How do I scale default app size smaller than "Default" in Windows 8.1?

Question

I'm on a 1920x1080 pixel, 15.1" laptop running Windows 8.1. Some of my apps (Eclipse, SourceTree, pgAdmin, Chrome) render larger than I would like, fitting far less content than on Windows 7.

I can "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings" for pgAdmin and Chrome, which allows me to fit much more content on the screen. However, this does not work for other apps (Eclipse, SourceTree).

The Windows Display Settings options allow me to "Change the size of apps, text, and other items on the screen (only applies to displays that can support it)." The only options are:

• Default
• Larger

"Default" is still way too large, rendering size 10 fonts nearly double the size of size 10 fonts in apps where display scaling is successfully disabled. The apps do not allow font size and button size adjustment low enough to fit as much content on the screen as if run under Windows 7.

Is there a way to scale smaller than "Default" on my display? I want to make use of my screen real-estate!!

Answer 1

RE: Resizing your screen output aka Display Resolution.

Typically, if your resolution set to low, programs seem to large for the screen, likewise, if you increase your font sizes, the could cause the same problem. The lower the resolution, the larger programs display on the screen.

In addition, check the control panel >> Display >> and check box [x] Let me choose one scaling level for all my displays. Once the box is checked, new choices appear. You should see, Smaller 100%, Medium 125%, and Larger 150%. It seems that 100% is the lowest option. If it is set on that, then your other option is, if the Programs seem not to fit the screen is go for the Higher resolution, and you could also change your font sizes to a smaller size. I bump mine to 10 straight across the board, but sometimes this makes a program not fit the screen, so you could bump each one down a notch. 11 to 10, 9 to 8, etc. However, in windows 8.1, you need to adjust each one, and click apply. You can't just go thru them and change the number and then click apply once like you could in previous versions that worked that way.