A screen that has gone the wrong way round or the wrong size
Put a sideways, enormous or tiny screen back to normal, and know which stray key press caused it.
A screen that has gone sideways, or has become enormous, looks like the most serious fault in this course. It is the least.
Not one thing has been lost. Every file, every photograph, every email is exactly where it was. What has changed is how the picture is drawn — one setting, usually knocked by a stray key combination, a sleeve on a keyboard, or a cat.
Most sideways screens are caused by a key combination nobody knew existed, on a machine where it happens to be switched on.
The commonest accident of all is holding Ctrl while turning the wheel on a mouse. That zooms whatever is under the pointer, which is why a web page sometimes becomes enormous with no explanation at all. Ctrl and zero puts it back.
Key points
- Put a sideways screen back with the orientation setting, or three keys
- Tell scale, resolution and zoom apart, and use the right one
- Reset an enormous web page with Ctrl and zero
- Find the rotation lock on a phone in one swipe
What to remember
- Orientation, scale and resolution are three separate settings, and they all live on the Display screen.
- A padlock with a circular arrow. Once you have seen it, you will never hunt for it again.
Try this
On any web page, hold Ctrl and press the plus key three times, then put it back with Ctrl and zero. Doing it deliberately once means that when it happens by accident you will recognize it instantly, instead of thinking the screen has broken.
Practice: A screen that has gone the wrong way round or the wrong size. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.