Changing the resolution of the monitor usually takes 3-4 steps. You need to open Display Settings, and then select the solution, preview and then apply for it. Instead, if you want to change monitor resolution quickly, here is two free software you can try which works with Keyboard shortcut.
How to quickly change monitor resolution with Keyboard Shortcut
While most of the users dont change resolution at all, these tools are useful only for those who need to change it often. Sometimes you need to experiment to figure out which resolution works better. Many laptops and desktop monitors work best with native resolution, while others deliver brilliant display when configured differently.
1] HRC – HotKey Resolution Changer
Its a free monitor resolution changes which work with a keyboard shortcut. Download it from here, and extract it. Its a portable application, so we suggest you keep it somewhere it doesn’t get deleted.
Launch the application, and you will receive a notification about its setup. Many a time when changing resolution, the display can get stuck. If thats the case, then you can use the HotKey CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+ R. It will reset the screen to the original resolution and acts as an emergency fallback. If that does not work, restart the computer in safe mode and reset the resolution manually.
The application once launched, sits in the system tray. Open it from there. What you would see is two monitors, but thats two sets of resolution. Each resolution can have its hotkey which you can assign by adding it to the text box next to Hotkeys.
If you need to switch between more resolution, you can increase the dropdown for Number of Hot Keys.
There are two essential hotkeys or shortcut you need to remember all the time. They will come in handy when, for some reason, the resolution change creates a problem.
- Ctrl + Alt + R : Recover from tray
- Ctrl + Alt + Shift + R: Reset to initial resolution.
The only drawback of the software is that it does not deal with multiple display settings/ It cannot set a different resolution for different monitor or extended displays. You will need to set them as the primary display, and then change accordingly.
That said, make sure to add HRC to Windows Startup. It will make sure the software is available as soon as you log into Windows, and hotkeys are ready to respond.
2] 12 Noon Display Changer
It is a command-line tool from 12 Noon, which is capable of changing the resolution for a particular application as well. So if there a program which needs different resolution, you can launch it using it, and when the application closes, it reverts to the original resolution of the monitor. Extremely useful for applications which need different refresh rate which monitors supports but doesn’t need it all the time.
Here is the command line parameters you can use
dc.exe {switches} [program [switches for program]]If you don’t specify a program on the command line, Display Changer will change the resolution of the specified (or default) monitor.
dccmd.exe -width=640 -height=480 -depth=8 -refresh=72
"C:\Program Files\Hasbro\mygame.exe"
dccmd.exe -width=max -height=max -refresh=max -depth=max
The only thing it can change is Windows DPI. Microsoft doesn’t offer any access to DPI, as of now.
To use this quickly, I would suggest creating a shortcut with command-line options. Then you can assign a keyboard shortcut to launch it immediately.
