I wanted to report a text-scaling issue I have been experiencing in the recent ChatGPT macOS app update, and also ask whether others are seeing the same behavior.
I have actually waited for several days before posting this, hoping the issue might be fixed quickly in a follow-up update. However, I still have not seen it resolved on my side, and I also have not seen a new ChatGPT macOS app update that appears to address it. So I decided to share the issue here.
After the recent update, the default text size in the macOS app appears to be extremely small. It is difficult to read comfortably, especially during long conversations, and it can quickly cause visual fatigue.
I am also seeing several related problems:
Keyboard shortcuts do not reliably increase the text size
The usual text enlargement shortcuts do not consistently work in the chat interface, which makes it difficult to adjust readability quickly from the keyboard.
Normal message text and code block text scale inconsistently
There is a large visual difference between regular chat text and text inside code blocks. This becomes especially disruptive in technical conversations where explanations and code are mixed together.
Code block text does not seem to scale properly
Even when the normal chat text size can be changed, the text inside code blocks does not appear to respond properly to the same text-size controls. This makes code review and technical reading much harder.
Text size changes are not preserved when returning to a chat
Even if I increase the text size, when I leave a conversation and later return to the same chat, the text size appears to revert to the original smaller size. This makes the setting feel temporary and unreliable.
I noticed that there are already other community reports that seem related, including text size resetting after switching chats and font-size increase not working as expected in the macOS app. So this may not be an isolated local configuration issue.
I understand that regressions can happen, but I am a bit surprised that such a visible text-rendering issue made it into a public release. Text scaling, keyboard shortcuts, code block rendering, and persistence across chats all seem like core usability areas that would normally be covered during testing, especially for a desktop app used heavily for reading, writing, and coding.
Has anyone else experienced the same issue after the recent macOS app update? Are there any known workarounds, or any indication that this is already being tracked?
Right now, the macOS app doesn't have a separate in-app setting to increase UI text size. So, what you're seeing is expected.
However, I will raise this as a bug internally so engineering can work on it.
As a workaround, can you confirm if you can use macOS display scaling feature to make UI text larger system-wide? This can be done via System settings > Displays.
Thanks for your reply and for raising this internally. I appreciate the follow-up and the help from the engineering side.
Regarding the temporary workaround: I haven’t tested changing the macOS display scaling setting, because I don’t think it is practical for me to change the display behavior of the entire macOS system and all other apps just because of one app.
I also have one question about the current macOS Codex app. You mentioned that there is currently no separate in-app setting to increase the UI text size. My understanding is that this was possible in an earlier version. If so, why is it no longer possible now?
Was this functionality intentionally removed or deprecated by the development team? Or is it something that may still be reconsidered and supported again in a future version?
Hi @Shy, I’ve been facing the same issue as well. The only ‘workaround’ I’ve found for keyboard shortcuts is to quickly Cmd + 0 (default) then Cmd + + which allows me to change the text size. It’s really annoying that text size isn’t preserved across chats, even during the same session.
Thanks for your reply and for sharing the temporary workaround. You’re absolutely right, and I completely understand how you feel.
This is actually the same method I’m using as well, but I’m sure you can also feel how tedious it is to press Command + at least twice for every chat — even when returning to the same chat after leaving it.
I’m honestly curious why this functionality was removed. I still hope the design and development team will bring the original behavior back in a future update.
Me too, it’s really puzzling. I’m going to be switching to the web version in the meantime. It’s slightly slower but I can’t stand the text size (I usually have the text size maxed out, so it’s 4 pluses). Hope this gets fixed soon too!
Just to better understand the behavior change: do you remember whether you were previously able to increase the text size directly inside the ChatGPT macOS app itself, or were you using macOS/system-level zoom or text scaling shortcuts?