How to Change DPI Scaling Settings in Windows 10 or 11

By Corporal Punishment

on 07/03/2023

Hey Geeks - you may have noticed that some applications look blurry or pixelated on your screen, especially if you are running hires, like 4K + on your machine. Windows tries to scale the applications to match your display settings, but not all applications support this feature.

This is where adjusting your DPI scaling comes in, and below I will explain how to override the DPI scaling behavior of Windows and make your applications look crisp and clear.

DPI stands for dots per inch, and it measures how many pixels are displayed on a physical one-inch area of the screen. The higher the DPI, the more detailed and sharp the image. However, some applications are designed for a specific DPI setting, or legacy applications may have no DPI awareness at all. If you have a different DPI setting on your Display, it may need to scale properly and appear blurry or distorted. For example, as you can see in the screenshot of my Photoshop 12, which is circa 2010 the fonts and icons are unreadable and unresponsive to the 200% scale setting. 4K monitors weren't introduced until three years later, so compatibility is going to be a thing. Sure, I could upgrade, but I'm holding off on subscription-based as long as possible. Let me hear a "Hell Yeah" from all you cheap Geeks out there! Plus, I find myself using other apps like GIMP anyway. So the better choice is to fix it.

DPI scaling is a feature that Windows introduced to improve the readability and usability of applications on high-DPI displays. High-DPI displays have more pixels per inch than standard displays to show more details. However, this also means that the elements of the applications, such as text, icons, and buttons, can appear too small and hard to see on high-DPI displays. To solve this problem, Windows can scale applications by a certain percentage based on the DPI setting of your monitor. You can do this by right-clicking on your Desktop - choose Display, then Scale. My machine is at 3840x2160 px, and I scale to 200% so that fonts and icons are legible -- but this setup can cause problems.

To fix this problem, Windows 10 and 11 offer a "Override High DPI Scaling Behavior" feature. Windows 11 calls it "Change High DPI Settings" but the options are the same. This feature allows you to choose how an application scaling is handled. You can access the settings by right-clicking on the application's executable file, selecting Properties, and then going to the Compatibility tab. A checkbox says, "Override high DPI scaling behavior. A drop-down menu lets you choose one of three options. NOTE: You must be working with the actual EXE of the application, not a shortcut to it. If you use a shortcut, choose Open File Location, which will bring you to the EXE you need.

The three options you can choose with DPI Scaling are; Application, System, and System Enhanced. The option you choose will depend on the application and your display settings, but here are some general guidelines:

Application
If you want Windows to scale the application according to your display settings, choose "Application ." Application is the default option and works well for most applications that support DPI scaling.

System
If you want the application to scale according to its built-in settings, choose "System ."This option may work better for some older applications that do not support DPI scaling or have their own scaling mechanisms.

System (Enhanced)
If you want the system to scale the application using bitmap stretching, choose "System (Enhanced) ."This option may improve the appearance of some applications that use bitmap graphics but also may introduce some artifacts or blurriness.

It will be good to try each setting to see which looks best per each application. If things go weird, you can always go back to default. Just select the check box for High DPI Scaling and click OK. Try an option and see what it looks like. You may need to restart the application or log out and back in for the changes to take effect. In the screenshots below, I used System Enhanced, and the Photoshop fonts and icons now look perfect and legible.

By overriding the DPI scaling behavior of Windows, you can make your applications look better on your high-resolution Display and enjoy a better user experience. I hope this was helpful and informative. Thanks!