Steam games won’t go full screen though the Fullscreen mode is enabled in game settings? Don’t worry. You fix the problem with one of the following methods.
Try below methods and see if you can find one that works for you:
Method 1: Restart your computer
Method 2: Try Alt+Enter or F11
Method 3: Force the game to run in Fullscreen mode
Method 4: Disable Fullscreen Optimizations
Method 5: Change the resolution and back
Method 6: Set the game resolution to match the display resolution
Method 7: Try running the game in Windowed Borderless mode
Method 8: Update graphics drivers
Method 1: Restart your computer
When your game won’t go full screen, the first thing recommended to do is to restart your PC. This simple fix may work like a charm for you. If you haven’t tried this, do it before moving on to further troubleshooting.
Method 2: Try Alt+Enter or F11
For most Steam games, you can switch between the Windowed mode and the Fullscreen mode using the key shortcut Alt+Enter. So try using Alt+Enter to switch to Fullscreen:
Close and start the game, and then press Alt+Enter on your keyboard.
For some games, Alt+Enter doesn’t switch to full screen but F11 does. If you’ve tried Alt+Enter and it doesn’t work for you, try F11 instead.
Method 3: Force the game to run in Fullscreen mode
You can configure game settings to force the game to run in Fullscreen mode at the startup. Here’s how:
1) Open Steam and go to your Library.
2) Right-click on the game that won’t go full screen and select Properties.
3) At the General tab, find the Launch Options section, type in: -fullscreen. Then click OK to save the changes.
4) Run the game and check to see if it starts in full screen mode.
Method 4: Disable Fullscreen Optimizations
Windows 10 introduces the Fullscreen Optimizations feature to offer better game and app performance. However, some users have reported that Fullscreen Optimizations may cause Steam games not full screen issues.
The Fullscreen Optimizations feature is enabled by default. To fix the Steam games not full screen problem, you can try disabling this feature. Here’s how:
1) Open Steam and go to your Library.
2) Right-click on the game and select Properties.
3) Click the Local Files tab and click the Browse… button to open the game installation folder.
4) Right-click on the game setup file (.exe) and then select Properties.
5) Go to the Compatibility tab, check Disable fullscreen optimizations and click OK to save the changes.
6) Run the game and check to see if it starts in full screen mode.
Method 5: Change the resolution and back
Some users have reported that changing the game resolution to a lower one in Windowed mode and then changing it back helped fix the problem. You can try this method as well and see if it works for you.
Generally, you can change the resolution in game settings. The exact steps on how to do that depends on the game. To change the resolution and back, following steps are just for your reference:
1) Open game settings.
2) Enable Windowed Mode.
3) Change resolution to a lower one. For example, if your current game resolution is 1920×1080, you can set it to 1600×1024 or lower.
4) Enable Fullscreen Mode.
5) Change the resolution back to the original one you used.
6) Run the game and check to see if the problem is resolved.
Method 6: Set the game resolution to match the display resolution
If the game resolution doesn’t match your monitor resolution, the game may not go full screen. So check and ensure both resolutions match.
Firstly, check the display resolution:
1) Right-click the Start menu button and select Settings.
2) Click on System.
3) Check the Display resolution. The following screenshot shows the applied display resolution is 1920 * 1080.
Secondly, set the game resolution to the same as the display resolution. Generally, the game resolution can be set in game settings.
Once done, run the game and check to see if the problem is resolved.
Method 7: Try running the game in Windowed Borderless mode
Instead of putting the game in Fullscreen mode directly, you can try to set the game to run in Borderless Fullscreen mode. Windowed Borderless mode offers similar benefits as normal Windowed mode, but with a full screen appearance.
Note: Before doing that, you’ll need to disable Fullscreen mode in game settings first.
Follow these steps to make the game run in Windowed Borderless mode:
1) Open Steam and go to your Library.
2) Right-click on the game that has the problem and select Properties.
3) At the General tab, find the Launch Options section, type in: -popupwindow.
Then click OK to save the changes.
4) Run the game and check to see if it starts in full screen mode.
Method 8: Update graphics drivers
The problem can be caused by outdated graphics drivers. To fix the problem, you can try updating the graphics drivers.
You can update the graphics drivers via Device Manager. To do so:
1) Open Device Manager (learn how to accessDevice Manager).
2) Expand category “Display adapters”, right-click on the graphics card device and then select Update driver.
3) Select Search automatically for drivers. Then Windows will search new drivers for the device and install the driver automatically if a new driver is available.
Hopefully you find the article helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment below. I’ll get back to you ASAP.