How to Play League of Legends in Full Screen
To play League of Legends in full screen, open the in-game settings with Esc, go to Video, and set Window Mode to Full Screen, then match the resolution to your monitor. Borderless is the alternative if you alt-tab a lot. The game window can go full screen, but the League client (the lobby) only offers fixed window sizes.
How do you make League of Legends full screen?
From inside a League match, which is the only place the window mode setting lives. A Practice Tool game is the quickest way to get there without affecting anyone.
- Start any game, for example Practice Tool from the Play menu.
- Press Esc to open Options.
- Open the Video tab.
- Set Window Mode to Full Screen.
- Set Resolution to your monitor’s native resolution, for example 1920×1080 or 2560×1440.
- Click Okay. The setting is saved for future games.
That’s all most players need. To be fair, it’s the same in every version of the game since the settings menu was redesigned, so old screenshots still mostly apply. The rest of this LoL guide covers the cases where it doesn’t behave: wrong resolution, black bars, a second monitor or a mode that keeps resetting.
Full screen vs borderless vs windowed: which should you use?
All three show the same game; they differ in how Windows treats the window. Here’s the short comparison:
| Mode | What it does | Good for | Downside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Screen | The game takes over the display | Smooth play on one monitor | Alt-tabbing can be slow or flicker |
| Borderless | A window the size of the screen, without edges | Switching to Discord or a browser often | On some PCs, slightly less smooth |
| Windowed | A normal window you can resize and move | Watching something on the side, testing | Smaller view, taskbar visible |
Honestly, for most people the choice is between full screen and borderless. If you rarely leave League during a match, full screen is the natural pick. If you check a guide or a Discord message between deaths, borderless saves you the annoying flash of switching. Try both for 3 or 4 games; the difference you feel on your own PC matters more than any rule.
Is there a shortcut for League of Legends full screen?
Yes: Alt+Enter switches between full screen and windowed while you’re in a game. It’s handy when League opens windowed for some reason (it happens after big patches), or when you need the desktop for a moment. If the shortcut does nothing, change the mode in Video settings instead, which always works.
Can the League client be full screen?
No. Funny enough, the client, where you queue, pick champions and open the store, has fixed window sizes rather than a full screen option. You can change its size in the client settings (the gear icon), where the usual choices are 1600×900, 1280×720 and 1024×576. The game window that opens for the match is separate and follows your in-game Video settings.
That split confuses people. You set full screen in a League match, go back to the lobby, and the client is still a window. That’s expected behaviour, not a bug, so there’s nothing to fix.
What resolution should you use for League of Legends full screen?
Your monitor’s native one, almost always. League is light enough that most PCs run it at native resolution, and anything lower looks soft because the screen has to scale the image.
| Monitor | Native resolution | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Full HD | 1920×1080 | The most common setup |
| QHD | 2560×1440 | Sharper text and UI, a bit more GPU load |
| 4K | 3840×2160 | Raise the HUD scale so the interface isn’t tiny |
| Ultrawide | 3440×1440 | Wider view, limited by the game’s own field of view |
Weak laptop? Lower graphics quality before resolution. And on 4K screens, check the HUD and minimap scale in the Interface tab, since the default sizes can feel small at that density. Why struggle with a tiny minimap when one slider fixes it?
Why does League of Legends full screen have black bars or look stretched?
Because the game resolution doesn’t match your monitor. A 1920×1080 monitor showing the game at a lower resolution has to stretch the image, which looks blurry, or pad it with black bars, which wastes screen space.
The fix is simple: choose your monitor’s native resolution in Video settings. If it’s missing from the list, update your graphics driver and check Windows display settings, since League lists the resolutions Windows reports. Ultrawide monitors get extra width in League, but how much of the map that shows is limited, so don’t expect a huge advantage from a wider screen.
Does League of Legends full screen work on laptops with two graphics chips?
Yes, but check which chip runs the game. Many laptops have a weak integrated GPU and a stronger dedicated one, and Windows sometimes starts League on the weaker chip. Then full screen may stutter, refuse to switch, or show the wrong resolutions.
Luckily, and this is the good news, the fix takes a minute. Open Windows Settings, System, Display, Graphics, add the League game executable (League of Legends.exe in the Game folder of your installation) and set it to High performance. Plug the laptop in while playing, too, since many laptops slow the GPU on battery. After that, full screen and native resolution usually behave the same as on a desktop.
How do you play League in full screen on a second monitor?
League opens on your main display. To move it, either set the second monitor as the main display in Windows Settings, System, Display (“Make this my main display”), or switch League to windowed, drag the window onto the other monitor, and then switch back to full screen or borderless there.
Borderless is the friendliest mode for two monitors, whatever brand they are. You can move the mouse to the other screen to check something without the game minimizing, which full screen sometimes does. Is that worth a small performance cost? For most players with two screens, yes, and you can always switch back if it isn’t.
Why won’t League of Legends stay in full screen?
Usually because something resets the setting or steals focus from the game window, and the fix depends on which. Common causes:
- Notifications or overlays that grab focus, such as a game overlay or a chat pop-up. Turn off overlays you don’t need.
- Windows display scaling above 100% on high-resolution screens. If the game looks wrong, try the Compatibility tab of the League game executable and override high DPI scaling.
- Outdated graphics drivers, especially on laptops with two graphics chips.
- A broken settings file. League keeps its settings in a file called game.cfg inside the Config folder of your League installation; back it up, then delete it, and the game creates a fresh one with default video settings at next launch.
If the game shows a black screen in full screen instead of the match, that’s a different problem with its own fixes; see our LoL black screen guide.
Does full screen improve League performance?
Sometimes a little, depending on the PC. Full screen gives League more direct control of the display, which on some systems means smoother frame pacing and lower input delay. On modern Windows with up-to-date drivers, borderless is often close enough that you won’t notice. Display mode doesn’t touch your connection, though: if what you feel is network lag, a ping test for your LoL server shows it.
Real talk: if your FPS is low, window mode won’t save you. Lower shadows and effects, cap the frame rate a bit above your monitor’s refresh rate (for example 144 on a 120 Hz screen is plenty), and close background apps. Our guide to the best LoL settings goes through each option, and if you want to know whether your PC is up to it at all, check the League system requirements.
Can you play League of Legends full screen on a Mac?
Yes. On macOS the same Video settings apply, with full screen, borderless and windowed modes in the game. Mac users can also use the green full screen button on a windowed game, but the in-game setting is more reliable. More on running League on Apple hardware is in our guide to League on a MacBook.
For what it’s worth, League of Legends full screen is a one-time setup. Set the mode and native resolution once in Practice Tool, check it in a normal game, and you won’t think about it again until you change monitors. If you do change hardware later, whether that is a new monitor, a new graphics card or a laptop dock, open Practice Tool once more and repeat the same two settings, because the game keeps the old resolution until you tell it otherwise, and a mismatch is the single most common reason a setup that used to look sharp suddenly looks blurry or boxed in.
FAQ
How do I put League of Legends in full screen?
In a game, press Esc, open Video and set Window Mode to Full Screen. Choose your monitor’s native resolution and click Okay.
What is the full screen shortcut in League?
Alt+Enter switches between full screen and windowed while you are in a game.
Why is the League client not full screen?
The client only offers fixed window sizes, such as 1600 by 900 or 1280 by 720 pixels. Full screen applies to the game window during matches.
Is borderless or full screen better for League?
Full screen suits players who stay in the game; borderless suits players who switch to other apps often or use two monitors.
How do I fix black bars in League full screen?
Set the game resolution to your monitor’s native resolution in Video settings, and update your graphics driver if it is missing.
How do I reset League video settings?
Back up and delete game.cfg in the Config folder of your League installation. The game recreates it with default settings at the next launch.
