How to Open Steam Games in Windowed Mode
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How to Open Steam Games in Windowed Mode
If you want to run a resource-intensive Steam game on a low-end computer or have issues running a certain game, you may want to run it in windowed mode. This guide will show you several ways to launch Steam games in windowed mode.
Some games don’t have built-in windowed mode support, but if you have games on Steam, you can configure it to launch any game in windowed mode.
The Benefits of running games in windowed mode:
- The windowed mode feature in Steam can help you run some old games that otherwise wouldn’t.
- It can help you run resource-demanding games with improved frame rates.
- Running a game in windowed mode is useful when having dual monitors. It allows you to multitask or switch to other tasks with no delay.
- Launching a Steam game in windowed mode is a useful workaround when experiencing performance issues.
Before applying any of our methods, go to the game’s in-game display settings and check if it has a windows mode option. Select it if it does and save the changes. If there’s no in-game windowed mode option, follow the methods below.
Video Guide on How to Open Steams Games in Windowed Mode
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Change Steam Game Launch Parameters
- Video Guide on How to Open Steams Games in Windowed Mode
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Change Steam Game Launch Parameters
1. Open Steam.
2. In the Steam Library, right-click a game and select Properties.
3. In the Launch Options text box, type in –windowed.
4. If the game doesn't launch in windowed mode, try typing in –windowed -w 1024.
5. Close the Properties window and launch the game. The parameter will launch the game in windowed mode with a set resolution.
6. When you don’t want the game to launch in windowed mode, erase the –windowed parameter.
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Rimvydas Iliavicius
Researcher, author
Rimvydas is a researcher with over four years of experience in the cybersecurity industry. He attended Kaunas University of Technology and graduated with a Master's degree in Translation and Localization of Technical texts. His interests in computers and technology led him to become a versatile author in the IT industry. At PCrisk, he's responsible for writing in-depth how-to articles for Microsoft Windows.
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