Changing screen resolution is important in Windows 8. Higher resolutions let you see more tiles on the Start Screen, but lower resolution will let you see text better. Connecting an external monitor or TV means you’re going to want to tweak resolution as well as which screen has which desktop.

CHANGE RESOLUTION

You can get to the Screen Resolution window from the desktop.

1. If on the Start Screen, press the Windows Key. Otherwise, skip this step
2. Press Windows Key + D to clear the desktop
3. Right click on an empty area and click Change Resolution


Right click in any empty space on the desktop and click Change Resolution.

You can also get there from the Control Panel. Once at the Control Panel, under Appearance and Personlization, click Adjust Screen Resolution.



The Adjust Screen Resolution section is what you want.

SINGLE MONITOR

If you’ve only got one monitor, you can’t do much more than adjust resolution. The “Recommended” setting is ideal for seeing everything on the Start Screen, but if you have trouble reading the text, then a lower setting might be wiser.



Adjust resolution when on a single monitor.

MULTIPLE MONITORS

If you’ve got two monitors, or a laptop screen and an external monitor, you can choose to only show the display on the primary monitor, duplicate the display on both screens (with both screens having the max resolution of your monitor), or turn off the secondary monitor.

Note that the primary screen displays the Start Screen by default and the secondary screen displays the Desktop. This can’t be changed.



You can choose to show the same or different screens on different monitors.

I have the laptop’s lid closed and the display on the external monitor only, but you’ll need to adjust the Power Settings to be sure your laptop doesn’t go to sleep when you close the lid.

To be sure your laptop stays on when the lid is closed:

1. Go to the Control Panel
2. Search for Power Options
3. Click Change What Closing the Lid Does
4. To the right of When I Close the Lid:, select Nothing
5. Click Save Changes

It’s always good to know how to change the resolution of your PC whenever you need to.

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