wandersick / aerozoom

Simplify screen magnifying on Windows for Mac-like zoom experience with this keyboard-free presentation/HTPC tool

AeroZoom – Keyboard-Free Screen-Magnifying Presentation Tool and Mouse-Enhancing Panel for Windows

Scripted in AutoHotkey, AeroZoom enhances upon Windows Magnifier and optionally Sysinternals ZoomIt to enable screen magnification like macOS with mouse-wheeling and pinch-to-zoom, as well as turning any mouse into a Home-Theater PC/presentation mouse, where zooming and positioning become a breeze without a keyboard.

For download of the latest version (portable application & per-user/all-users installer), please visit its homepage:

• Download AeroZoom

After downloading and extracting AeroZoom.zip, AeroZoom.exe portable application can be used immediately. Alternatively, Setup.exe (optional) provides installation into Current User or All Users location. For enterprise deployment, a silent installer is also available on request (email the developer).

For users of Chocolatey and winget repositories who prefers unattended installation into All Users location:

• choco install aerozoom
• winget install aerozoom

*Note for winget users: Please ignore the warning from SmartScreen, where you may safely click 'more info' to complete installation.

Windows 11

To use AeroZoom under Windows 11, please refer to the Workarounds to Known Issues section.

Main Features

1. Enables full-screen zooming via mouse wheel or pinch-to-zoom in Windows (like OS X) with multiple zoom modes: Reverse Zoom, Elastic Zoom, etc.
2. Zoom in/out or reset any time without a keyboard; handle more operations with one hand
3. Binding keyboard controls commonly used in a presentation to mouse buttons and buttons on the AeroZoom Panel

(The above is customizable in program settings)

Use Cases

• Presentation / teaching / screencast / Zoom meetings & webinars (or Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, etc.)
• For the elderly / people with visual disabilities
• Gaming
• Home-Theater PC (HTPC)
• For some, it is essential – use it for everything

Getting Started

Run AeroZoom.exe, and try:

1. Zoom with [Left]+[Wheel-up/down] mouse buttons (quick demo)
2. Reset zoom with [Left]+[Middle] buttons (quick demo)
3. Bring up the AeroZoom panel by pressing [Left]+[Right], where more functions can be accessed (quick demo)

Key Bindings

AeroZoom binds common keyboard controls primarily to these mouse buttons:

Function	Mouse	Keyboard
AeroZoom panel	[Left] & [Right]
Show magnifier	[Left] & [Wheel-up]	[WinKey] & [+]
Reset zoom	[Left] & [Middle]
Zoom in	[Left] & [Wheel-up]	[WinKey] & [+]
Zoom out	[Left] & [Wheel-down]	[WinKey] & [-]

... where [Left] can mostly be substituted simply by clicking any other modifier, such as [Ctrl], on the AeroZoom Panel:

Figure 1. AeroZoom Panel and menus (from a previous version, 2.0, which does not include some new features)

Getting Started (continued)

And if you would like to try out some more features:

4. Switch the default [Left] mouse button modifier to a key e.g. [Ctrl] as shown on the bottom left of the above picture of AeroZoom panel, then try zooming by pressing [Ctrl]+[Wheel-up/down]
5. Try holding the middle mouse button to trigger drawing on screen, but first you would have to customize an action triggered on holding the middle mouse button at 'Tool > Custom Hotkeys > Settings > Holding Middle', i.e. 'ZoomIt: Draw' (or other functions e.g. taking a screenshot and auto-save it)
6. Finding the zoom rate a bit too much or too little per press of zooming hotkey? Instead of going into sub-settings of Windows Magnifier, simply adjust the granularity (6 levels) on AeroZoom panel by dragging the Zoom Rate Slider (at the top right corner in the above picture)

Word of Mouth

In the last decade, AeroZoom has been recommended by users including Microsoft MVP, the media and it has been downloaded at least over tens of thousands of times across the world. Thanks for the love! ❤️️

Below are some of the kind comments left by AeroZoom users:

• "The presentation went well and I could zoom in to the menus and graphs to help the eyes of the people coming listening. It was very good."
• "I'm used to the zoom on Mac so I was looking to reproduce this on Windows and your tool is the closest I've found."
• "Great for zooming TV screen while sitting in the sofa, much quicker and easier than the usual Windows magnifier. Exactly what I was looking for."
• "I use it everyday so it only seems fair to donate to you. The tool helps me so much in my day to day."
• "For my poor eyes it is really a great help. Thank you very much."
• "The must have tool for developers and other IT-guys doing presentations."

Media Coverage

Alternative reviews are available via online search engines from these sites. (If you find an additional AeroZoom review, please let me know!)

• Additive Tips, CHIP, ghacks.net, Lifehacker, MakeUseOf, Softpedia, Techniqued (NirmalTV), 電腦玩物

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Usage and Tips

1. If a user suddenly wants to modify a setting in Windows Magnifier, such as making it follow keyboard inputs automatically. Instead of finding the Magnifier window that may be hidden deep in the taskbar, simply launch the AeroZoom panel by mouse buttons, [Left]+[Right], and click on the big 'Keyboard' button on the panel to toggle the setting.

2. If a user has messed up any settings, for example, the screen color is inverted, and magnification is locked while zoomed in, the user wants to correct it but sadly Magnifier is minimized and out of sight. What the user can do is to launch the AeroZoom panel quickly by mouse buttons [Left]+[Right] which always follows cursor so that he/she can fix the settings there.

   • When in emergency, click the 'Kill' button there to shut down Magnifier or 'Reset' button to restore default settings and zoom level.
   • Even more quickly, click [Left]+[Middle] to reset zoom immediately even without the panel, although it doesn't restore other settings.
   • 'Mag' (previously 'Show') button on the AeroZoom panel can also be used to restore a Magnifier window minimized in the taskbar as well as starting it.
     • The fastest way however to start Magnifier is just to wheel up.

3. If drawing on screen is desired, click [Draw] which launches Snipping Tool Windows where users can take a picture of the screen and draw on it. Similarly, click [Type] to launch Wordpad (where pictures from Snipping Tool can be pasted too); click [Calc] to launch Calculator.

4. There are times AeroZoom's mouse button mapping might cause inconvenience with some applications. To solve this, there's no need to exit AeroZoom; just click the [off] button on the lower left corner of the panel to temporarily pause the mapping. To resume, click it again.

   • To minimize AeroZoom to tray, simply close it or click [hide] button on the panel; to exit, click [quit]

5. Besides presentations, another usage is capturing screen videos for tutorial purpose. Where normally it would take a lot of work learning and using professional video editors such as Adobe Premiere to zoom in, with AeroZoom, however, simply zoom in with the magnifier hidden during recording and it's done. No post-production required.
   
   (More tips available here at 100+ Tips, or in AeroZoom via Startup Tips option)

   

Figure 2. Accessing Windows Magnifier functions from AeroZoom panel

More features of AeroZoom are introduced below – AeroZoom Panel, ZoomIt Panel, Elastic Zoom, AeroSnip (beta), etc.

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AeroZoom Panel – Mini Panel for Commanding AeroZoom

• Accessible conveniently by clicking [Left]+[Right] anywhere on screen (Upon calling by mouse buttons, it pops up where the cursor is, without the need to locate the Magnifier window minimized in taskbar)
• Made of large buttons designed to quickly toggle sub-magnifier settings (e.g. screen color inversion) or to add more functions (e.g. resetting magnification)
• [Mag] (previously [Show]), [Kill] and [Reset] buttons restore a hidden Magnifier, stop the magnifier process and apply default settings; [Draw], [Type], [Calc], [Paint] buttons run Snipping Tool, WordPad, Calculator and Paint (optional) respectively

ZoomIt Panel – Enhances Sysinternals ZoomIt

Switching from Windows Magnifier Panel to ZoomIt Panel improves mouse operation of Sysinternals ZoomIt by adding a panel-style user interface, elastic zoom, wheel-zoom/pinch-zoom and more. Start by pressing the small button named 'zoom' on the AeroZoom Panel which enables the switch between AeroZoom Panel and ZoomIt Panel.

• Wheel-zoom/pinch-zoom support for Sysinternals ZoomIt (selectable between Live Zoom or Still Zoom) as well as other zoom modes such as Elastic Zoom
• Mouse-friendly graphical user interface for accessing functions that would have required keyboard shortcuts, utilizing functions such as the pen-color slider, white/black board
• Customize mouse hotkeys to achieve keyboard-less presentation (a handy list of ZoomIt keyboard shortcuts at hand)

Elastic Zoom – Automatically Zoom in and out by Holding and Releasing the Same Hotkey

• Elastic Zoom allows zooming in and out just by holding and releasing the same hotkey [Ctrl]+[Caps Lock], simplifying screen magnification.

AeroSnip (beta) – Enhances Snipping Tool

Whereas AeroZoom improves Windows Magnifier, a sub-feature of AeroZoom, AeroSnip (beta), enhances upon the Snipping Tool, giving an integrated screen-capturing experience, all within AeroZoom Panel.

• Switch to AeroSnip Slider on AeroZoom Panel that quickly switches between free-form, rectangular, window and full-screen snips
• Each snipping mode (free, rectangular, window, full screen) has their own hotkeys: Win+Alt+F, Win+Alt+R, Win+Alt+W, Win+Alt+S
• After snipping or pressing Print Screen, open the image with an external editor such as Paint, other than Snipping Tool's editor
• Automatically save Snipping Tool and Print Screen captures in any location (default: desktop) as well as clipboard
• Press and hold Middle button for half a second to start a snip of the type currently selected on the AeroSnip Slider. (Button, delay and the action can be customized. See 'Custom Hotkeys')
• Streamlined procedures to start a new snip – just use hotkeys or the Snip button anytime a new snip is wanted

Other Features

• Custom Hotkeys – 30+ customizible mouse-utilizing hotkeys and functions
• Reverse zooming, an implementation for users accustomed to "natural scrolling" on Apple Mac OS X
• Quickly switch between multiple setting profiles: Home, School, Work, On-the-Go, Presentation, Gaming
• Configuration import and export (automatic backup on exit)
• Lots of useful Windows tools accessible from AeroZoom Panel
  • Shut down/reboot/sleep/lock PC via Panel (Tool > Windows Tools) helping Windows 8 users without a start button
• Right-clicking the AeroZoom Panel switches between full (Modern) and minimalist (Classic) view of the Panel
• Single-clicking the tray icon or the 'off' button on Panel turns off/on AeroZoom temporarily in an easy way
• Center Zoom (experimental)
• Both installable and portable (scripted in AutoHotkey)
• And more!

Figure 3. AeroZoom sub-menus including quick instructions

Release History

Ver	Date	MD5	Changes
4.0 beta 2	151028	11ee462c4d57dec10029c524c0752a74	- Reverse zooming, an implementation for users accustomed to "natural scrolling" on Mac OS X - Quickly switch between multiple setting profiles Home, School, Work, On-the-Go, Presentation, Gaming - Help improve AeroZoom! Let us know about your experence by completing our survey under "? > Survey"
4.0 beta 1	150924	4037105a93509c313742d6f2946b5639	- Windows 10 Support - Enhanced zoom operations on Win 7, 8, 8.1 - Fixed "xx hotkeys have been received in the last xx ms" error with a higher limit of #MaxHotkeysPerInterval - Fixed '-' character being generated during zoomout for key modifiers with a new set of options in "Tool > Preferences > Workaround: Prefer NumpadAdd/Sub to +/-". By default NumpadAdd is enabled while NumpadSub is disabled. This combination was found to work best under Windows 7-10. You may finetune this setting as modifiers still may have their own issues. - Experimental feature: Center Zoom under Tool > Preferences > Experiment: Center Zoom (Windows Magnifier) - Base AutoHotKey updated to 1.1.22.06 - New option to restore default settings in tray icon and 'Az\Config File' panel menu - Supports "Old Windows 7 Calculator for Windows 10" from Winaero if calc1.exe is detected under Windows\System32 - Fixed misbehavior after performing a setting reset. AeroZoom will now quit instead of rerun after a reset - Shut down/reboot/sleep/lock PC via Panel (Tool > Windows Tools) helping Windows 8 users without a start button - New default setting: Holding the middle button will trigger nothing by default (instead of Snipping) - New default setting: Zoom Rate slider is selected on the panel (instead of Snipping)
3.3 (ws.az.33)	120527	a32d9e2bec5852c3a92b4ac5cca93f6a	- Fixed the problem of holding middle button action being triggered very easily - Improved look of elements under basic theme - Added a restart option to Tray and Az menu - Double-click panel to switch between ZoomIt/Magnifier panels; middle-double-click to restart. - Improved tips and tricks - More use of OSD. Various bug fixes. - First unofficial support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview
3.2a (ws.az.32a)	120509	539cfe44a1502d5d68760edb866e613d	- Fixed menu separator bug and various improvements
3.2 (ws.az.32)	120505	4011bca908e7de2850533cfd99c8262b	- Many subtle UI/UX improvements (e.g. Menu separator lines) - Right-clicking panel switches between Modern/Classic modes - Clicking tray icon or 'off' button on AZ Panel quickly turns off/on AeroZoom temporarily - Auto config backup support for non-admins - Fixed a bug of Custom Hotkeys exclusively takin over hotkeys. (Now compatible with the Firefox add-on 'Image Zoom') - More use of the OSD - Custom Hotkeys can be dis/enabled in sets - Latest AutoHotkey_L version
3.1 (ws.az.31)	120110	811fd292551db9e6f285b4a6c1f06233	- AeroSnip, Elastic Zoom, ZoomIt Panel, Custom Hotkeys, support for Win 7 Standard User accounts (Partially for UAC, Vista and XP)
3.0 (ws.az.30)	110824	0ae3b7fef9d52ee8bcfed0d45489af	- Public beta
2.1 (ws.az.21)	110505		- Private release
2.0a (ws.az.20a)	110405	ec6eac6b1312972c645da438877f5cee	- ZoomIt Enhancements Setup and small improvements - Fixed a bug of original keyboard hotkeys
2.0 (ws.az.20)	110403	57511c2d459b2a3e13d0f5ffe6789d66	- Big release with a complete redesign
1.7	100424	86d38c042bc7f50546444a771fba3ca5	- Fixed a nasty bug that affect usability and beauty when run with UAC on - Significantly improved performance during resetting and toggling - Fixed keyboard alt texts of 'Help' menu and [hide] button
1.6	100419	51a025f7ef39cf5bee645e679feefb2b	- Added [off] button to pause mouse button mappings
1.5	100417		- Added Draw, Type and Calc buttons
1.0	091210		- Private release

Note: AeroZoom works better with administrator rights. If UAC is on, it asks for rights to elevate itself automatically.

For more information, read the README and 100+ tips.

Workarounds to Known Issues

For AeroZoom to work under Windows 11, ensure User Account Control (UAC) is disabled using the registry edit method as follows:

1. Run Registry Editor regedit.exe.
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
3. Change EnableLUA registry DWORD from 1 to 0 to disable UAC.
4. Restart the computer.

Note:

• If you notice EnableLUA is automatically restored to the original value, it is possibly affected by one of the processes in your system, such as some anti-virus process. This has so far been observed in one instance. If you are affected, feel free to email wandersick at gmail.com for a workaround.
• Snipping Tool is no longer available on Windows 11, hence related snipping functions would not work.

Aside from the Windows 11 issue above, below minor issues have been identified. Please refer to the below workarounds:

• AeroZoom Setup.exe does not uninstall itself cleanly, leaving Setup.exe and AeroZoom_*x64.exe files in the installation directory
  • Workaround: They can be manually removed if desired
• zoomit.exe cannot be downloaded by AeroZoom as the included wget.exe utility is out of date
  • Workaround: Simply download zoomit.exe manually

False-Positive Anti-virus Detection on Unattended Installer

This section is for users who use the unattended installer downloaded here or Chocolatey installation option.

Like certain AutoHotkey applications, some anti-virus vendors may falsely identify the unattended installer created as undesirable. It is understandable considering the nature of the unattended installer is to perform installation and uninstallation in a silent way, which involves seemingly risky tasks such as modifying uninstallation keys in the registry. This false-positive detection issue can be safely ignored. It is recommended to report the file to your anti-virus vendor as clean if possible.

aerozoom's Issues

Make Smart Click Disabler support mouse button that is in use for clicking rather than context (pop-up) menu

Add notice about Snipping Tool only supporting Windows Vista and 7

Add process close check for Smart Click Disabler to AeroZoom installer and chocolateybeforemodify.ps1

Add a beta label to Smart Click Disabler menu item

Improve Setup.exe by embedding AeroZoom files inside instead of separating them from Setup.exe

https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/FileInstall.htm

Required for Chocolatey

Cannot zoom with trackpad

Hi, I have installed aerozoom and think it's great - it works exactly as it should with the mouse scroll wheel

Unfortunately I cannot get it working with the built in trackpad on my Huawei laptop. I don't see any mention of trackpads, so not sure it it should work or not?

I use the laptop on a desk with a mouse and external monitor and generally I don't need the zoom; it's when I use the laptop on my knee without the monitor or mouse that I really need the zoom feature - so this would be fantastic if it could work.

I also don't know how I would open the control panel when I don't have the mouse connected, as there are no physical mouse buttons on the laptop.

Thanks,
Ben

[Cancelled] Let single-clicking AeroZoom tray icon bring up AeroZoom Panel instead of switching between hotkey statuses (enabled/disabled)

Hotkeys e.g. 'Left+Right' are not completely disabled even when set to 'None' via 'Custom Hotkey' options

This issue has been raised by wandersick because of a comment from Vincent C. on the blog post of AeroZoom:

Hi wandersick,

First, AeroZoom has been a total lifesaver for me, I seriously can't thank you enough for this software. I've been considering taking a crack at magnification software myself as a visually impaired developer.

Anyway, I think my biggest issue with AeroZoom is that even when I use the custom hotkeys settings for Left+Right to set all hotkey functions to [none], I am still unable to utilize Left+Right simultaneously. As in pressing/holding Left or Right works normally, but then pressing the other mouse button has no effect.
To recreate this specifically, in any browser or even the desktop etc, while AeroZoom is open, clicking and dragging Left, then pressing Right while still holding Left does not open the dropdown menu. Performing the same action while AeroZoom is closed will open the menu.
Disabling all hotkeys does resolve this, but then I am unable to use the Ctrl+wheel and Ctrl+middle zooming functionality which are the lifesaving functionality I need from this beautiful application.
I'm using Windows 10, testing on multiple mice and changed as many settings as i could within AeroZoom and other applications to no avail.

Usually this is not a huge issue, but it can be quite tedious to work around, and for some games I play it can be very inconvenient.

I hope you can help, I'm definitely donating to you, you deserve it.

Thanks a million, you've honestly saved my back, hobbies, and career.
Vincent C

Thanks Vincent C. for the suggestion.

The above issue is caused by AeroZoom not completely disabling the hotkeys even when they are set to None as described above.

To solve this, one way is to leverage the off parameter of the Hotkey command from AutoHotkey to completely disable hotkeys when they should be disabled, so that the hotkeys can be freed and be used for other purposes even when AeroZoom is running with its remaining hotkeys enabled.

An implementation for consideration is as below:

; Press right mouse button while holding left mouse button
~LButton & RButton::
	goto, disableHotkey
	return

; Press left mouse button while holding right mouse button
~RButton & LButton::
	goto, enableHotkey
	return

disableHotkey:
MsgBox Disabling Left and Right mouse buttons completely.
Hotkey, ~LButton & RButton, off
return

enableHotkey:
MsgBox Enabling Left and Right mouse buttons.
Hotkey, ~LButton & RButton, on
return

Reference:

Hotkey - Creates, modifies, enables, or disables a hotkey while the script is running.

• https://www.autohotkey.com/docs/commands/Hotkey.htm

Holding middle button should default to a new snip or Win+Shift+S in newer Windows 10 releases

Smart Click Disabler should be enabled on demand, and disabled by default

Win + Scroll zoom out failing

When I switch AeroZoom to use the Windows key + Scroll to zoom, it will zoom in, but not zoom out. I'm using AeroZoom 4.0 Beta 2 on Windows 10 Pro Build 19045 with a Logitech Lift and Kinesis Advantage 2.

First-Use Guide should exists to warn first use of Smart Click Disabler which may cause surprise to unaware users

When ZoomIt is selected as Magnifier, Windows Magnifier window still appears when AeroZoom starts

Hide magnifier glass in Windows 10 like in Windows 7

The magnifier glass of Windows Magnifier in Windows 7 can be hidden by AeroZoom to provide a seamless integration. In Windows 8 and 8.1, this capability is unsupported. It may be worth it to find out if it can be achieved in Windows 10

error when starting

this is what i get when starting under win 10

Shuffles tips in the Tips_and_Tricks.txt except the introductory one

The tips text file should be shuffled on the first launch of AeroZoom

Detail README.md with information for AeroZoom 5.0

Holding middle trigger new snip instead of none

Make available AeroZoom for Chocolatey

choco install aerozoom

[Cancelled] Add CONTRIBUTING.md

[Feature Request] option to disable all hotkeys on Full-Screen Application

Add license

Add 'AeroZoom' command to Run (and to remove the registry location during uninstallation)

Newly installed AeroZoom has default setting of Misclick-Preventing Pad instead of Smart Click Disabler

Update and publish Tips and Tricks document

Remove menu options for Smart Click Disabler for unsupported mouse modifier (anything that is not X1 / X2 / primary mouse button)

Test older versions of Windows 10 (before 1809) for ability to hide magnifier glass

Using below AHK command (run as administrator)

• WinHide, ahk_class MagUIClass

A Magic Touchpad reports normal right clicks easily mis-trigger Left+Right hotkey which pops up the AeroZoom panel

Hardware: Mac mini 2018
Touchpad: Magic touchpad 2
OS: Windows 10
Usage: Normal finger movements and scroll with 2 fingers. Right click is registered by clicking on the bottom right of the touch pad. 2 finger touch is not in use.
Problem description: AeroZoom panel keeps popping up while scrolling and right-clicking trackpad

Setting-optimized profiles based on mouse models, accepting contribution of such profiles from other people

Feature name: User-Contributed Profiles

AeroZoom does not uninstall itself cleanly, leaving AeroZoom_Setup.exe

Implement https://stackoverflow.com/a/19748576/476453
process.start("cmd /c ping localhost -n 3 > nul & del filepath")

Add tools from latest Windows 10 (including semi-annual) releases

ZoomIt does not quit after exiting AeroZoom. Setup.exe (uninstallation) may check for running zoomit.exe and other executables before uninstallation

When First-Use Guide is disabled, certain functions still trigger guidance messages on first use

First-Use Guide should be able to be totally disabled to prevent experienced users from being annoyed

Bundle auxiliary software by wandersick into AeroZoom e.g. ECPP and ChMac

AeroZoom Setup.exe cannot delete running x64 AeroZoom during uninstallation

Change HTTP to HTTPS for zoomit.exe and nircmd.exe downloads

Create a new variable for Windows 10 Release ID instead of merging with OSver

Improve editing UX of Custom Hotkey by reminding users of enabled/disabled state

[Cancelled] An option to disable the AeroZoom Panel trigger – Left+Right

Holding Middle while inside zoom does not trigger AeroZoom Panel by default but Preview Full Screen or Zoom Reset instead

Fix download failure of ZoomIt.exe

If ZoomIt does not exist in target directory, it normally would trigger download using wget, but the download recently start failing.

Update checker inaccurately reports an update exists

Due to the mechanism the update checker works, Google search is leveraged. However, results from the search have changed over the years and included similar results which caused inaccuracy. To solve it, on the next release of AeroZoom (e.g. 5.0), the update checker should check for "ws.az50" instead of "ws.az.50", where the '50' may be considered a separate keyword. This requires changing the web page it checks as well.

After Smart Click Disabler is started, AeroZoom must be reloaded/restarted

Provide other donation methods