens opens. Zoom Step Size is the zoom change for each scroll step, and Size Step (px) is the size change for each Ctrl + scroll step.

Appearance

Setting	Range or options	Default
Border Color	Any color	Dodger Blue
Border Opacity (%)	10 to 100	60
Drag Border (%) (GDI+ only)	5 to 35	15
Show Knurling (GDI+ only)	On, Off	On
Crosshairs Style (GDI+ only)	None, Black, White, Invert	Black

Drag Border (%) is the width of the outer ring you drag to move the lens, as a percentage of the lens size. A wider ring is easier to grab but leaves less magnified area. Show Knurling draws grip marks on that ring.

Crosshairs Style sets the crosshairs shown in Targeting Mode:

Style	Description
None	No crosshairs
Black	Solid black lines
White	Solid white lines
Invert	Inverts the screen colors along the lines

Behavior

Setting	Range or options	Default
Targeting Mode (GDI+ only)	On, Off	On
Escape to Exit	On, Off	On
Bring Window to Top (GDI+ only)	On, Off	Off
Nudge Distance (px) (GDI+ only)	1 to 50	10

Targeting Mode: shows crosshairs so you can choose where to magnify before the lens opens. See Activation modes.
Escape to Exit: lets Escape close the magnifier. Turn it off if another app needs Escape while the lens is open.
Bring Window to Top: brings the window under the cursor to the foreground when the lens opens.
Nudge Distance (px): how far the lens moves for each arrow key press.

Performance and recording

Setting	Range or options	Default
Refresh Rate (Hz)	30 to 60	60
Live Refresh (GDI+ only)	On, Off	On
Hide Lens from Screen Recording (GDI+ only)	On, Off	On

Refresh Rate (Hz) sets how often the lens updates. Lower it if the lens stutters on an older computer.

Live Refresh keeps the lens content updating while it’s open, so video and animations stay live instead of showing a still image. Live refresh only runs while the lens is hidden from screen capture, as described in the next section.

Hide lens from screen recording

Hide Lens from Screen Recording is on by default. It applies to GDI+ Capture only.

While this setting is on, Windows excludes the lens window from every screen capture. FriskyMouse can then read the screen under the lens without the lens itself appearing in the image, which is what makes live refresh flicker-free. The same exclusion applies to recording and streaming apps, so the lens does not appear in recordings or streams from apps such as OBS Studio, even though you see it on your screen.

To show the lens in a recording or stream:

Open the Screen Magnifier page.
Turn off Hide Lens from Screen Recording.

With the setting off, the lens appears in recordings, and Live Refresh stops: the lens shows a still image of the screen until you move, resize, or zoom it.

Activation mode

The activation shortcut can run in Toggle mode (press to turn on, press again to turn off; the default) or Hold mode (active only while you hold the keys). In Hold mode, hold the shortcut to zoom in on a detail and release it to close the lens. Choose the mode in the list next to the shortcut.

See Activation mode for details.