The VideoLAN Forums

Hey everyone,
I own a Toshiba laptop with 4k screen resolution running Windows 10 64-bit. I have downloaded VLC from your site and I am having huge problems with UI. Maybe 'huge' isn't a good choice of words, because everything is super-tiny. Like I am not even sure which button is which one - I've been trying to find interface scaling option but nothing helped. I've also been trying to download some random skins but nothing helped, UI is still super tiny. VLC is the best player I have ever used, but it's been so many months now since I've had this problem first (my friend had this issue on his 4k laptop when I recommended VLC to him) and now I cant use VLC properly on my own laptop. Do you guys know any fix?

I too have been using VLC for years.. but after getting a new laptop was having this issue also. Don't hold your breath while waiting for an answer. VLC just does not care about you or this issue. There is another thread about this same issue which is almost 3 YEARS OLD!!!! August of 2014 it began.. and still VLC couldn't care enough to fix this simple issue. The other thread has a registry edit patch of some sort.. having to do this to use VLC is utterly ridiculous.. your best advised to find another player like I did..

Disgusted with VLC..

Use any Nightly Build of VLC and you will have the full UI.

I AM HAVING THE SAME ISSUE.....

I AM HAVING THE SAME ISSUE.....

Me too. Hello 2017, 2018 thread from 2019. Hello to the future 2020 visitors seeking a fix.

What is your setup? Only a 4K screen?

unidan: Yeah finally made the leap to 4k since they are so cheap these days. I'm really suprised after years of people making these threads about scaling it has not been resolved. If you yourself haven't made the leap, let me tell you. Its not the 2160p that makes the difference. Its the HDR colors that are mindblowing. Going from 16 mill color RGB to 1 billion color spectrum of HDR10 !? ohhhh.. it truly is a gamechanger, its like a spirtual experience .. mesmorizing to look at.

Picked up a budget 42 inch at walmart for like $250 to use as a computer monitor. It saddens me to even look at my digital projector or old tv now

I agree, but the display technology, like oled, plays a pivotal role too!

Ok, is your screen a TV-like display? It seems the issue appears even on FHD TV. It would be an interesting clue if so.

Was hoping Jean-Baptiste Kempf would have responded by now. I notice he logs in every few days and has responded before in 4k threads. VLC is impossible to use especially when it comes to the playlist menu where the font size is like a spec of dirt on the screen.

This issue has been reported for years, and occasional updates keep saying its been fixed, but always seems to be broken again.

Temporary solution: Using the Windows screen lens.

The general solution should be that the UI scales with the Windows scaling feature. It seems, this has been implemented already for the main window frame (menus, side pod, botton icons, which are mainly of a sufficient size), but the play list and settings dialogs are not yet adapted resulting in speckled lines.

Within the play list's context menu there is an entry "Rendering size". Selecting "Increase" increases the size slightly. However, you cannot increase multiple times to get the font legible.

Even the font size in the Help window is too small (but there the mouse scroll wheel zooms sufficiently).

I hope, your UI coding experts will find a spare hour to fix the problem (of an otherwise much appreciated piece of software).

Jean-Baptiste Kempf responded on May 12, 2017 : "Use any Nightly Build of VLC and you will have the full UI."
It is obvious that he doesn't understand the question. I hope he looks at this thread again.
I have the same issue on an ASUS PB287Q 4K Monitor. All of the menu, sidebar, popup dialog, etc text is extremely tiny. Luckily this high quality monitor is still able to display the tiny letters clear enough to read.

I have this problem too. Cannot use menu. I have pc connected to a 4k tv and it is impossible to use it.

I think I may have fixed it!!!
At least it worked for me and now I have menu with big font and can use it normally.
1. Go to your program files and find VLC folder.
2. Right click on VLC.exe and select properties.
3. Select on the top "Compability".
4. Execute the problem solver of compability (my windows is not in english)
5. Done! Open VLC and you will have big font.

YES! Thank you. Specifically the "Change high DPI settings" under the compatibility tab. For me, checking the box under "program DPI" worked the best, although "override high DPI scaling" also worked, but was more blurry.

I am using Windows 7 and there is no "Change high DPI settings" in the compatibility screen.

I hope the developers fix this issue on the official stable release (not the nightly) as soon as possible because 4k users are in real trouble using VLC.

For anyone who comes across this lately, this is what I had to do on a 4k monitor using Windows 11. I had the issue where the tools bar at the bottom was tiny.

1. You have to go to the folder where VLC is installed (usually "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC)
2. Right click on "vlc.exe" (the application file)
3. Click the "Compatibility" tab
4. Click the "Change high DPI settings" button near the bottom of that window
5. Make sure "Program DPI" is unchecked
6. Check "High DPI scaling override"
7. Make sure "system" is selected from the drop down
8. restart VLC


Some of these options depend on your OS scaling setting in Display Settings. In my case, I was at 3840 x2160 (4k) and scaling set to 150%

For anyone who comes across this lately, this is what I had to do on a 4k monitor using Windows 11. I had the issue where the tools bar at the bottom was tiny.

1. You have to go to the folder where VLC is installed (usually "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC)
2. Right click on "vlc.exe" (the application file)
3. Click the "Compatibility" tab
4. Click the "Change high DPI settings" button near the bottom of that window
5. Make sure "Program DPI" is unchecked
6. Check "High DPI scaling override"
7. Make sure "system" is selected from the drop down
8. restart VLC

Some of these options depend on your OS scaling setting in Display Settings. In my case, I was at 3840 x2160 (4k) and scaling set to 150%

OMG I've had this issue for so long I just lived with it!

Worked for me with regard to text.

Completely messed up display of the video, which occupied maybe the top quarter of the display part of VLC.