Windows 10 default dpi settings make cmd blurry

Question

I have recently upgraded to Windows 10 and I have noticed that my cmd console is very big and blurry. I have tried reducing text-size, but if I reduce those the desktop items become too small.

The recommended setting is 125% which I must use for proper desktop display. The same setting makes my cmd look like:

OK, it looks better here but on my screen it is much bigger and blurry. Another one to show:

Background is firefox browser showing SO page with the image and in front the real cmd. I know you can disable high dpi for applications under compatibility, but how do I do this for cmd.

Answer 1

This forum thread discusses the problem: Link.

It looks like this is a bug or missing feature in Windows 10. To fix it:

Press Win + R to open the Run Dialog. Enter shell:startup and press enter.

Right click in the startup folder and choose New -> Text Document.

Enter this text in the text document

REG ADD "HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop" /v DpiScalingVer /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00001018 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop" /v Win8DpiScaling /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001 /f
REG ADD "HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop" /v LogPixels /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000078 /f

Save the file and rename it to fixdpi.cmd

Double click on the file to run it once.

Restart Windows.

The reason it needs to be run every startup is that Windows resets the options every other (?) restart.

Answer 2

OK, so there are 2 settings for font sizing. Here is what I use and is much better for me. The two settings are for:

1. Right-click on desktop chose display a setting window will open. For me earlier it was set to 125% which by the way is recommended. I changed it to 100% (the lowest).

2. In the above window opened, there is a link for Advanced display settings at bottom, open it. Again there will be an Advanced sizing of text and other items at bottom, open it. A new window will open, which will have link to custom scaling level (not recommended), open it. For me it was set to 100% earlier. I changed it to 125%.

Now my text is crisp and sharp and desktop items are neither blurred/enlarged nor too small. Also cmd fonts are not blurred now, which were not noticeable with reduced fonts. I reduced font-size for cmd anyway as it was too big.

Answer 3

I've managed to get sharp fonts in CMD, Device Manager, etc using standard Windows settings UI (i.e., without the auto-start registry script).

Basically, you need to go to the Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Display and set a custom scaling level to 125%.

The nuance is that the UI won't let you to apply the setting if you already have the recommended 125% setting in the Settings > Display. But there are at least two workarounds:

Workaround 1: You can just set the scaling level to some other value in the Settings > Display UI, just before changing the settings back to 125% in the custom scaling level UI.

Workaround 2: You can set the custom scaling level to some other value in the custom scaling level UI, Apply, choose to re-logon later in the popped dialog, then set the custom scaling level back to 125%, Apply, and re-logon manually.

I've tested both workarounds and they both worked on two of my laptops.

Answer 4

I have similar issues with blurry fonts on Windows 10 for %125 DPI. Please try this tool. It works for me perfectly. The tool claims that the root cause lies in the different DPI algorithms used in Windows 8/8.1 and 10.

Answer 5

I had blurry fonts although 100% scale font was selected by default on newly installed Windows 10. What helped in my case:

1. Change scale to different eg. from 100% to 125%
2. Sign out (to trigger the changes)
3. Sign in
4. Then fonts should be visible perfect
5. Change scale back to eg.100%
6. The font should stay visible perfect

It is important to log off and log on. Without that it does not work

Answer 6

This scaling issue is a known problem with Windows, the only thing you can really do is find the best scaling settings that fit your needs. Although, you should be able to set a console text size by right clicking on the cmd prompt. Setting a console text size shouldn't affect the rest of Windows.