Fullscreen vs. borderless? Why I stopped tripping on the gaming mode question

You typically have a choice between Windows fullscreen or Windows borderless viewing modes while gaming on PC, which begs the question: Which mode is better?

The short answer that you’ll get from any AI chatbot and most tech websites, is that Fullscreen is better for gaming performance. Otherwise, if you need to jump between programs, multiple monitors, or other tasks on your PC, borderless window mode is better. But is that a blanket rule? Read on for a more personal answer.

Benefits of Windows fullscreen mode

Windows fullscreen mode is the default gaming mode running whenever I launch a game in Windows. In this mode my games are displayed across my entire display and Windows gives them full control of the screen’s output.

I use fullscreen mode for almost all my games, but my reason for doing so hasn’t really got to do with performance. In fact, I’ve found there’s very little difference.

For example, running Cyberpunk 2077 on my PC’s Ryzen 5 and RTX 2070 Super at 1080p yields an average of 77.6 fps, whereas I get an average 77.2 fps in borderless mode — so there’s no real performance gain to be had.

That may come as a surprise to many gamers, but I’ve witnessed similar results across most of the graphically demanding games in my library.

That’s not to say there isn’t optimization happening in fullscreen mode. Windows optimizes my resolution and will focus more resources on running these games, but this just doesn’t have a substantial impact on my frame rates.

Further reading: The best gaming monitors we’ve tested

There are several caveats to that. One is that those results are specific to my hardware and my gaming setup. Secondly, I’m not running anything too taxing in the background in borderless window mode — if you’re running applications that utilize a high portion of CPU/GPU resources, you may see a more substantial drop in performance with borderless.

On the point about jumping programs, what you will read elsewhere is true. It is a lot harder to switch tabs and jump between multiple displays in fullscreen mode. For me it can take the good part of a minute while my PC allocates resources to the new tasks and takes me out of my game window.

The upside to that, though, is that my cursor and other things that I need for my game to run smoothly are locked and secure in my game window, so there’s less chance that a prompt or cursor glitch will disrupt my game.

When I will typically use borderless window mode

Occasionally I’ll take the time to switch to borderless window mode when I’m super busy and I need to multitask.

In case you’ve never used it, borderless window mode is designed to look like fullscreen mode, however in reality your game’s image is just stretched across the screen to mimic it.

This mode allows you to move quicker through tabs and access applications outside of your game’s window using task switcher and commands like Alt + Tab, because you’ve never really left Windows.

I’ll generally use this mode when I have a chat box open and I’m expecting messages, when I’m writing up observations about a game and want to quickly switch between Microsoft Word or Notepad, or when I’m watching a Let’s Play or walkthrough on a separate monitor and want to control the playback.

Pexels: Jethro C

The biggest benefit is that Windows won’t automatically minimize my game when I switch tabs, so I can easily control my apps and return to the game without any fuss.

While it used to be the case that most games required fullscreen mode to run certain features, I’m finding that the number of games that allow seamless control of games in borderless window mode is now quite large thanks to developers utilizing DirectX 12.

A small subset of games may have resolution or scaling issues in borderless window mode, but most game developers will try to resolve these when brought to their attention. I also have to occasionally watch settings for Nvidia’s graphics technologies, which need a little fine-tuning for some games, but other than that most just run smoothly.

Rather than one being better than the other then — whether you use Fullscreen or borderless window modes, or like the idea of mixing it up — it really comes down to your personal choice. So, be sure to play around with both options to see what works best for you.