GMail Text Size

Overview

If you want to override the text size or change the font in incoming email, there is a way to do this for GMail (Google Mail) using the Google Chrome browser. This guide is for reading email using GMail, not for composing email.

This guide also comes with the caveat that at any point Google may change its underlying code and the tweaks below will require updating. Let us know using the comments feature if the adjustments stop working, and also if they have been useful to you.

Setting up

You need to install the free Stylish extension to Google Chrome.

1. In Google Chrome, open a new tab.
2. Click the link to Chrome Web Store. This will either be a large button in the main part of the tab, or at the bottom right corner of the tab.
3. In the Chrome Web Store, search (top left) for “Stylish”.
4. On the results page, click the Extensions button at the top.
5. In the results list, find the Stylish extension written by ‘userstyles.org’.
6. Click the + Add To Chrome button for the Stylish extension.
7. Click the Add button in the Confirm New Extension popup that appears.

Stylish will be added to Chrome and its icon will appear top right, next to the main Chrome settings icon.

Creating the customisation to Google Mail

To force GMail to show incoming emails with your choice of font:

1. In Google Chrome, click the Stylish icon (top right).
2. Click Manage installed styles from the popup bubble.
3. Click the Write new style button on the left.
4. In the Name field, type GMail.
5. Check the Enabled check box.
6. Into the Code box on the main part of the page, copy and paste the following:

.gs .ii{
font-family:"times new roman",serif !important;
font-size:12pt;
}
.gs font{
font-family:"times new roman",serif !important;
font-size:12pt;
}


7. Change the font size, by changing the numbers in the code.
8. Change the font type, by changing the font-family parts of the code. Here are some examples:
   • font-family:"arial",sans serif !important;
   • font-family:"georgia",serif !important;
   • font-family:"trebuchet MS",sans serif !important;

9. Click the Specify button at the bottom of the code box.

10. Change the Applies to drop down menu to ‘URLs on the domain’.
11. Type the following in the adjacent box: mail.google.com
12. Click the Add button.
13. Click the Save button on the left side of the page.
14. Close the Stylish tab.
15. Go to Google Mail and you will see the changes.

To change these settings (including deactivating) click the Stylish icon at the top of Google Chrome and then click the Edit link under GMail in the popup.

Changing the background colour when reading emails in GMail

To change the background colour to a light grey when reading incoming email messages, add the following code to your Stylish code box:

.gs{
background-color:#e7e7e7;
}