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How to Change your DPI Scaling Level for Displays in Windows 10
Information
Dots per inch (DPI)) is the physical measurement of number of pixels in a linear inch of a display. DPI is a function of display resolution and size; a higher resolution or a smaller size will lead to higher DPI, and a lower resolution or a larger size will lead to lower DPI. When a display has a higher DPI, pixels are smaller and closer together, so that the user interface (UI) and other displayed content appears smaller than intended.
Windows ensures that everything appears on the screen at a usable and consistent size by instructing applications (including the Windows desktop shell) to resize their content by a scale factor. This number depends on the display DPI as well as other factors that impact the user’s perception of the display. Almost all desktop displays and most current laptop displays are in the range of 95-110 DPI; for these devices, no scaling is required, and Windows sets a scale factor of 100%. However, there are a number of new devices, particularly in the premium laptop and tablet markets, which have higher displays with over 200 DPI. For these devices, Windows sets higher scale factors to ensure that the user experience is comfortably viewable.
When you change the DPI scaling level for your displays, it changes the size of text, apps and other items to appear larger or smaller. A higher DPI level has everything appear larger, and a lower DPI level has everything appear smaller.
The default DPI level is 100% (96 DPI).
For more about display scaling, see:
- Display Scaling in Windows 10 - Ask the Core Team - Site Home - TechNet Blogs
- Display Scaling changes for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update | Ask the Core Team
This tutorial will show you how to change the DPI scaling level for all or specific displays to make everything appear smaller or larger on the display(s) for only your account in Windows 10.
Tip
If you have an app that doesn't scale properly when you are using a high DPI setting, then you could use compatibility mode to Disable display scaling on high DPI settings for the app.
CONTENTS:
- Option One: To Change DPI Scaling Level Per Display in Settings app
- Option Two: To Set Custom DPI Scaling Level for All Displays in Control Panel
- Option Three: To Set Custom DPI Scaling Level for All Displays in Registry Editor
To Change DPI Scaling Level Per Display in Settings appOPTION ONE
1. Do step 2 or step 3 below for what you would like to open Display in Settings.
2. Open Settings, click/tap on the System icon, and go to step 4 below.
3. Right click or press and hold on your desktop, click/tap on Display, and go to step 3 below. (see screenshot below)
4. Click/tap on Display on the left side. (see screenshot below step 7)
5. If you have more than one display connected to your PC, then select a display at the top on the right side that you want to change the DPI of. (see screenshot below step 7)
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 briefly appear on each display to see.
6. Under Change the size of text, apps, and other items, move the slider left or right to the DPI percentage you want to set for that display. (see screenshot below step 7)
This setting is stored as the DpiValue DWORD data value in a long subkey per display in the registry location below.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\PerMonitorSettings
7. When finished, click/tap on Sign out now to fully apply. (see screenshot below)
To Set Custom DPI Scaling Level for All Displays in Control Panel
1. Open the Control Panel (icons view), and click/tap on the Display icon.
2. Under Change size of items, click/tap on the set a custom scaling level link. (see screenshot below)
3. Do step 3 or step 5 below for how you want to set a custom DPI.
4. Drag the ruler left or right to the scaling percentage you want, click/tap on OK, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshots below)
5. Select the scaling percentage you want in the drop down menu, click/tap on OK, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)
6. Click/tap on Apply. (see screenshot below)
7. Click/tap on Sign out now. (see screenshot below)
To Set Custom DPI Scaling Level for All Displays in Registry Editor
1. Type regedit in the search box (Windows+S) on the Start menu or taskbar, and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor.
2. If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.
3. In Registry Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
4. In the right pane of the Desktop key, double click/tap on the LogPixels DWORD to edit it. (see screenshot above)
If the LogPixels DWORD doesn't exist, then right click or press and hold on an empty area in the right pane of the Desktop key, click/tap on New, click/tap on DWORD (32-bit) Value, type LogPixels, and press Enter.
5. Select (dot) Decimal, type in the registry data value from the table below for the DPI scaling level you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
DPI Scaling Level
Registry Data Value Smaller 100% (default) 96 Medium 125% 120 Larger 150% 144 Extra Large 200% 192 Custom 250% 240 Custom 300% 288 Custom 400% 384 Custom 500% 480
6. Close Registry Editor.
7. Sign out and in to Windows, or restart the computer to apply.
That's it,
Shawn
Brink, can I ask you something just out of curiosity?
Your option 3, To Set Custom DPI Scaling Level for All Displays in Control Panel, after the .reg file has been applied, does it change the size of the Taskbar and Start Menu items', as well? So, if after applying the .reg file, you set a Custom DPI of 125%, will that get applied to the Start Menu items and the Taskbar icons, too?
Because when I've tried the custom DPI setting on Win 10 Pro, without your .reg file applied, it changed the text size in the menus but not on the Start Menu and the Taskbar.
Thank you.
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