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.
See also: Change desktop icon size or screen resolution | Microsoft Support
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.
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.
Contents
- Option One: Change Screen Resolution of Display in Settings
- Option Two: Change Display Mode and Screen Resolution of Display in Advanced Display Settings
- Option Three: Change Screen Resolution of Display in NVIDIA Control Panel
- Option Four: Change Screen Resolution of Display in Intel Graphics Control Panel
1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the System icon.
2 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)
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.
3 In the Resolution drop menu, select a screen resolution (ex: 1920 x 1080) you want for the selected display. (see screenshot below)
4 If the selected screen resolution or display mode looks good to you, click/tap on Keep changes. (see screenshot below)
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.
5 You can now close Settings if you like.
1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the System icon.
2 Click/tap on Display on the left side, and click/tap on the Advanced display settings link on the right side towards the bottom. (see screenshot below)
3 Select a display you want to change the mode and resolution of in the Choose display drop menu, and click/tap on the Display adapter properties for Display # link. (see screenshot below)
4 In the Adapter tab, click/tap on the List All Modes button. (see screenshot below)
5 Select a display mode that you want for the selected display, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
6 Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below step 4)
7 If the selected screen resolution or display mode looks good to you, click/tap on Keep changes. (see screenshot below)
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 You can now close Settings if you like.
This option is only available if you have NVIDIA graphics and drivers installed.
1 Open the NVIDIA Control Panel (ex: from desktop context menu or notification icon).
2 Click/tap on the Change resolution link under Display in the left pane. (see screenshot below)
3 Select the display you want to change the resolution for under Select the displays you want to use on the right side, select the screen resolution you want for this display in the Resolution drop menu, and click/tap on Apply. (see screenshot below)
4 Click/tap on Yes in the Apply Changes dialog when prompt to confirm. (see screenshot below)
If needed, your changes will automatically revert in 20 seconds if you wait and do not click/tap on Yes before this time is up.
5 You can now close the NVIDIA Control Panel if you like.
This option is only available if you have Intel graphics and drivers installed.
1 Open the Intel Graphics Control Panel.
2 Click/tap on the Display icon. (see screenshot below)
3 If you have more than one display connected to your computer, select the display you want to change the resolution of in the Select Display drop menu. (see screenshot below step 4)
4 Select a resolution you want for this display in the Resolution drop menu, and click/tap on Apply. (see screenshot below)
5 Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)
If needed, your changes will automatically revert in 15 seconds if you wait and do not click/tap on Yes before this time is up.
6 You can now close the Intel Graphics Control Panel 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 Rearrange Multiple 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
- How to Change Display Orientation in Windows 10
- How to Remove Display from Desktop in Windows 10