How to Make GTA 5 Full Screen on Windows 11

To make GTA V fill your display, open Settings → Graphics, set Screen Type to Fullscreen, then apply the change. If it keeps opening in a window, Rockstar’s -fullscreen launch argument can force the mode at startup.

These steps apply to the edition you launch: GTAV Enhanced or GTAV Legacy. Rockstar made Enhanced available as a free upgrade for existing PC owners in March 2025, while Legacy remains available. Rockstar’s announcement explains the PC editions.

#	Preview	Product	Price
1		Polcatay Car USB Bluetooth Receiver, HD LED Display FM Transmitter Audio Adapter, DC 5V Plug and...	$9.99	Buy on Amazon

Choose a display mode

GTA V offers three useful ways to display the game. A borderless window can look just like fullscreen, but Windows still treats it as a window.

Set GTA V to fullscreen in the game

1. Launch the edition you play: GTAV Enhanced or GTAV Legacy.
2. Press Esc to open the pause menu.
3. Choose Settings → Graphics.
4. Find Screen Type and select Fullscreen. The menu label or layout can vary by edition or interface revision.
5. Check that the selected resolution and refresh rate are suitable for your monitor.
6. Accept the on-screen confirmation or apply prompt. If the display mode does not change immediately, exit and relaunch the game.

The in-game route is commonly reported as Settings → Graphics → Screen Type; Rockstar’s command-line documentation separately covers forcing a display mode. Community discussion of the menu and Alt+Enter.

#1 Best Overall

Polcatay Car USB Bluetooth Receiver, HD LED Display FM Transmitter Audio Adapter, DC 5V Plug and Play Adjustable Frequency Bluetooth Receiver with AUV Connector, for Most Cars Home (Black)

• Multifunctional: This Bluetooth adapter combines Bluetooth reception and FM transmission functions, connects to mobile phones via Bluetooth, and frees your hands. It can also convert audio signals into FM signal transmission, so that car radios without Bluetooth function can also play music in mobile phones.
• Mini Appearance: The shape is compact and portable, easy to place and store. The carbon fiber texture design adds a sense of fashion and technology, and is equipped with a display screen that can display information such as FM frequency in real time for easy user operation.
• Adjustable Frequency: This Bluetooth adapter can freely adjust the frequency in the common FM frequency band of 87.5-108MHz, find the right channel, reduce interference, and ensure stable audio playback. Supports one-button hands-free calling, making it safer to answer calls while driving.
• Stable Performance: The adapter uses high-quality chips, has good signal reception and transmission capabilities, stable audio transmission, clear sound quality, reduces noise and stuttering, can work stably for a long time, and provides users with a continuous and smooth in-car audio experience.
• Plug and Play: Just plug the device into the car's USB port for power, then pair Bluetooth and set the FM frequency, and you can use it quickly. Connect the AUX cable to the adapter, and then plug it into the device's AUX port for immediate use.

$9.99

Buy on Amazon

Force fullscreen when the game starts

Rockstar documents -fullscreen to force fullscreen, -windowed to force windowed mode, and -borderless to enable borderless mode. Use one display-mode argument at a time: remove conflicting options rather than combining, for example, -windowed and -fullscreen. Rockstar’s full list of GTAV command-line parameters.

Rockstar Games Launcher

Use the launcher’s Launch arguments field for GTAV, if available in your installation, and enter -fullscreen. Alternatively, Rockstar supports a plain-text commandline.txt file in the game’s root directory: create the file and put -fullscreen on its own line, without quotation marks. Rockstar’s installation-folder route is Settings → GTAV under installed games → Open installation folder.

Steam

1. Open Steam → Library.
2. Right-click GTA V and choose Properties.
3. Stay on the General tab and find Launch Options.
4. Enter -fullscreen.

Rockstar documents this Steam location for GTAV launch parameters.

Epic Games Launcher

1. Open Epic Games Launcher → Library.
2. Click the three dots beside GTA V and choose Manage.
3. Find Launch Options; enable the option if required by the interface.
4. Enter -fullscreen.

Rockstar documents the Epic Library and Manage route for GTAV configuration. If an argument causes a launch problem, remove it from the same launcher field or delete it from commandline.txt. Rockstar’s BattlEye troubleshooting also advises checking that launch arguments are blank when diagnosing launch issues: BattlEye troubleshooting for GTAV.

If fullscreen keeps reverting to windowed

1. Set Screen Type to Fullscreen, apply the change, and fully exit GTA V.
2. Relaunch it through the same platform you used to install it.
3. Check Steam, Epic, Rockstar Launcher, shortcuts, and commandline.txt for a conflicting display-mode argument.
4. If the setting still will not persist, check whether the game’s configuration can be written. A crash, permissions issue, a different launch route, or a third-party overlay or mod can interfere with saved settings.
5. Try Windowed Borderless to see whether the problem is specific to exclusive fullscreen.
6. If the game continues to ignore the mode, test disabling fullscreen optimizations for GTAV.exe.
7. Verify the game files through the launcher. Reset the configuration only after less disruptive steps fail.

Do not immediately make settings.xml read-only: that can prevent later graphics, control, or display changes from saving. If you consider a manual configuration edit, back up the file first; it is a community-reported workaround, not an official first-line fix. Community example of editing the configuration.

Disable fullscreen optimizations

1. Find GTAV.exe in the game installation folder.
2. Right-click it and choose Properties → Compatibility.
3. Check Disable fullscreen optimizations.
4. Select Apply, then OK, and relaunch from the normal launcher.

Rockstar recommends this setting in its troubleshooting for ERR_GFX_STATE. It also suggests testing Run this program as administrator; use that as a diagnostic step, not a universal or permanent requirement. Rockstar’s page gives separate executable-location directions for Rockstar Games Launcher, Steam, and Epic: GTAV PC ERR_GFX_STATE troubleshooting.

Fix black screens, cropping, scaling, or the wrong monitor

• Cropped or stretched image: choose the monitor’s native resolution if GTA V offers it, then confirm the refresh rate and Windows display scaling are appropriate.
• Game on the wrong monitor: set the intended screen as the Windows primary display. Start GTA V windowed or borderless, move it to the desired monitor, select the resolution and mode there, then relaunch to test.
• Black screen or unstable mode: use borderless as a recovery option rather than repeatedly cycling resolutions in exclusive fullscreen.
• Windows 11 windowed behavior: the secondary controls are at Settings → System → Display → Graphics. These options can affect windowed and borderless games; they do not replace GTA V’s own Screen Type setting. Microsoft’s Windows 11 windowed-game optimizations.

Alt+Enter is worth one quick try if GTA V has focus, but it is not a guaranteed fix: reports vary between users, and it may do nothing or switch to an unwanted mode. Use the Graphics menu or launch arguments for more controlled troubleshooting.

Recover if a display change makes the game unusable

1. Press Alt+Enter once to test a mode switch.
2. Use Alt+Tab or Windows+Tab to return to the desktop if the game is obscuring the screen.
3. Temporarily add -windowed through the launcher used to start the game, or in commandline.txt, then launch again.
4. Once the game is visible, choose a supported resolution and set the display mode you want.
5. Remove -windowed before testing -fullscreen again; use -borderless if exclusive fullscreen remains unreliable.

Rockstar documents all three mode arguments, so use the windowed option as a temporary recovery setting rather than leaving conflicting arguments in place.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 1

Polcatay Car USB Bluetooth Receiver, HD LED Display FM Transmitter Audio Adapter, DC 5V Plug and Play Adjustable Frequency Bluetooth Receiver with AUV Connector, for Most Cars Home (Black)

$9.99

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.