Fix: Elden Ring Not Changing Resolution or Full Screen/Borderless Window Not Working

Elden Ring is one of the dark fantasy souls-like RPG titles that has been launched in Feb 2022 by FromSoftware and Bandai Namco Entertainment. It has received plenty of positive reviews on Steam for the PC version but that doesn’t mean it’s a perfect game without any kind of bugs or issues. Recently, plenty of affected Elden Ring players are reporting that the game is not changing resolution or the full screen/borderless window is not working in most cases.

Now, if you’re also one of the victims to encounter the same issue then you can follow this troubleshooting guide completely to try resolving it. Luckily, there are a couple of possible workarounds mentioned below that should gonna help you out. Several reports have surfaced on the Steam Community where affected players are talking about the same issue. It may happen due to multiple reasons. So, without wasting any more time, let’s jump into it.

1. Change Elden Ring Resolution

First of all, you should try changing the Elden Ring game resolution from its settings menu by following the steps below. Sometimes a misconfiguration of the game settings may cause such issues.

Launch the Steam client > Go to Library.
Click on Elden Ring and click on PLAY to open it.
Now, head over to System > Go to the Graphics (Monitor icon).
Under the Resolution option, make sure to change the Settings to 1920 x 1080 or whatever the display resolution you’re using.
Change your Screen Mode to Fullscreen or Borderless Windowed whatever you want.
Once done, close the game, and relaunch it.

2. Adjust Windows PC Resolution

The second thing you can do is to simply adjust the Windows PC resolution by following the steps below because the game screen window may not work properly if the resolution mismatches.

Press the Windows+I keys to open Windows Settings.
Now, click on System from the left pane > Click on Display.
Click on the Display resolution drop-down menu > Select the 1920 x 1080 resolution setting.
You might be prompted to Save Changes. Just click on it to apply.
Finally, you can try rebooting the PC and then check for the issue.

3. Use Keyboard Shortcuts

You should also use the keyboard shortcuts to forcefully enter/exit the Elden Ring game in full-screen mode. To do so:

[Once you’re in the game interface, make sure to press and hold the Fn+F11 keys to get into the full-screen mode.
If in case, your keyboard doesn’t have an Fn (Function) key then just press and hold the F11 key.
Otherwise, try pressing the Alt+Enter keys to do the same.

4. Edit the Graphics Config File

The another thing you can do is to just change your graphic settings in-game. You can easily edit the configurations by following the steps below:

Open File Explorer > Click on the three-dots icon.
Select Options > Click on the View tab.
Now, go to search for Hidden files and folders from the list.
Then click on Show hidden files, folders, and drives to select it.
Click on Apply and then OK to confirm changes.
Next, head over to the mentioned directory where the Elden Ring game is installed. [C:\Users\Username\APPDATA\EldenRing\GraphicsConfig.xml]
So, here you’ll have to search for the GraphicsConfig.xml file.
Just open specific file in Notepad and check if the </span>FULLSCREEN</ScreenMode> line is present or not.
- If the mentioned line isn’t present inside the file then make sure to add it.
Press the Ctrl+S keys to Save the changes > Close the File Explorer window.
Finally, reboot the PC to apply changes, and launch Elden Ring to check for the issue.

5. Set Launch Options in Steam

If in case, the Elden Ring game keeps reverting the screen resolution from full-screen to normal windowed mode quite often even after following the above methods then you can try setting up the launch options in the Steam client by following the steps below. It’ll forcefully run the Elden Ring game in fullscreen mode always.

Open the Steam client > Go to Library.
Right-click on Elden Ring from the left pane > Select Properties.
Head over to the Launch Options section and type in -fullscreen inside the box.
Finally, exit the menu, and run Elden Ring.

6. Disable Fullscreen Optimizations

It seems that disabling the fullscreen optimization option did work for some users. You should also try it out. To do so:

Open the Steam launcher > Click on Library.
Right-click on Elden Ring > Click on Manage.
Select Browse local files > Go to Elden Ring installed location.
Now, right-click on EldenRing.exe > Select Properties.
Click on the Compatibility tab > Click on the Disable fullscreen optimizations checkbox to enable it.
Once done, click on Apply and then OK to save changes.

7. Run Elden Ring in the Compatibility Mode

Sometimes issues with the compatibility mode of your game file to run on the PC may also cause screen resolution conflicts. You should always run the game in compatibility mode if your Windows OS version is much higher. To do that:

Right-click on the Elden Ring exe shortcut file on your PC.
Now, select Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
Make sure to click on the Run this program in compatibility mode for: checkbox under the Compatibility mode option to enable it.
You can select Windows 7/8 from the drop-down menu and click on Apply.
Finally, click on OK to save changes.

8. Update Graphics Driver

You should try checking for the graphics driver update on your Windows PC and installing the latest version to ensure no update is pending at your end. An outdated or missing graphics driver can trigger issues with the game launching or running in the fullscreen window mode. To do that:

Right-click on the Start Menu to open up the Quick Access Menu.
Click on Device Manager from the list to open the interface.
Now, you’ll need to double-click on Display adapters to expand it.

Device Manager Update Display Adapter

Then right-click on the dedicated graphics card name you’re using to bring the context menu.
Next, click on Update driver > Choose Search automatically for drivers.
The system will automatically check for the available update.
If an update is available, it’ll automatically download and install the latest version.
Once done, make sure to restart your PC to apply the changes.

If you cannot find any update, then make sure to head over to the official graphics card website and search manually for the latest update. If a new version is available, just download the file on your PC and install it. Whatever graphics card you use, jump to the link below as per the manufacturer.

9. Switch to Dedicated GPU

You should also ensure that your using the dedicated GPU on your Windows computer instead of using the integrated HD graphics. To do so:

For Nvidia GPU:

Right-click on the desktop screen to open the context menu.
Now, click on Nvidia Control Panel to open it.
Head over to 3D Settings > Select Manage 3D Settings.
Open the Program Settings tab and choose Elden Ring from the drop-down menu.
Next, select the preferred graphics processor for this program from another drop-down menu.
Finally, your Nvidia GPU should show as High-Performance Nvidia Processor.
Save the changes and reboot the PC.

For AMD GPU:

Right-click on the desktop screen to open the context menu.
Now, open Radeon Settings > Navigate to Additional Settings.
Go to Preferences > Select Power > Choose Switchable Graphics Application Settings.
Select Elden Ring from the list of installed applications. [If the game isn’t in the list, you can select Add Application and include the game exe file]
Finally, select High Performance from the Graphics Settings, option > Reboot the PC.

10. Verify and Repair Game Files

A corrupted or missing games files on the PC can eventually trigger multiple issues with the game launching or performance whatsoever. To do so:

Launch the Steam client > Click on Library.
Right-click on Elden Ring from the list of installed games.
Now, click on Properties > Go to Local Files.

Click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
You’ll have to wait for the process until it gets completed.
Once done, just restart your computer.

11. Reinstall Elden Ring

If none of the methods worked for you then try reinstalling the Elden Ring game on the PC to check if that helps you to fix the fullscreen not working issue.

Open the Steam client on your PC.
Go to Library > Right-click on Elden Ring.
Select Uninstall > Click on Delete to confirm.
Wait for the uninstallation process to complete > Exit the Steam client.
Now, open the File Explorer application > Copy-paste C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common on the address bar and hit Enter to search for the location.
Go to the Elden Ring folder > Make sure to Delete the folder completely.
Reboot the PC to apply changes > Finally, open Steam and Reinstall the Elden Ring game again.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. For additional queries, you can comment below.

Fix: Elden Ring Not Changing Resolution or Full Screen/Borderless Window Not Working