Small Dialog boxes in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) 18.9.2

Question

After installing SSMS 18.9.2 on SQL 2016 server (Windows Server 2016) all dialogs of SSMS contain very small fonts...in some cases the fonts are so small that the slider bar covers up all text (i.e. Help-->About). Is there a way to have the dialogs display the same font size as the rest of the programs (i.e. viewing the tabs for stored procedures, table def, etc. show normal font size, as does the Object Explorer - it is only the dialogs that show small fonts (i.e. Job activity monitor dialog, Help dialogs, Database Properties dialog, Log File Viewer dialog) )- Note, the Tools-->Options dialog does show fonts at correct size.

Answer 1

I'm accessing SSMS V18.11.1 via remote desktop to a Windows 16 Server. Had the same problem with small text in certain dialogs such as the database connection and Help/About.

To fix:

1. Control Panel/Display
2. Under 'Change Size of Items' click 'Set a custom scaling level'.
3. set to 125%
4. Sign out of Remote session
5. Reconnect to remote session.

I also have the remote desktop connection display option set to full screen. That way you can then reduce the size of the remote desktop session and all the dialogs adjust to whatever screen size you set.

Answer 2

Hi WadeNederveld-2449,
Welcome to Microsoft Q&A.
Please try to install SSMS 18.10 as Dan mentioned.
If it does not work, please try to right-click anywhere on the desktop-> Display settings.
Then go to Display-> resolution to try to choose a lower resolution.

In addition, please check SSMS in High-DPI Displays which might helpful.

Best Regards,
Amelia

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Answer 3

I thank you all for your comments and suggestions. To be honest I wasn't sure how much response I would receive on this since I haven't been able to find this issue via normal searches. Let me add some additional information...
The server(s) are cloud servers so the access I'm using is via RDP - I don't have direct access to these servers so I cannot change the resolution of the servers. I tried to change the resolution of my laptop, but it didn't make a difference on the server screen.
I had SSMS 17.9.1 on these servers and the dialogs were fine, it was when I installed 18.9.2 that I first noticed the dialog difference - and it didn't go away with SSMS 18.10. I've attached an example of a dialog. I'll see about another way of accessing the servers too.

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Answer 4

DennisGeasan-5126 That worked for me too...I had upgraded to v18.11.1 recently and still had the issue, but setting the 'Change Size of Items' to 125% worked. Thank you.