If your desktop looks like a thumbnail in the center of your monitor, or you have to scroll around to see everything, you could try to set the resolution manually. Here, we are going to learn how to change screen resolution in Ubuntu.
Screen resolution errors could happen because a bug in your GPU’s drivers doesn’t identify your monitor correctly. Or, you have the wrong screen resolution set in Ubuntu settings. Although it is a rare problem, it can be easily fixed.
How to Change Screen Resolution in Ubuntu
To fix the screen resolution problem in Ubuntu you can follow the following methods: using the GUI and the Terminal. So, let’s discuss them one by one.
1. Using the Terminal
The best way to fix screen resolution errors on Ubuntu is by using the terminal. You just need to run a few commands.
For that, you can use the RandR (Resize and Rotate) extension, which is responsible for handling the output on your screen. By default, it is installed on your Ubuntu, so you don’t need to install it.
Here are the steps you can follow:
1. Use the shortcut keys Ctrl + Alt + T to open the Terminal.
2. On the terminal, you have to run the following command. This will show you your current display settings, including the current display resolution, maximum resolution, and the resolution the display can support.
xrandr
3. To change the resolution to a specific value, you need to use either the -s or –size parameter of the xrandr command. For instance, if you want to change the screen resolution to 1680×1050, you can run the following command:
xrandr -s 1680*1050
4. As soon as the command is executed, you will observe that the screen resolution has changed, and your monitor screen will adopt a new resolution.
5. Or, if you don’t want to provide the width and height to change the resolution, you can also use the aspect ratio. To do so, run the following command:
xrandr -s 16:9
2. Using the GUI
If the terminal method doesn’t work, you can try the GUI method. You can change the screen resolution from the display settings.
To do so, follow the steps mentioned below:
1. Click on the Show Application options and launch the Settings application.
2. On the search bar, search for Settings and open it. Or, to access the Display Settings, right-click on the desktop and select the Display Settings option.
3. Next, click on the Display option. Now, click on the Resolution option and select your monitor’s native resolution from the drop-down menu.
4. You can also change the display orientation and refresh rate from here. If you are icons are looking small, you can also change the scale to 200%.
5. To apply the changes click on the Apply button. Now, confirm the changes by clicking on the Keep Changes button.
6. After that, the changes will take effect immediately.
Conclusion
That’s it! This is how you can change your screen resolution in Ubuntu. However, if you’re using a 4K display, you may encounter issues with viewing icons and text on the display as they may appear too small. To fix this, you can enable fractional scaling and display scale to 150 – 200%.
