How to Adjust Display Settings in Windows 10

Edited 4 weeks ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Windows 10 is a popular operating system developed by Microsoft. It offers many features and options, allowing users to customize their experience the way they want. One of the major features that users are interested in is adjusting display settings. Proper display settings are important for a comfortable and efficient computing experience, especially for users who spend long hours in front of their screens. This guide will thoroughly cover the process of adjusting display settings in Windows 10. We will explore each setting in detail, explaining how to access and modify them to suit your needs.

Accessing the display settings

Before you can adjust your display settings, you need to know where to find them. Windows 10 has a central location for most settings called "Settings," where your display settings can be found. You can follow these steps to access the display settings:

1. Click the Start menu in the lower-left corner of your screen.
2. Choose Settings from the Start menu, represented by a gear icon.
3. In the Settings window, click System. This will take you to a menu that contains various system-related settings.
4. Under System, click Display on the left sidebar.

Now that you've accessed the display settings, you can begin making adjustments to your liking.

Changing the screen resolution

Screen resolution determines how much information your display can show. Higher resolution makes visual elements smaller but clearer. Here's how you can change your screen's resolution:

1. In the Display settings, scroll down to find the Display resolution section.
2. Click the dropdown menu and choose the resolution you want. It usually lists the resolution from lowest to highest.
3. After you choose a solution, you'll be asked to confirm your choice. Click Keep Changes when satisfied or click Undo to go back.

In most situations, it's best to use the resolution marked as Recommended because it's optimized for your particular screen.

Adjusting brightness and color

Brightness and color settings are important to ensure that your display is comfortable to look at and that colors are accurate. Let's take a look at these options:

1. Adjust brightness: On the Display settings page, there is a slider under Brightness and color. You can drag this slider left or right to lower or increase the brightness of your screen.
2. Night Light: If you work at night or in low-light conditions, it may be beneficial to turn on Night Light. It filters out blue light, which can be harmful to the eyes in the dark. To turn it on, toggle the switch under Night Light.
3. Color calibration: For more advanced color settings, click Advanced display settings at the bottom, then click Color calibration, which will launch a wizard that will guide you through the steps to improve your display color.

Scaling and layout

The scaling setting in Windows 10 affects how text, apps, and other items appear on the screen. Adjusting scaling can make things easier to read and interact with. Here's how to configure scaling:

1. Look for the Scale and layout section in your display settings.
2. Under Change the size of text, apps, and other items, you'll find a dropdown menu with different percentage options.
3. Choose the scaling value according to your preference. Higher values make text and items larger and easier to see, but may use more screen space.

Sometimes, some apps may appear blurry with scaling. To fix this, click Advanced scaling settings and toggle off Let Windows try to fix apps so they don't appear blurry.

Orientation settings

The orientation of your display can be landscape or portrait. This is especially useful for devices that can be rotated or for users who want a screen that's suitable for reading documents vertically:

1. Find the Orientation dropdown menu under the Scale and Layout section.
2. Choose from Landscape, Portrait, Landscape (flipped), or Portrait (flipped).
3. Select the orientation that suits you, then confirm the choice when prompted.

Multiple displays

Windows 10 makes it pretty easy to manage multiple displays. This is especially helpful for users with multiple monitors. Here's how you can set it up:

1. In the Display settings, scroll down to the Multiple displays section.
2. From the dropdown, choose how you want your additional displays to function, such as Duplicate these displays or Extend these displays.
3. Click Detect to identify external monitors, or click Identity to see the number assigned to each screen.
4. You can also choose which display will be your primary screen by selecting it and then ticking Make this my main display.

Advanced display settings

For users who need more detailed adjustments, the advanced display settings may be what you need. Here's how to access and use them:

1. Scroll to the bottom of the Display page and click Advanced display settings.
2. Here, you can see details like the refresh rate, bit depth, color range, and driver information for each of your displays.
3. If necessary, click Display Adapter Properties to access specific settings for your graphics card or chip.

Troubleshooting performance issues

If you encounter any problems with your display settings, you can try some troubleshooting steps:

1. Undo changes: If a new setting doesn’t work, click Undo in the confirmation window to revert to the previous setting.
2. Updating drivers: Go to Device Manager, expand Display adapters, right-click your graphics card, and select Update driver.
3. Restarting: Sometimes restarting your computer can resolve problems by restarting hardware components.
4. System updates: Check for any pending Windows updates by going to Update & Security in the main Settings menu and installing the required updates.

Such understanding and adjustments allow you to optimize Windows 10 display settings so that you get the best possible viewing quality and comfort. Experiment with different settings to find the most optimal configuration for your specific needs, as what works best may vary from person to person depending on different hardware and personal preferences.

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