MonoGame - Switch between Full Screen and Windowed

By Stephen Armstrong // March 3, 2020

Change your game to display in fullscreen or windowed modes.

MonoGame starts in a normal (bordered) window by default, but it’s easy to toggle between different modes.

The following C# code will show you how to switch between fullscreen and windowed display modes in a MonoGame project.

Change windowed modes

Add the following method to your Game1:

void ControlWindowedMode(bool becomeBorderless)
{
    Window.IsBorderless = becomeBorderless;
    graphics.ApplyChanges();
}

Calling this method with a false bool will set the game to a normal (bordered) window.

Calling this method with a true bool will set the game to a borderless window.

Please note that this method will do nothing if called when the game is in fullscreen.

Toggle fullscreen

Add the following method to your Game1:

void ControlFullScreenMode(bool becomeFullscreen)
{
    graphics.IsFullScreen = becomeFullscreen;
    graphics.ApplyChanges();
}

Calling this method with a false bool will disable fullscreen.

Calling this method with a true bool will set it to fullscreen.

Testing

To test that these methods work, go to Game1.cs’ Update() cycle and add the following code:

// Press/Hold F1 to become a borderless window.
if (Keyboard.GetState().IsKeyDown(Keys.F1))
{
    ControlWindowedMode(true);
}

// Press/Hold F2 to become a normal window.
if (Keyboard.GetState().IsKeyDown(Keys.F2))
{
    ControlWindowedMode(false);
}

// Press/Hold F3 to enter fullscreen.
if (Keyboard.GetState().IsKeyDown(Keys.F3))
{
    ControlFullScreenMode(true);
}

// Press/Hold F4 to exit fullscreen.
if (Keyboard.GetState().IsKeyDown(Keys.F4))
{
    ControlFullScreenMode(false);
}

Run your game and you can use the F1, F2, F3, and F4 keys to switch between windowed and fullscreen modes.

< Go back

Return to top of page