How To Change The Command Line Font Size

If you are using your Raspberry Pi with a smaller screen you may want to change the font used on the command line to make it easier to read. I usually do this when I am using various portable LCD screens (eg the HDMIPi).

It only changes the font within the console if you are using a screen connected directly to the Pi. It won’t affect Putty/SSH sessions.

Changing the font size on the console is easy to do and there are two methods you can choose.

Method 1

This method uses a system utility called “dpkg-reconfigure”. Run it using the command shown below :

sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-setup

This will launch a “Package Configuration” screen :

Using the up/down arrow keys select “UTF-8”. Using the right arrow key select “OK” and press ENTER.

Using the up/down arrow keys select “Guess optimal character set”. Using the right arrow key select “OK” and press ENTER.

Using the up/down arrow keys select “Terminus”. Using the right arrow key select “OK” and press ENTER.

Using the up/down arrow keys select “16×32”. Using the right arrow key select “OK” and press ENTER. There will be short delay before you are returned to the command prompt with the new font size. 16×32 is a font size that will be twice the size of the default.

See below for a video showing this method.

Method 2

This method involves editing a system file called “console-setup”. You just need to load it into your preferred text editor and tweak a few lines :

sudo nano /etc/default/console-setup

You will see the default settings :

Using the arrow keys position the cursor and change the FONTFACE and FONTSIZE lines to :

FONTFACE="Terminus"
FONTSIZE="16x32"

Your file should look something like this :

Press CTRL-X, then Y then ENTER to save the changes.

To apply these new settings to your command prompt without rebooting you can run the following command :

sudo /etc/init.d/console-setup restart

See below for a video showing this method.

Video

Here is a video showing both methods. I created it using Putty on my Windows PC so it may look slightly different to your setup but the process is the same.

Which method you use is up to you. I tend to use Method 1 the first time I change the defaults and then Method 2 if I need to make a quick change at a later date. Method 1 is actually possible even if the current font size is unreadable as you can follow the screenshots above and do most of it with guess work!