How to Go Full Screen in Windows 11

Sometimes while working, you might have wanted to set app windows to full-screen mode for enhanced clarity and minimal distraction. It’s a great way to keep focus. While most of the apps can be set to full-screen mode using a keyboard shortcut, others may require you to modify the built-in settings.

We have collected a list of the common apps and programs and will walk you through the process of going full-screen for each.

Browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Opera)

In the case of browsers, when you switch to full-screen mode, only the current tab will be displayed. It will hide the browser toolbar, the list of tabs at the top, and the Taskbar at the bottom. There might be slight variations with different browsers, but you will get a hang of it once you start using the feature.

To go full-screen on a browser, the easiest way is to press the F11 key.

Also, you can switch to full-screen through the browser menu. The concept remains the same for most browsers. We will walk you through the process for Google Chrome.

Click on the ‘Menu’ icon near the top-right corner of the browser, and then select the ‘Full-Screen’ icon next to the ‘Zoom’ option.

You can similarly exit the full-screen mode by pressing the F11 key, in case the browser menu is not accessible.

Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer also uses the same F11 keyboard shortcut to go full screen.

To exit the full-screen mode, you can either press the F11 key or hover the cursor to the top-right corner and select the ‘Full Screen’ icon that appears.

Microsoft Office

In Microsoft Office, full-screen mode is more about reading than editing since the toolbar vanishes in this mode. Also, the Windows Taskbar is doesn’t is present, but there’s a workaround for it that we will discuss later in the section.

Note: The below method works for Word and Excel only. For PowerPoint, simply press the F5 key to start the slide show and enter full screen.

To enter full-screen, you can either press ALT + V followed by U or click on the ‘Toggle Full Screen View’ command at the top. You can exit the full-screen mode by pressing ESC.

If the command is not added to the ‘Quick Access Toolbar’ on your system, here’s how you add it.

Click on the ‘Customize Quick Access Toolbar’ icon and then select ‘More Commands’ from the drop-down menu.

Next, click on the ‘Choose commands from’ drop-down menu and select ‘All Commands’ from the list of options.

Now scroll down the list of commands, select the ‘Full Screen [Toggle Full Screen View] option and then click on ‘Add’.

The command will now be added to the ‘Toolbar’. Click on ‘OK’ at the bottom to save the changes and close the ‘Word Options’ window.

When you click on the ‘Toggle Full Screen View’ option or use the keyboard shortcuts, you will notice that the Windows Taskbar is very much visible which was not the case with the earlier apps.

This is where the workaround comes into the picture. Search for the ‘Taskbar Settings’ in the Start Menu and launch it from the search results.

Next, click on the toggle for ‘Automatically hide the taskbar in desktop mode’. The Taskbar will now no be hidden and can be viewed by moving the cursor to the bottom of the screen, where the Taskbar is originally placed.

You can now view document and sheets in full screen mode on Microsoft Office.

Video Streaming Apps (Prime Video and Netflix)

We tried two of the most popular video streaming apps, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix on Windows 11. In these apps, full-screen worked the same way the browser and hid the Taskbar as well. Many users generally click the ‘Full Screen’ icon while watching a show to enter full-screen mode, however, there is a way you can switch to full-screen even when simply browsing through the app.

To go full screen on Prime Video or Netflix, press WINDOWS + SHIFT + ENTER. The same keyboard shortcut also works when want to revert to the default viewing mode.

Networking and Chat Apps (Twitter and Google Chat)

With these two apps, the universal F11 key seems to do the trick. Whenever on Twitter or Google Chat, you can easily switch to full-screen and focus on the specific app. You will have to press the F11 key again to exit the full-screen mode.

Also, for both these apps, you can switch to full-screen mode through the app settings. Just click on the ellipsis and then click the ‘Full Screen’ icon next to the ‘Zoom’ option.

We have tried to cover the commonly used apps on Windows 11. If you are on an app that’s not listed above, try pressing the F11 key, as it seems to work for most of the apps. In case you are on a video streaming platform, try the WINDOWS + SHIFT + ENTER keyboard shortcut. If these don’t work look for the built-in settings and locate the full-screen option.