How to change screen resolution on Windows 11

Here are the steps to adjust the screen resolution on your laptop or desktop computer running Windows 11.

Windows 11 change resolution
Windows 11 change resolution
  • To change resolutions on Windows 11, right-click the desktop, select “Display settings,” and choose the resolution. Or open Settings > Display and change screen resolution with the “Display resolution” setting. Typically, you want to use the “Recommended” resolution.

Although Windows 11 does a good job applying the most optimal screen resolution to make elements and text as clear as they can be on your laptop or desktop computer, you may sometimes need to change this setting manually.

For instance, if you have a monitor that supports 1366 x 768 pixels, or the device has a 1080p (1920 x 1080-pixel) or 4K (3840 x 2160-pixel) resolution, and for some odd reason, Windows 11 isn’t displaying the correct settings, you are setting up a secondary display of a different size, or you want to match the resolution of the primary monitor.

Whatever the reason, Windows 11 includes an easy way to adjust the resolution for all monitors from the Settings app. In addition, you can use third-party apps to change the resolutions from Command Prompt.

In this guide, you will learn the easy steps to change the resolution of the display on Windows 11.

Change screen resolution on Windows 11 from Settings

To change the screen resolution on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Open Settings on Windows 11.

  2. Click on System.

  3. Click the Display page on the right side.

    Quick tip: You can also right-click the desktop and select the “Display settings” to access the option to change the resolution.
  4. Select the display from the top (if you are in a multi-monitor setup).

  5. Under the “Scale & layout” section, change the screen resolution on Windows 11 with the “Display resolution” setting.

    Change display resolution

  6. Click the Keep changes button.

Once you complete the steps, the display will apply the new resolution, and depending on the setting, elements on the screen will be bigger and easier to see.

Alternatively, the easiest way to access the resolution settings is to right-click the desktop and select the “Display settings” option.

If you try to make the items bigger and smaller, you shouldn’t change the resolution. Instead, you should change the “Scale” setting.

Change screen resolution on Windows 11 from Command Prompt

To change screen resolution with commands on Windows 11, use these steps:

  1. Download QRes from website.

  2. Right-click the QRes.zip file and select the Extract All button.

  3. Click the Extract button.

  4. Type CMD and press Enter in the address bar to open Command Prompt in the “QRes” folder location.

  5. Type the following command to change the screen resolution on Windows 11 and press Enter:

    QRes.exe /x:1680 /y:1050

    Change screen resolution using Command Prompt

    In the command, change the path for the “QRes.exe” file and enter a supported width (x) and height (y) pixel resolution. For example, 1366 x 768, 1440 x 900, 1680 x 1050, 1920 x 1080, 2560 x 1440, etc.

After you complete the steps, the Windows 11 desktop will change to the specified resolution.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 14 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].