Windows 10: Change Screen Resolution of Display in Windows 10

How to: Change Screen Resolution of Display in Windows 10

How to Change Screen Resolution of a Display in Windows 10


The screen resolution of a display determines how much information is displayed on the screen. It is measured horizontally and vertically in pixels. At lower screen resolutions, such as 640 x 480, fewer items will fit on the screen, but they will appear larger. At higher resolutions, such as 1900 x 1080, more items will fit on the screen but they will appear smaller. The resolution modes will vary with each display based on the video card device, monitor size, video driver, and monitor driver.

Windows 10 includes support for 4K and 8K displays.

By default, Windows chooses the best display settings for your PC based on your monitor. If you like, you can manually change the screen resolution of each display on your PC separately to what you want.

• Changing the screen resolution of a display will be applied to all users no matter which user changed it.
• Monitors can support resolutions that are lower than their native resolutions, but text won't look as sharp and the display might be small, centered on the screen, edged with black, or stretched. It is recommended to set the screen resolution of the display to the (Recommended) native resolution to get the best display on your monitor.
• To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an Internet connection, a screen resolution of at least 1024x768, and a Microsoft account.
• Your screen resolution needs to be at least 1024x768 to have multiple windows and apps on your screen at the same time.

This tutorial will show you how to change the screen resolution of each separate display connected to the PC for all users in Windows 10.

*tip Sometimes when you change the screen resolution, it may cause tiles of apps pinned to Start to be blank. If this happens, restarting explorer will usually help.



Here's How:

1. Do step 2 or step 3 below for how you would like to open Display settings.

2. Open step 4 below.

3. Right click or press and hold on your desktop, click/tap on Display settings, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)



4. If you have more than one display connected to your PC, select a display (ex: "1") that you want to change the screen resolution of. (see screenshot below)

*note If all your displays are not shown, then click/tap on the Detect link to see if Windows can find it.

If you are not sure which display belongs to what number, then you can click/tap on the Identify link to have each display's number appear briefly to see.



5. Do step 6 (recommended) or step 7 (custom) below for how you would like to change the screen resolution of the selected display.


6. To Select a Screen Resolution (recommended)
A) In the Resolution drop menu, select a screen resolution (ex: 1920 x 1080) you want for the selected display. (see screenshot below)



B) If the selected screen resolution or display mode looks good to you, click/tap on Keep changes, and go to step 8​. (see screenshot below)

*note You will have 15 seconds to select Keep changes or Revert before it will automatically revert back to the previous screen resolution.

This can be handy if the changes prevented you from being able to see this dialog.




7. Select a Display Mode and Screen Resolution (custom)
A) Click/tap on the Display adapter properties link at the bottom. (see screenshots below)

*note Starting with Advanced display settings link instead, and then click/tap on the Display adapter properties for Display # link for the display you want to change the screen resolution of.








B) In the Adapter tab, click/tap on the List All Modes button. (see screenshot below)



C) Select a display mode that you want for the selected display, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)



D) Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 7B​)

E) If the selected screen resolution or display mode looks good to you, click/tap on Keep changes, and go to step 8. (see screenshot below)

*note You will have 15 seconds to select Keep changes or Revert before it will automatically revert back to the previous screen resolution.

This can be handy if the changes prevented you from being able to see this dialog.



8. If you have more than one display connected to your PC and would like to change the screen resolution of another display, then repeat step 4 above.

9. When finished, you can close Settings if you like.


That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Change Screen Refresh Rate of a Display in Windows 10
• How to Set a Display as Main Display in Windows 10
• How to Change your DPI Scaling Level for Displays in Windows 10
• How to Change Settings and Layout for Multiple Displays in Windows 10
• How to Adjust Screen Brightness in Windows 10
• How to Change Turn Off Display After Time in Windows 10
• How to Calibrate a Monitor in Windows 10
• How to View Detailed Display Information in Windows 10
• How to Change Text Size in Windows 10
• How to Clear and Reset External Display Cache in Windows 10

:)

 

Monitor display

You should be using a video resolution equal to the monitor's native resolution - if your video card is capable of displaying that resolution.

How to change screen resolution on Windows 10

 

Windows 10 was just automatically updated now all programs will not fill the screen due to all type and pictures are too big. On all programs

It sounds like your resolution needs adjusted. Here's how to do it: How to Change Screen Resolution of Displays in Windows
10 Be sure to set it to the recommended level and then click Apply.

 

Hello David, *Smile

I'm afraid that if it's not supported by the monitor or graphics card, then it won't be listed.

If you haven't already see if you may have an option for it using step 6 in OPTION ONE.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, family get-together last night meant I was incapable of even fuzzy logic...

Strange thing is the exact same settings for a custom resolution worked in Windows 7 with exactly the same monitor and graphics card. *Confused

 

Odd. Hopefully it'll work with the next graphics driver update.

 

Have been lurking around the Nvidia forums and apparently the promises have been forgotten...

 

Thats a great tutorial.

I wonder what if one has none of these options listed? I have Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD upto 1274MB DMVT ( if this is the graphics card), and none of these options show up. Instead I see 'Microsoft Basic Display Adapter' under display adapters in device manager and Generic PnP Monitor. Stuck at 1024x768 resolution. I tried updating drivers without success.

If this matters, I upgraded on Windows 7 home premium, and previous display resolution was 1366x768.

Many thanks if anyone has a solution (or I should make a clean install?)

 

Hello crackhammer, *Smile

Have you already installed the latest drivers for your Intel graphics?

Latest Intel Graphics Driver for Windows 10

What model number is your Acer laptop? Sometimes you may also need to install a NVIDIA or ATI driver as well.

 

Thank you Brink for quick reply.

It took almost half an hour for my laptop to check for any updates through windows update. It downloaded the drivers so job is done. Thanks.

 

Great news crackhammer. *Party

 

mine doesnt work for External DIsplay (HDMI), very frustating

 

Hello anticeon, *Smile

Please provide more details about your issue.

 

I was tried to connect my laptop to Sharp 32" 768p trhu HDMI, and Windows 10 can't detect and change resolution when i set to "External DIsplay Only" mode. in other mode it works fine.

I am using WIndows 8.1 and Linux Mint 18.1 right now and both have no problem. so it only occur in Windows 10.

if am not wrong this problem happened after Microsoft remove old display setting and use new Metro Setting.

Im using Intel HD 5500 (Core i3-5005u iGPU - Latest Driver)

 

anticeon,

If you set the screen resolution to what you want before switching to "External Display Only" mode, does it stay set when you do switch modes afterwards?