Here’s How to Run Skyrim in Windowed Mode

Skyrim often gets flack for being riddled with bugs and glitches that developers never bothered to fix, and players instead needed to rely on the modding community to fix some issues and smooth out the gameplay. But, despite this, it was a technical marvel and perhaps the first Elder Scrolls game that was genuinely optimized for a wide variety of systems and setups. Despite this, players with multi-monitor setups are still facing issues and are hoping that somehow setting Skyrim in Windowed mode might solve their troubles. Let’s see how to run Skyrim in windowed mode. 

Skyrim does have a windowed mode, and it’s easy to set it up 

Windowed mode is most often used to troubleshoot certain issues or while you are recording and streaming; in some games other than Skyrim, it’s often used in multitasking, so you can switch between several apps without having to minimize the game. So, how do you set up windowed mode? 

The process is fairly straightforward but has to be done outside of the game itself. To put Sykrim in windowed mode, follow these steps: 

1. Launch Skyrim via the default launcher
2. Navigate to “options”
3. One of the last options should be “windowed mode,” make sure that this option is enabled
4. Save the settings and launch the game. 

And voila, it’s as easy as that. 

How do you put Skyrim in windowed mode with SKSE?

SKSE, also known as Skyrim Script Extender, is a modding tool used to launch heavily modded Skyrim that requires some additional scripts to run in the background. But if you’ve ever used the tool, you’re probably aware that SKSE launches the game from a separate executable file, and Skyrim’s default launcher never shows up (if you did every thing right), but if you never run Skyrim via default launcher how do you put it in windowed mode? 

The process for putting Skyrim in Windowed mode while running SKSE is exactly the same as when you are running vanilla Skyrim. You need to run Skyrim via its default launcher and check the “windowed mode” option. 

The next time you run SKSE, your setting will be saved. SKSE doesn’t have such options, so it can’t override the settings you modified via the default launcher. 

Can you run Skyrim in borderless windowed mode?

Now, we’ve reached the heart of the issues. You most likely have a multi-monitor setup, and you’re wondering whether you can run Skyrim in borderless windowed mode because alt+tabing Skyrim constantly is a real headache. 

I have to disappoint you since Skyrim natively doesn’t support a borderless windowed mode, but this doesn’t mean that you are stuck with minimizing it every time you want to check something on your other monitor. 

You can force Skyrim to go into borderless windowed mode via an app called ‘Borderless Gaming.’ It’s available via GitHub for free and on Steam for $3.99. The software is relatively uncomplicated to use and lightweight enough, so it won’t affect the performance of your games in general. 

What Borderless Gaming does is force games and other applications that don’t support borderless by default to enter the mode so you can switch between applications more easily. It also eliminates the chances for a game to crash once you alt+tab it. Besides, the creators did mention that some apps run better in borderless windows by default because you eliminate the need for V-Sync. It’s also open-source, everyone can review it and everyone can contribute to making it better. 

If you’re not too keen on installing one more gaming app, you can always download a mod that does exactly the same thing. A mod called ‘Skyrim-Borderless Window Mode’ is available on Nexus for free, which adds a blank .esp file that overrides your default SkyrimPrefs.ini file. 

How do you put Skyrim in borderless windowed mode via the .ini file?

If you don’t want to install anything at all, you can always force Skyrim to go into borderless windowed mode by editing the .ini file. If you are an avid modder, you know that messing with a .ini file is never recommended, and it’s always smart to make a working backup before you make any changes to it. Otherwise, your game might CTD, or some vital things in the game could be disabled the next time you run it. 

To run Skyrim in borderless windowed mode via .ini file, follow these steps: 

1. Locate your SkyrimPrefs.ini (it should be in Documents/Games/Skyrim)
2. Open the file in any text editor and navigate to the [Display] section. 
3. add the following lines bBorderless=1 , bFull Screen=0 
4. Save the changes made to the .ini file and run the game. 

ALWAYS make sure to back up your .ini file if you’re attempting even the most minor of changes. 

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