Games will not stay open in fullscreen mode


mercury_1967

Member
Local time
9:39 AM
Posts
9
OS
Windows 11
My laptop is a Lenovo Thinkpad with a 4k monitor. I play games on it at 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Recently I plugged a monitor in to play games on that via HDMI. It is also a 4k monitor, but again, I played in 1920 x 1080 res.

When I disconnected the monitor to play again on the laptop, games will not stay open in fullscreen mode. I have tried three different games. I can play them in Windowed and Windowed Fullscreen, but not in Fullscreen mode. When I switch a game to fullscreen, the screen flickers a couple of times and the game is minimized to the taskbar.

How can I fix this? (reinstalling the games and rebooting the laptop did not resolve the issue.)
 
Windows Build/Version
Win 11 version 21H2 (OS Build 22000.675)

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    Intel i7-8850H 2.6GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
    Screen Resolution
    4k
    Hard Drives
    450GB SSD
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Webroot
have you checked windows settings? Goto settings/System/Display/Scale and layout. Make sure all settings there fit your screen.
Scale should be 100%, display resolution should be at the 1920 x 1080 etc..
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro Version 22H2(OS Build 22621.963)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    AMD
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8 Core
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro WiFi
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    PCI Express 3.0 x16: PowerColor RX Vega 56 Red Dragon
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220 and AMD Greenland - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 - 27 inch Westinghouse
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 SSD - 2 TB each
    1 HDD - 2 TB
    Keyboard
    logitech
    Mouse
    logitech
    Internet Speed
    1 GB
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Avast Premium
My system resolution is set to the monitor's resolution of 3840 x 2160 and scaled at 200%. Both say "Recommended" next to the setting. It's always been set to those values and I've never changed them.

The behavior I described above only started after I disconnected the external monitor and tried to play on the laptop's monitor again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    Intel i7-8850H 2.6GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
    Screen Resolution
    4k
    Hard Drives
    450GB SSD
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Webroot
My system resolution is set to the monitor's resolution of 3840 x 2160 and scaled at 200%. Both say "Recommended" next to the setting. It's always been set to those values and I've never changed them.

The behavior I described above only started after I disconnected the external monitor and tried to play on the laptop's monitor again.
I see. Well try setting them to 1920 x 1080 and see what happens. I understand thats not the full size that your monitors are but I did have a similar problem when my displayports went bad which I found out happen Alot i guess.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro Version 22H2(OS Build 22621.963)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    AMD
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8 Core
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro WiFi
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    PCI Express 3.0 x16: PowerColor RX Vega 56 Red Dragon
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220 and AMD Greenland - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 - 27 inch Westinghouse
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 SSD - 2 TB each
    1 HDD - 2 TB
    Keyboard
    logitech
    Mouse
    logitech
    Internet Speed
    1 GB
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge
    Antivirus
    Avast Premium
I see. Well try setting them to 1920 x 1080 and see what happens. I understand thats not the full size that your monitors are but I did have a similar problem when my displayports went bad which I found out happen Alot i guess.
I set the resolution to 1920 x 1080 and tested a game and it ran fine, but that's not really an optimal solution.

I'm hoping someone can suggest something that will allow me to use the native resolution again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    Intel i7-8850H 2.6GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
    Screen Resolution
    4k
    Hard Drives
    450GB SSD
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Webroot
Check to see if Windows is still trying to project to the monitor that you disconnected ([Win} + [P]).

Also, try reconnecting the monitor, run the game, put it in windowed mode, then move it manually to your laptop monitor, and then switch back to the full screen. After doing all this with all the games giving you issues, finally, disconnect the monitor.

FWIW - this is a built in 'feature' of Windows 11, whereby it minimizes the apps that were on another display when that display is no longer present.

An alternate way would be to start the game, hit [ALT] + [ENTER] with it running and focused (which may be hard for you do since it keeps minimizing), and then use the [Win] key plus the arrows to move it to your built-in display. The above may work, but the larger rigmarole of connecting the monitor and moving each game should work no matter what.

HTH
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth

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