How to Full Screen a Game on Pc (2026 Guide)

To full screen a game on PC, press Alt and Enter together — that toggle works in the majority of DirectX titles and switches instantly between windowed and fullscreen. If the game ignores it, open its Video or Display settings and change Display Mode to Fullscreen or Borderless Windowed. When neither works, the fix lives in Steam launch options, an engine config file, or your GPU’s scaling settings. This guide covers all four routes plus the black-bar and wrong-monitor problems that usually come with them.

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How to Full Screen a Game on PC: The Four Reliable Methods

Work through these in order. First try Alt plus Enter while the game has focus. Second, look in the in-game options menu under Video, Graphics or Display for a Display Mode dropdown. Third, force the mode with a launch argument in Steam or your launcher. Fourth, edit the game’s configuration file directly, which always works because it sets the value the game reads at startup. Browser-based and emulated games are the exception — those usually use F11 or their own dedicated fullscreen key instead.

Exclusive Fullscreen vs Borderless Windowed

These are not the same thing and the difference matters. Exclusive fullscreen hands the display over entirely to the game, which gives the lowest input latency, the most reliable variable refresh rate behaviour with G-Sync or FreeSync, and proper control over resolution and refresh rate. Borderless windowed draws the game as a maximised window with no frame, so alt-tabbing is instant and overlays, second monitors and streaming software all behave better — at the cost of a frame or two of latency because the desktop compositor stays in the loop.

Competitive shooter players should generally choose exclusive fullscreen. Everyone else, especially multi-monitor users, will usually be happier in borderless. Windows 11 also offers optimisations for windowed games that reduce the latency penalty considerably, so check that setting before assuming borderless is slower.

Force Fullscreen With Steam Launch Options

Right-click the game in your Steam library, choose Properties, and type into the Launch Options box. The arguments depend on the engine. Unity games accept -screen-fullscreen 1 along with -screen-width and -screen-height values. Unreal Engine games accept -fullscreen, or -windowed with -ResX and -ResY for a specific window size. Many older titles respond to a plain -fullscreen or -popupwindow. These arguments override whatever the game saved previously, which makes them the fastest fix for a game that launches into an unusable window you cannot click.

Edit the Config File to Full Screen a Game on PC

When a game boots into a broken window off the edge of the screen, editing its config is the guaranteed fix. Unreal Engine titles keep a GameUserSettings.ini file under Documents, then My Games, then the game’s folder. Inside it, FullscreenMode accepts 0 for exclusive fullscreen, 1 for windowed fullscreen and 2 for windowed, and you can set ResolutionSizeX and ResolutionSizeY to match your display. Other engines use similar plain-text files. Back the file up first, and set it to read-only afterwards if the game keeps overwriting your change.

Fix Black Bars With GPU Scaling

Older 4:3 games on a widescreen monitor produce pillarboxed black bars, which is correct behaviour but not always what you want. On NVIDIA, open the Control Panel, go to Adjust desktop size and position, choose Full-screen as the scaling mode and set Perform scaling on GPU. On AMD, open Radeon Software, go to Display, enable GPU Scaling and set Scaling Mode to Full Panel. Intel users will find the equivalent under Display in the Graphics Command Center. Note that stretching a 4:3 game to 16:9 distorts the image, so many players prefer the bars.

Fix Wrong Resolution From Windows Display Scaling

If a game goes fullscreen but looks soft or renders at the wrong resolution, Windows display scaling is usually the culprit — 125 or 150 percent scaling on a high-DPI panel confuses older executables. Right-click the game’s .exe, choose Properties, open the Compatibility tab, click Change high DPI settings, then tick Override high DPI scaling behaviour and set it to Application. That hands resolution control back to the game. Restart the title afterwards, because the setting only applies to fresh launches.

Get the Game Onto the Right Monitor

Multi-monitor setups often launch games on the wrong panel. In exclusive fullscreen, most games follow your Windows primary display, so set the correct monitor as primary in Display Settings. In borderless or windowed mode, drag the window to the target monitor with Win plus Shift plus the arrow keys and then re-apply fullscreen, which usually locks it there. Some games also have an explicit Monitor or Display dropdown in their video options that overrides both, so check there first.

When Alt+Enter Breaks a Game

Alt plus Enter is a Windows-level toggle that some engines handle badly, particularly older DirectX 9 titles and anything using custom window management. Symptoms include a crash, a black screen or a game that renders at the wrong size afterwards. If that happens, delete or rename the game’s config file so it regenerates with defaults, then set the display mode from inside the game’s menu instead. For stubborn older games, third-party utilities such as Borderless Gaming can force a clean borderless window without touching the game’s own code.

Display problems are often really hardware problems in disguise. Our gaming monitor buying guide explains refresh rates, panel types and variable refresh support, while the ultrawide monitor buying guide covers aspect ratio support game by game. Driving high resolutions needs headroom, so read the graphics card buying guide, and for cable and bandwidth questions see the HDMI and DisplayPort cable guide. Multi-screen builders should read the monitor arm buying guide, and laptop users the gaming laptop buying guide for GPU switching behaviour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Alt+Enter not work in some games?

Alt plus Enter is a Windows and DirectX level shortcut rather than a guaranteed feature, so engines that manage their own windows can ignore or mishandle it. Unity and some modern Unreal titles never implement it at all. In those cases use the in-game Display Mode dropdown, a launch argument, or a direct config file edit instead.

Is borderless windowed worse for performance than fullscreen?

Historically yes, because the desktop compositor added a frame of latency and could interfere with variable refresh rate. Windows 11’s optimisations for windowed games close most of that gap, so the practical difference is now small for most titles. Competitive shooter players still tend to prefer exclusive fullscreen for the most consistent frame pacing.

How do I remove black bars from an old game?

Enable GPU scaling in your graphics driver control panel and set the scaling mode to full panel, which stretches the image to fill the display. Be aware this distorts the aspect ratio, making characters look wider than intended. Many players prefer keeping the bars or using integer scaling to preserve the original proportions and pixel sharpness.

Why does my game launch on the wrong monitor?

Games in exclusive fullscreen usually follow whichever display Windows marks as primary, so changing the primary display in Windows Display Settings fixes it. In borderless mode, move the window with Win plus Shift plus arrow keys and re-apply fullscreen. Some games also include a monitor selector in their video options that overrides the Windows setting entirely.