How to fit Windows Form to any screen resolution?

Question

I work on VS 2008 with C#. This below code does not work for me. My form was designed in 1024 x 768 resolution.

Our clients laptop is in 1366 x 768 resolution. To solve this problem, I set below code in Form Load event:

this.Location = new Point(0, 0);
this.Size = Screen.PrimaryScreen.WorkingArea.Size;

but the form does not resize as per screen resolution and bottom of my form gets hidden or cut or I miss the scroll bar.

Is there any way to solve this problem? Please show me the syntax.

Where in your code have you put these lines? Also, WorkingArea deducts the size of the task bar from the screen size, but I'm not sure if that is your intention or not. — Øyvind Bråthen, Feb 22 '11 at 06:46
Have a look at MSDN article - Automatic Scaling in Windows Forms ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms229605.aspx ) — KV Prajapati, Feb 22 '11 at 06:51
look at my answer at similar question http://stackoverflow.com/a/33721710/4356754 — Mohamed Ali, Nov 16 '15 at 12:47

ppiotrowicz · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-26T20:16:36.507

34

Can't you start maximized?

Set the System.Windows.Forms.Form.WindowState property to FormWindowState.Maximized

edited Apr 26 '21 at 20:16

answered Feb 22 '11 at 06:44

ppiotrowicz

4,464
3
32
46

I already use this process but my form have so many controls ,which are not fit when changing the resolution.specially when user see on laptop – shamim Feb 22 '11 at 06:49
7

This is a problem with layout in your application. You should probably use less fixed position layouting and more of anchoring and such. – ppiotrowicz Feb 22 '11 at 06:50
@shamim: you were telling us your form is designed for 1024x768, but on the laptop display - which has a *higher* resolution - the controls don't fit? – Doc Brown Feb 22 '11 at 06:55
1

I think what he is talking about is docking. Create panels on your form, put controls in them, and dock them to `TOP LEFT MIDDLE RIGHT` or `BOTTOM`. Then when you maximize or enlarge the form (user/programmatic) everything will follow suit. – Andrew Grinder Nov 12 '14 at 17:54

Olivier Jacot-Descombes · Answer 2 · 2023-01-20T16:11:25.850

If you want to set the form size programmatically, set the form's StartPosition property to Manual. Otherwise the form's own positioning and sizing algorithm will interfere with yours. This is why you are experiencing the problems mentioned in your question.

Example: Here is how I resize the form to a size half-way between its original size and the size of the screen's working area. I also center the form in the working area.

On computers with multiple monitors, the user probably expects the form to open on the same screen that the mouse pointer is on. We can get it with Screen.FromPoint(Cursor.Position).

public MainView()
{
    InitializeComponent();

    StartPosition = FormStartPosition.Manual;
    Rectangle screen = Screen.FromPoint(Cursor.Position).WorkingArea;
    int w = Width >= screen.Width ? screen.Width : (screen.Width + Width) / 2;
    int h = Height >= screen.Height ? screen.Height : (screen.Height + Height) / 2;
    Location = new Point(screen.Left + (screen.Width - w) / 2, screen.Top + (screen.Height - h) / 2);
    Size = new Size(w, h);
}

Note that setting WindowState to FormWindowState.Maximized alone does not change the size of the restored window. So the window might look good as long as it is maximized, but when restored, the window size and location can still be wrong. So I suggest setting size and location even when you intend to open the window as maximized.

score 15 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 29 '22 at 22:59

15

Probably a maximized Form helps, or you can do this manually upon form load:

Code Block

this.Location = new Point(0, 0);

this.Size = Screen.PrimaryScreen.WorkingArea.Size;

And then, play with anchoring, so the child controls inside your form automatically fit in your form's new size.

edited Apr 29 '22 at 22:59

GEOCHET

21,119
15
74
98

answered Feb 22 '11 at 06:44

Yoko Zunna

1,804
14
21

score 10 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 18 '13 at 10:59

10

Set the form property to open in maximized state.

this.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;

edited Jul 18 '13 at 10:59

nawfal

70,104
56
326
368

answered Feb 22 '11 at 06:46

Bhavik Goyal

2,786
6
23
42

score 8 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 12 '14 at 17:43

8

int h = Screen.PrimaryScreen.WorkingArea.Height;
int w = Screen.PrimaryScreen.WorkingArea.Width;
this.ClientSize = new Size(w , h);

edited Nov 12 '14 at 17:43

DatRid

1,169
2
21
46

answered Nov 12 '14 at 17:11

mehrdad

81
1
1

7

I suggest you add some kind of explanation, as code-only answers are discouraged. – Ricardo Sanchez-Saez Nov 12 '14 at 17:33

score 6 · Answer 6 · edited Apr 29 '16 at 13:18

6

You can simply set the window state

this.WindowState = System.Windows.Forms.FormWindowState.Maximized;

edited Apr 29 '16 at 13:18

Glen Thomas

10,190
5
33
65

answered Apr 29 '16 at 12:45

Niranjan singh

61
1
1

what is maximized? – Khalil Khalaf Apr 29 '16 at 12:49

score 5 · Answer 7 · edited Jul 12 '15 at 15:52

5

simply set Autoscroll = true for ur windows form.. (its not good solution but helpful)..

try for panel also(Autoscroll property = true)

edited Jul 12 '15 at 15:52

teo van kot

12,350
10
38
70

answered Apr 03 '15 at 12:08

K_Bhosale

51
1
1

score 3 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 22 '11 at 06:48

3

You can always tell the window to start in maximized... it should give you the same result... Like this: this.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;

P.S. You could also try (and I'm not recommending this) to subtract the taskbar height.

answered Feb 22 '11 at 06:48

PedroC88

3,708
7
43
77

How to fit Windows Form to any screen resolution?

8 Answers8

Linked