Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 10}, TicksStyle -> Large] <img src="http://www.tri.org.au/TicksStyle.png"> For something not quite so big, use: Larger, or choose your own font size with: Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 10}, TicksStyle -> Directive[FontSize -> 16]] Edit: Further to @YvesKlett helpful comment, one can even choose different styles for the x and y axes: Plot[Sin[x], {x, 0, 10}, TicksStyle -> {{FontSize -> 16, Orange}, {FontSize -> 22, Green}}] <img src="http://www.tri.org.au/ticksstyle2.png">