Upgrade Chrome's Image Viewer: Add Smooth Zoom and Pan
Upgrade Chrome's basic image viewer with smooth mouse wheel zoom and click-drag panning using Enhanced Image Viewer.
October 16, 2025
You open an image in Chrome to examine the details. You try to zoom in smoothly, but Chrome only lets you toggle between two fixed sizes. You want to move around the zoomed image, but you’re stuck using scrollbars. And if the image is smaller than your window? You can’t zoom it at all.
Chrome’s built-in image viewer handles the basics, but it’s missing features you’d expect from a modern viewer. Here’s how to upgrade it using Enhanced Image Viewer.
Smooth zoom with mouse wheel
Simply scroll your mouse wheel to zoom in and out smoothly. Zoom to any level - 50%, 150%, 300%, or anywhere in between. The zoom centers on your mouse cursor, so you can zoom directly into the area you’re interested in.
This works on images of any size. Small images can be enlarged for closer inspection. Large images can be zoomed beyond their actual size to see fine details.
Click and drag to pan
Once you’ve zoomed in, click and drag anywhere on the image to move around. The combination of smooth zoom and click-drag panning makes examining images effortless. No more hunting for scrollbars.
If you still need to scroll vertically/horizontally, hold Ctrl or Shift while scrolling your mouse wheel.
Summary
Chrome’s image viewer gives you two zoom levels and scrollbar navigation. Enhanced Image Viewer upgrades this with smooth mouse wheel zoom and click-drag panning that work on images of any size.
Beyond Chrome’s default viewer, Enhanced Image Viewer also brings special improvements for images on Reddit and image hosting sites.
Install Enhanced Image Viewer and get the controls Chrome should have included. It’s free and works immediately.
