How to fix the font in the MySQL Workbench editor

Just ran into an annoying little problem using the version 5.1.12 of MySQL Workbench: the font used in the SQL editor is really small, and there’s no way to change it.  The preferences dialog shows you what the font is, but it’s a text field, and even though you can type in it, it appears to be a read-only field.

To fix it, go old school and edit the configuration file.  On Linux, it’s in your home directory in .mysql/workbench/wb_options.txt. Be sure to quit MySQL Workbench before editing the config file to avoid having your work overwritten.

Once you’ve opened the file, look for the key workbench.general.Editor:Font, and increase the font size to something usable.  I chose 11, but some may still find that too small.

Save the file, then start MySQL workbench.  You should now be able to read what you’re writing in the editor.

Tags: mysql, sql