Changing the screen resolution is an excellent way to improve the visual experience of your Windows computer. Windows should automatically select the right screen resolution for your monitor. However, in some cases, you have to choose the screen resolution manually. But what if you can’t change screen resolution in Windows 11/10?
If you are dealing with the same error, then don’t worry. There are a few quick methods that will help you fix this. So let’s jump into the topic straight away:
Why Can You Not Change the Screen Resolution in Windows?
There are a bunch of reasons why you are not being able to change the screen resolution on your computer. The most obvious reason is an incompatible or outdated display driver. A quick display driver update might fix the issue.
The issue can be related to your GPU if you are using one. Or it can be related to Windows updates, wrong settings, and many more.
Are You Facing a Resolution Issue or Its Scaling?
Before you fix the screen resolution issue, ensure you are not having an issue with scaling. When you change the screen resolutions, the desktop icons get bigger or smaller. If that’s the case, there could be an issue with the scaling.
While your screen resolution is excellent, the desktop icons and everything now feels bigger or smaller.
The scaling feature can be found under the Settings > System > Display setting. Over here, make sure you have scaling set at 100%.
Then try changing the display resolution and see how your screen is looking. In my case, the screen resolution was excellent at the default settings. But the desktop icons and everything was a bit smaller. So I changed the scale to 125%.
But this depends on one computer to another. You can try keeping the scale at 100% and then play around with the resolution. And finally, you can use the scale feature to make any display changes if required.
Fix: Can’t change Screen Resolution in Windows 11/10
You can fix the can’t change screen resolution error by changing GPU settings, updating display drivers, or Windows.
- Turn on GPU Scaling
- Adjust the desktop size (Nvidia only)
- Change Resolution using Nvidia Control Panel
- Reinstall Driver from OEM Website
- Perform Repair Upgrade
Now let us talk about these methods briefly below:
1. Turn on GPU Scaling
GPU scaling is a feature that allows the graphics card to scale the image effectively. So it fits the screen both horizontally and vertically. The setting is found in AMD graphics cards. So if you are using an AMD GPU, you can follow the below steps to enable it:
- Right-click on your Desktop.
- Select Radeon Settings to open it.
- Go to Display.
- Over here, toggle on the GPU scaling option to on.
- Next, set the scaling mode to the Full panel.
That’s it. You have now turned on GPU scaling. Now try changing the screen resolution and see if you can spot any difference.
2. Adjust the desktop size (Nvidia only)
If you use Nvidia GPU, you can try adjusting the desktop size to fix screen resolution issues. For this, follow the below steps:
- Right-click on your desktop and launch NVIDIA Control Panel.
- Go to Display and click on Adjust Desktop Size and Position.
- Next, click on the Size tab.
- Now click on the link under step 1 for help finding the correct settings using your display hardware, such as your monitor or HDTV.
- Finally, click on Enable desktop resizing check box under Step 2, then select Resize.
3. Change Resolution using Nvidia Control Panel
There is another way to change your screen resolution for Nvidia GPU users. This method comes in handy when you do not see any way to change the monitor’s resolution through Windows settings.
To do so, follow the below steps:
- First, launch NVIDIA Control Panel.
- Go to Display > Change Resolution.
- Over here, choose the 1920×1080 screen resolution.
- Finally, click on Apply.
Now see if your screen resolution is now changed. If not, move to the below fixes.
4. Reinstall Driver from OEM Website
Can’t change screen resolution in Windows mainly occurs due to incompatible drivers. So you can try reinstalling the display driver. The best option to update your display driver would be to download it from the OEM website.
So if you are using a Laptop or a pre-made computer from an established OEM such as Dell, Lenovo, HP, and others. Then you have to go to Google and search for “OEM” + driver download. For instance, if you have a Dell laptop, it would be a Dell driver download.
Next, search your manufacturer’s website for a compatible driver using your Laptop/Desktop model.
Also, if you use a customized PC, you must go to the motherboard’s OEM website to download drivers. To find out what motherboard model you have, you can go to CMD and run the following command:
wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer
Once you know the OEM brand, you can search for the driver on Google and download it.
After downloading the drivers, install them by following all the onscreen steps and then check if you can change the screen resolution or not.
5. Perform Repair Upgrade
There could also be a good chance of a bug in the Windows installation. So you can perform a repair upgrade and update Windows system files to the latest version.
This step will reinstall Windows. However, you will have access to your files. But all the other Windows settings and apps will be lost.
So if you have set up IP settings, and have important apps installed, make sure to take a backup before continuing.
To reinstall Windows, you can follow this in-depth guide on reinstalling Windows 11/10.
Conclusion:
If you can’t change screen resolution in Windows 11/10, the above methods should help you. The issue is mostly with your display drivers or from the Windows side. A quick Display driver update or Windows update might fix the issue. So go ahead and try the methods out and see if they help.
How Do I Get 2560×1080 Resolution on Windows?
You can change your screen resolution by going to Settings > System > Display. From here, click on Display resolution and select your preferred screen resolution. However, if your monitor does not support the 2560×1080 screen resolution by default, you can use this program called Custom Resolution Utility to create a custom resolution and set it on your desktop.
How Do I Force a Custom Resolution on Windows?
You can use a third-party tool called Custom Resolution Utility. It allows you to set up custom resolutions on your computer. Also, you can remove unwanted resolution, edit FreeSync ranges, and more.
