Change Ubuntu Display Resolution: A Step-by-Step Guide

Display resolution is the number of pixels Ubuntu draws on your monitor, for example 1920×1080. It decides how sharp text looks, how big icons and windows appear, and how much fits on the screen at once. If text looks blurry or stretched, the wrong resolution is often the cause.

Ubuntu normally reads your monitor’s capabilities and picks the best setting automatically. That choice can go wrong, especially with older monitors, adapters, projectors, TVs or virtual machines. When it does, you can override it in the Settings app in a few clicks, and no restart is needed.

How to adjust display resolutions in Ubuntu Linux

The short version: open the Settings app, click Displays in the sidebar, and pick a new size from the Resolution drop-down menu. This fixes blurry text, corrects stretched images, and lets you fit more windows on screen at once. The full steps follow.

The Settings app is the central control panel in Ubuntu. It covers system-wide options, creating new user accounts, software updates and more. Open it first:

1. Click Show Applications or press the Super (Windows) key to open the Activities overview.
2. Type Settings in the search🔍 box.
3. Click the Settings icon. The Settings⚙️ window opens with a list of categories in the sidebar.

You can also reach Settings from the top bar. Click the System menu at the top-right corner of the screen. It holds the network, sound and power icons.

In the System menu, choose Settings, as highlighted in the image below. The Settings window opens in the same place as with the first method.

4. Click the Display tile, or the Displays entry in the sidebar, to open the panel. The label depends on your Ubuntu version: some releases say Display and some say Displays. The panel is the same.
5. Under Device Display, open the Resolution drop-down menu. In older releases this panel is titled System Settings - › Display. You will see a list of resolutions your monitor and graphics driver support.
6. Select a resolution that fits your needs.

Pick the resolution marked as recommended if there is one. That is usually the monitor’s native resolution and gives the sharpest picture. LCD panels look soft at any other size, because the image has to be scaled to fit the pixel grid.

If you use several monitors in extended mode, the settings apply to each screen independently. Select a display in the preview area at the top of the panel first. The options below it then change to match that screen. Make sure you have picked the right one before you change anything.

7. Click Apply once you have chosen a resolution. The screen flickers and redraws at the new size.

The new settings stay in place for 20 seconds, then revert on their own. This protects you if the new resolution gives a blank or unreadable screen. If that happens, wait and Ubuntu returns to the old setting without any input from you.

8. Click Keep Changes to confirm the new configuration. If you do not like it, click Revert Changes, or just wait for the timer to run out.
9. Close the Settings⚙️ app. This finalises the process, and Ubuntu remembers the setting at your next login.

If the resolution you want is not in the list, check a few things. Make sure the cable and any adapter can carry that resolution. Try a different cable or port. On systems with an NVIDIA card, the proprietary driver may be needed to expose all the modes. In a virtual machine, you usually have to install the guest tools or additions before the list offers more than a few sizes.

Lowering the resolution from 1920×1080 to 1280×720 makes text and icons larger. That helps when default scaling feels too small on high-density monitors. The trade-off is a softer picture, since you are no longer using the monitor’s native resolution. If you only want bigger text and icons and still want a sharp picture, try the scaling option in the same panel, if your version offers it, and leave the resolution alone. To go back at any time, return to the same panel and pick the recommended resolution again.

• Changing the display resolution in Ubuntu Linux can optimize the appearance and usability of your desktop.
• Ubuntu’s user-friendly interface enables easy manual adjustment of display resolutions through the System Settings panel.
• Users can fine-tune the resolution to fit their specific needs, enhancing the visual experience on their Ubuntu Linux system.