How to Permanently Change the Font Size in PuTTY: A Comprehensive Guide

If you need to adjust the font size in PuTTY to enhance your reading experience, there are several methods to achieve this. Here, we will guide you through the process of setting a permanent font size, including the user's way, the system administrator's way, and the programmer's way. This article will demonstrate detailed steps for each method, ensuring your font size preferences are set and retained across sessions.

User's Way: Changing Font Size in PuTTY

Steps to Change Font Size in PuTTY:

Launch the PuTTY application. Select a saved session or create a new one. Navigate to Window -> Appearance in the left sidebar. Click on the Change... button under the Font used for ordinary text. In the font selection dialog, choose your desired font and size, then click OK. If you modified an existing session, select it, and click Save. For a new session, give it a name and click Save. Connect to your session with the updated font settings.

Steps for Changing Default Font Size:

Open putty and select “Default Settings.” Click on “Load” to apply the default settings. Go to the Appearance section. Click on the Change... button to adjust the font size. Set your preferred font size (e.g., 14), and click OK. Select “Session” again, select “Default Settings,” then click Save. From now on, the default font size will be 14 points.

System Administrator's Way: Changing Font Size via Registry

For system administrators, there is an alternative method using the registry:

Run the RegEdit program. Search for "PuTTY." Navigate to the Sessions folder, then to the Default Sessions folder. Locate the FontHeight variable, which by default has a value of 10 hexadecimal (10 decimal). Right-click on the FontHeight variable and edit it to your desired value (e.g., 14). Click OK to save the changes, then close RegEdit. Restart PuTTY to see the updated default font height.

Programmer's Way: Compiling PuTTY from Source

This method is the most complex, intended for programmers and developers who want to customize the PuTTY source code. This process involves:

Install MinGW-64 and alter the PATH variable to include the bin directory. Download and unzip the PuTTY source code. Open the windefs.c file in the source code and modify the FontHeight variable for your desired font size. Open a command line, navigate to the source code directory, and run mingw32-make -f. Compile the source code, and run the newly compiled putty.exe.

The font height will now reflect your custom settings.

By following these steps, you can effectively and permanently change the font size in PuTTY to suit your needs. Whether you're a user looking to enhance your terminal experience, a system administrator needing to set default configurations, or a developer interested in customizing the source code, these methods provide a comprehensive solution.