How to Remove the Black Bars when Playing CSGO

Black bars on the screen are quite common in movies, but seeing them take up valuable monitor space in a game may be highly annoying. Most often, black bars in games appear either due to wrong monitor settings or display resolution differing from in-game resolution. However, at times the issue lies in outdated graphics drivers. Regardless of the reason, we hope to help you get rid of black bars in CSGO.

In this guide, we’ll share various methods of removing black bars in CSGO for different graphics software. Furthermore, we’ll answer a couple of common questions related to graphics settings in the game. Read on to find out how to fix the black bar issue and manage other display settings.

How to Remove Black Bars in CSGO on a Windows PC or Laptop?

1. Check whether your device is set to native resolution. To do that, navigate to Settings, then to “Display,” and select the recommended resolution. Restart your PC.
   
2. Try adjusting graphics settings in the game. Navigate to “Settings,” then to “Graphics Settings,” and try changing your resolution, display mode, and aspect ratio.
   
3. Try the Windows full-screen mode. To do that, open the Control Panel, find your graphic card, and select a different resolution. Try restarting the game. Bear in mind that you will have to change the resolution back to default after every gaming session.
   
4.  Optionally, to enable or disable the full-screen mode, use the “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “F11” keyboard shortcut.
5. Try troubleshooting your connected devices, such as a monitor. To do that, open the ‘’Run’’ window and type in “msdt.exe /id DeviceDiagnostic,” then wait for the analysis to finish.
   

Finally, if none of the above tips help, you may have to update your graphics drivers. Here’s how to do that:

1. From the Start menu, navigate to the Device Manager.
   
2. Click the arrow icon next to “Display adapters” to view all options and right-click your graphics card name.
   
3. From the dropdown menu, select “Update Driver Software.”
   
4. Wait for drivers to update, then restart your computer.
   

If you have Nvidia graphics software, follow the steps below to change the Nvidia screen resolution:

1. From the Start menu, navigate to the Nvidia Control Panel.
2. Click “Display,” then “Change resolution.”
3. Move the slider to adjust your screen resolution, then confirm.
4. Check whether the black bars are gone – if not, try a different ratio.

How to Remove Black Bars in CSGO on an Intel Device?

If your device runs on Intel, try to remove black bars in CSGO by updating Intel drivers. To do that, follow the steps below:

1. From the Start menu, navigate to the Device Manager.
   
2. Click the arrow icon next to “Display adapters” to view all options and right-click “Intel…”
   
3. From the dropdown menu, select “Update Driver Software.”
   
4. Wait for drivers to update, then restart your computer.
   

You could also try changing your display resolution through the Intel command center. Here’s how to do that:

1. From the Start menu, open Intel Graphics Command Center.
   
2. From the left sidebar, select “Display.”
   
3. Navigate to the “General” tab and expand the dropdown menu next to “Resolution.”
   
4. Select the 4:3 resolutions and confirm.
   
5. Check whether the black bars are gone.
6. If this didn’t help, go back to the “Display” tab in Command Center and expand the dropdown menu next to “Scale.”
   
7. Select “Maintain Display Scaling,” confirm, and check the game once again.
   

Optionally, you can do the same thing using the Intel Control Panel – follow the steps below to change your display resolution:

1. From the Start menu, navigate to the Intel Graphics Control Panel.
   
2. From the left sidebar, select “General Settings.”
   
3. Expand the dropdown menu under the “Resolution” section.
   
4. Select the 4:3 ratios and click “Apply.”

Note: When changing your display resolution, don’t forget to adjust the in-game resolution accordingly.

How to Remove Black Bars in CSGO on an AMD Device?

If you want to remove the black bars in CSGO on an AMD device, try to adjust the display resolution in AMD Radeon Settings. To do that, follow the steps below:

1. Right-click anywhere on your desktop.
   
2. From the dropdown menu, select “AMD Radeon Settings.”
   
3. Navigate to the “Display” tab.
   
4. Select the resolution you want or click “Create” to create a custom resolution, then confirm.
   
5. Check whether the black bars are gone.
6. If changing the resolution doesn’t help, you can also try to enable resolution scaling by shifting the toggle button next to “GPU Scaling.”
   

Optionally, the same thing can be done through Windows Display Settings:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select “Display Settings” from the dropdown menu.
   
2. Expand the dropdown menu under the “Resolution” section to see all options.
   
3. Select a different resolution and click “Apply.”
   
4. Check whether the black bars are gone.

Finally, if changing the resolution doesn’t help, update AMD drivers – to do that, follow the steps below:

1. From the Start menu, navigate to the Device Manager.
   
2. Click the arrow icon next to “Display adapters” to view all options and right-click “AMD…”
   
3. From the dropdown menu, select “Update Driver Software.”
   
4. Wait for drivers to update, then restart your computer.
   

Note: When changing your display resolution, don’t forget to adjust the in-game resolution accordingly.

How to Remove Black Bars in CSGO Without Nvidia?

Most often, the black bar issue in CSGO lies in your display resolution rather than graphics software – thus, you don’t have to manage graphics card settings. Instead, try the following methods to remove black bars in CSGO:

1. Check whether your device is set to native resolution. To do that, navigate to Settings, then to “Display,” and select the recommended resolution. Restart your PC.
   
2. Try adjusting graphics settings in the game. Navigate to “Settings,” then to “Graphics Settings,” and try changing your resolution, display mode, and aspect ratio.
   
3. Try the Windows full-screen mode. To do that, open the Control Panel, find your graphic card, and select a different resolution. Try restarting the game. Bear in mind that you will have to change the resolution back to the initial after every gaming session.
   
4.  Optionally, to enable or disable the full-screen mode, use the “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “F11” keyboard shortcut.
5. Try troubleshooting your connected devices, such as a monitor. To do that, open the ‘’Run’’ window and type in “msdt.exe /id DeviceDiagnostic” then wait for the analysis to finish.
   

Note: When changing display resolution in Windows Settings, make sure that the game is set to the same resolution. This can be adjusted in CSGO Graphics Settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Read this section to find out more about removing black bars and adjusting other display settings in CSGO.

Why Are There Black Bars in CSGO?

Depending on your display resolution, black bars in CSGO may appear both on the sides and on top and the bottom of your screen. This often happens due to wrong display settings or when the in-game resolution differs from your display resolution.

How Do I Manage Other Display Settings in CSGO?

From the game Graphics Settings, you can also manage other display features – to do that, follow the instructions below:

1. From the main game menu, open Settings.

2. Navigate to “Graphics Settings.”

3. Here, you can adjust brightness, color mode, aspect ratio, display mode, shadow quality, effect and shader detail, and more. Expand the dropdown menu next to the setting name and select according to your preference, then confirm.

The Perfect Resolution

Hopefully, our guide has helped you expand CSGO to full screen and use your monitor capabilities to the fullest. Remember that every time you change your screen ratio, you have to also adjust it in the game settings accordingly to prevent black bars from appearing again. Finally, if none of our tips helped, you may want to try reinstalling the game – an extreme, but often effective method.

What graphics settings do you prefer in CSGO to achieve the best performance? Share your experiences in the comments section below.