How to Force a Program to Open in Full Screen in Windows 10/11

In this tutorial, we are going to see how to force a program to open in full screen in Windows 10/11. By default, Windows operating system opens programs in a “normal” size window. This means that the applications you run will not necessarily fill the entire screen. So you are forced to manually maximize the window each time you open your programs. And this task can quickly become annoying… If you don’t want to repeat this action, you can force Windows to run your programs in a maximized window. Here is how to do it.
 

🖥️ How to Force a Program to Open in Full Screen in Windows 10/11

Usually, applications remember when they were last run. If you close the application in expanded window mode, it should reopen in the same state. However, sometimes some applications can be a little difficult to remember. For this reason, you can easily force a program to run in a maximized window. Indeed, Windows natively integrates an option allowing to run any application in a maximized window at each opening.

To force a program to open in a full-screen window, you must have access to its shortcut icon. The steps differ slightly depending on the location of the shortcut icon.
 
 

Shortcut icon on the Windows desktop

If the shortcut icon of the program is present on the Windows Desktop, I recommend you to follow these steps:

✅ Step 1: Right-click on the shortcut icon of the program you always want to run in a maximized window and select Properties.
 

 
✅ Step 2: From the Shortcut tab, open the drop-down menu next to Run and select Maximized.
 

 
 
✅ Step 3: Finally, don’t forget to save your changes by clicking on the Apply and OK buttons.
 

 
Now the program will automatically open in a full-screen window.
 

Shortcut icon in the taskbar

✅ Step 1: From the taskbar, right-click on the program’s shortcut icon, then right-click on the application again and select Properties.
 

 
 
✅ Step 2: From the Shortcut tab, open the drop-down menu next to Run and select Maximized.
 

 
✅ Step 3: Finally, don’t forget to save your changes by clicking on the Apply and OK buttons.
 

 
Now the program will automatically open in a full-screen window.
 
 

In the Windows 10/11 Start menu

✅ Step 1: Start by searching for the app in the Windows 10/11 Start menu.

✅ Step 2: Then, right-click on the app’s icon in the search results, and then click Open File Location.
 

 
✅ Step 3: Then right-click on the program’s shortcut icon and select Properties.
 

 
✅ Step 4: From the Shortcut tab, open the drop-down menu next to Run and select Maximized.
 

 
 
✅ Step 5: Finally, don’t forget to save your changes by clicking on the Apply and OK buttons.
 

 
Now the program will automatically open in a full-screen window.