How to adjust displays scale and layout on Windows 10

When connecting one or multiple displays to your computer, Windows 10 does a pretty good job detecting and configuring the most optimal settings, but depending on your requirements, you may need to adjust scaling, resolution, and orientation for each monitor.

Selecting correct scale

Windows 10 includes settings to adjust the scaling, which can come in handy when setting up various monitors of different sizes and screen resolutions to make text, apps, and other items look the same size across the displays. Or if you have a 4K display, for example, adjusting the scale settings can help to make items bigger and more readable.

To select the correct scale that best suits your requirements, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on System.
3. Click on Display.
4. Under the "Select and rearrange displays" section, select the monitor that you want to adjust.

5. Use the Change the size of text, apps, and other items drop-down menu to select the appropriate scale.

   

After you complete the steps, you may need to repeat steps No. 4 and 5 to change the scaling settings on the other monitors, and then click the Sign-out option to apply the changes.

While you can adjust the scaling settings on a per-monitor basis, it's always best to use the same monitors with the same configuration. Otherwise, you may run into issues, and Windows 10 may struggle with scaling elements.

Custom scaling

If none of the options work on your setup, you can specify a custom scaling value with these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on System.
3. Click on Display.
4. Under the "Select and rearrange displays" section, select the monitor that you want to adjust.

5. Under the "Scale and layout" section, click the Advanced scaling settings option.

   

6. Under the "Custom scaling" section, specify the scaling size between 100 and 500 percent.

   

7. Click the Apply button.

After you complete the steps, sign out and sign back in to test the new settings. If the new scaling configuration doesn't look right, use the same steps outlined above, and try a different value.