See the following screen shot of part of screen when running Parallels 12.0.1 on an external monitor. The monitor is a plain full-HD Acer brand monitor, non-Retina. Notice how the Apple logo on the menu bar is smaller than the Apple logo on the host Mac, and the menu labels too are shrunken. How to change the screen resolution on your Mac Regardless of whether you’re using an external display, or you’re happy with your Mac’s built-in display, your screen resolution settings determine how large text and images appear onscreen, and also affects the sharpness and clarity of everything you see on your Mac.
I'm using Parallels on my mac. But when I open a software the font are so small, it's very weird. Can anyone help me out!!!
The picture above is when I open up my chrome, how can I fix it?
LiJungLiJung5 Answers
I've seen this particular problem many times, and a lot of it has to do with how Windows handles DPI scaling.
Since you are using a Retina MBP - which has an extremely high resolution, you'll want Parallels to manage the DPI of your Windows VM. You can do this under your Virtual Machine's configuration, Hardware, Video Options, and select 'Best for Retina'.
The next time you reboot, Windows will have its DPI set to 199% (why not 200% I'm not sure).
The only trick to this is when you connect to an external display and you want to show your Parallels VM there. Windows can't change it's DPI without a full logout / login - so if you change displays you'll have to log out of Windows and log back in.
The next problem is that Windows does DPI scaling differently - some programs do not respect Windows DPI scaling. It's very bad practices for developers, but some of them always assume a fixed number of points-per-inch, like 96. Windows does its best to fix these issues by bitmap scaling the Window, and translating input, but it won't ever be perfect and it will look like a JPG that's 200% zoomed. It all depends on the program you are using. As unfortunate as it sounds, the best browser on Windows for retina resolution / DPI is Internet Explorer 10.
vcsjonesvcsjonesI had the exact same problem. I went a different route, and decided to sacrifice the nice high-DPI of the Retina for a scaled solution that makes everything look right.
In Parallels VM Config → Hardware → Video → Resolution
Use: Scaled
Not: Best for Retina, More SpaceRestart VM
Windows Display Settings → Set Resolution: 1280x800 + Apply
Windows Display Settings → 'Make text and other items larger or smaller'
Use: Smaller (100%)
Late-2013 rMBP 13.3″ with Parallels 9.0.23350 and Windows 7
grg♦I have a new solution for this,set the video properties to 'Scaled' and the video memory to 256MB.
One's you do this , go back to your windows--> Control Panel --> Display --> Set it to Smaller(100%).
check the Screen Resolution now it shows 1436*756 on a Mac Book pro 15.6 Retina.
This is done automatically , do not set it manually.
All my coworkers had the same problem. In Parallels 9, you can set for every VM if it should be scaled, best for retina or more space. As DPI scaling under Windows is inherently broken, as application developers have to support this, and many just don't, it's not useful you can configure this at all, which is why more options don't always mean better software (looking at you Parallels). In versions before, Parallels didn't let you choose the wrong things, and didn't have the wrong defaults.
You need to open the VM, go to the Virtual Machine menu item in the Macs menu bar, go to Hardware -> Graphics -> and click on scaled, restart your VM, in the Windows VM, go to Start -> Control Panel -> Display Settings -> click the link 'Make text and other items larger or smaller' -> set it to 100%
The solution of this problem is here... Just forget about all the old advises and read this.
I've MacBook Pro Retina 15'
The problem's started when I've setup Parallel Desktop 9 and installed WIN 8.1, after that I've installed the Parallels Tools .. Than .. on WIN ... the screen resolution is SO high because of the Retina setting on MAC .. and microscopic context menus as will, I cannot use the WIN like this .. I tried to play with WIN settings and screen resolution and MAC screen resolution .. nothing gonna be help
I've forced to uninstall Parallels Tools to disconnect the relation between MAC screen resolution and WIN screen resolution, BUT I've lost the Audio driver and the Networking between MAC and WIN, Until I found the solution.
I've just get know how to fix this problem 100% It's So easy ..
1- Uninstall Parallels Tools ( On WIN )
2- Update Parallel 9 to the latest update (13-7-2014) or more 'important'.
3- Shut down the WIN ( Not logout )
4- Exit full screen of Parallel Desktop BUT don't close the Parallel window
5- On MAC .. select the Parallel window than ..: Virtual Machine .. Configure .. select Hardware page .. Video .. remove the check box of ' Enable Retina resolution '
6- Install Parallels Tools again .. and That's it .. Enjoy
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Symptoms
I have a Mac with Retina display and I experience some of these screen resolution issues in my Windows virtual machine:
Fonts in Windows virtual machine look blurry:
Everything looks very small in Windows virtual machine:
Note: if you are having resolution issues with a particular Windows-based program please visit this article: Windows-based programs resolution issues on Apple Retina display.
Cause
Microsoft Windows is not adapted for such high pixel density (DPI) resolution of the Retina display: Windows virtual machine resolution becomes very high thus everything is too small; Windows picture (fonts, images) are not rendered properly.
Learn more about the Apple Retina display in this article: Frequently asked questions about using a Retina display.
For more information about other video modes comparison in Parallels Desktop please see KB 124744.
Resolution
Parallels Desktop provides enhanced Retina display support for Windows virtual machines.
To set the most optimal resolution open Windows virtual machine's configuration > Hardware > Graphics > Resolution > set it to Best for Retina display.
For Windows 10 and 8.1
For Windows 7 and earlier
Note: if you have changed Windows scaling options manually before, there is a chance that after enabling Best for Retina displays mode Windows 7 will not scale properly.
To check scaling options right click on Windows Desktop > Screen resolution > Make text or other items larger or smaller > set it to Customsetting.
In Windows 10 scaling options will be automatically set to a custom scale factor provided by Best for Retina displays mode.
Important: Setting Custom scaling in Windows virtual machine will also fix small fonts symptom, but if you still experience an issue with small fonts in a particular Windows program, please visit KB119926.
For more information about Windows scaling options please visit this page.
Additional Troubleshooting
Check macOS display settings
If you use custom display settings for macOS, you have to adjust Windows virtual machine scaling manually based on the following suggestions.