One item I've wondered about is why ToolTip text is set to such a small size. It's not like I'm on a PDA with a small size. Maybe someone concluded that small text draws people into the screen and they focus more. We've got a quick tip and demo if you want to adjust the size. Yes, the tip will work if you want to make the font size even smaller or change the color. Once you make the change you'll be surprised how many places use these new settings.

Last week, I was working on an Excel spreadsheet and entering in comments on some cells. I didn't think too much about this till another reviewer entered his comments after mine. All of a sudden everything looked minuscule. Comparatively speaking it was since the comment font size was 8.

The Use of ToolTips

It turns out the size of the font for my comments are controlled by tooltip properties. This is a setting that is buried in your desktop properties. The tooltips are used in many places and not just Excel comments. For example, tooltips appear when you:

• Mouse over an icon on your taskbar
• Mouse over buttons on your browser or other applications
• Mouse over programs on your Windows Start menu
• Display the number of emails in your Outlook inbox

Changing ToolTip Size and Color

To change your Tooltip properties,

1. Right-click an open area on your desktop

2. Select Properties from the menu

3. In the Display Properties dialog, click the Appearance tab.

4. Click the Advanced button toward the lower right.

5. In the Advanced Appearance dialog, click the down arrow control next to Item:

6. Select ToolTip from the drop down list.

Adjust the font, size, color and effects to your liking.

7. Click OK.

8. Click OK.

You should see your changes take effect on your next comments. You will notice that if you pull up an earlier Excel files with comments, the size will not change although your new color may show.

If you want to see just how many applications use tooltips, try changing your color to something that stands out. You'll be surprised where you will see your change. Just remember some programs will set their own tooltip properties that might override your setting.

Additional Tooltip Tutorial

• 2 Minute Screencast: Changing ToolTip Size