Fix: Cannot Change Screen Resolution In Windows 10

Changing the screen resolution in Windows 10 is extremely easy. Right-click on an empty spot on the desktop, click Display settings to open display settings section in the Settings app, and then select a screen resolution under the Resolution section to apply the new resolution.

You can also change the screen resolution by opening your graphics driver’s control panel/settings.

Once in a while, readers reach out to us to complain that they are unable to change the screen resolution in Windows 10. Readers report that the screen resolution drop-down doesn’t show all available resolutions or shows only the current screen resolution.

If you are also unable to change the screen resolution in Windows 10, please try out the following solutions in that order.

IMPORTANT: Before trying out the solutions mentioned on this page, we advise you to reboot your PC once.

NOTE: If you are in a hurry, scroll down to solution 4 of this article.

Solution 1 of 5

Check if the display driver is installed on your PC

More often than not, you cannot change the screen resolution without installing the correct display/graphics driver. To check if you have installed the display driver:

Step 1: Right-click the Start button on the taskbar and then click Device Manager to open it.

Step 2: Expand Display or Display adapters. The entry of your display/graphics card indicates that the driver is installed. If the display driver is not installed, you will see the Microsoft basic display driver entry instead of the graphics card entry.

Solution 2 of 5

Restart the display driver

At times, restarting the display/graphics driver might fix the issue. So, it’s a good idea to restart the display driver by simultaneously pressing Windows + Ctrl + Shift + B keys. Your PC will make a beeping sound once while restating the display driver and your screen might flicker once during the same.

Check if you can change the screen resolution now.

Solution 3 of 5

Update display driver

With default settings, Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs the latest version of the display driver whenever available. If you have turned off automatic driver updates, you can manually check if an update is available for your display driver. Here is how to do that.

Step 1: Open Device Manager. Expand Display adapters.

Step 2: Right-click on your graphics card entry and then click Update driver option.

Step 3: In the resulting Update Drive wizard, click Search automatically for updated driver software option to check your PC as well as internet if a newer version of the display driver is available. If available, Windows 10 will automatically download and install the update.

Solution 4 of 5

Reinstall the display driver

If you are unable to change the display resolution, it’s most likely because the display driver is not installed or corrupted. Reinstalling the display driver should fix the issue.

Please follow our how to reinstall the display driver in Windows 10 for step-by-step directions.

After reinstalling the display driver, reboot your PC once and then check if you can change the display driver.

Solution 5 of 5

Restore Windows 10 to a previous date

If you are unable to change the screen resolution after installing some programs or making changes to the operating system, you can try restoring Windows 10 to an earlier date. Refer to our how to restore Windows 10 to an earlier date article for step-by-step directions.

You might want to know how to set custom screen resolution in Windows 10.