Desktop app appears too small on high-DPI displays on Windows/Linux
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- Dominant language
- TypeScript
- Stars
- 23k
- Forks
- 5.9k
- Avg merge
- 11h 14m
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 357
Description
Summary
On Windows and Linux, the desktop app does not automatically scale its UI on high-DPI displays the way macOS does. On 1440p and especially 4K monitors, the app can appear extremely small and difficult to use.
Problem
Electron does not automatically handle high-DPI scaling for this app on Windows in the same way macOS handles Retina displays. As a result:
- 1080p looks normal
- 1440p can look undersized
- 4K can look tiny
This is especially noticeable when moving the app between monitors with different DPI / scaling characteristics.
Expected behavior
The desktop app should automatically scale its UI based on the current display so that it remains comfortably usable on high-DPI monitors.
Proposed behavior
- Automatically detect display resolution / effective display size
- Apply a zoom baseline for high-DPI monitors
- Keep 1080p unchanged
- Recompute scaling when windows are created or moved between monitors
- Preserve manual user zoom adjustments instead of overwriting them
- Allow reset back to the display-based automatic zoom level
Notes
- This should only apply to Windows and Linux
- macOS should remain unchanged, since Retina / HiDPI behavior is already handled well there
- Multi-monitor setups should be supported so the zoom baseline updates correctly per display
Related
Proposed fix is available in PR #406.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Review PR #406 first, since the issue identifies it as the proposed fix. Check how the desktop app currently handles zoom and display changes on Windows and Linux, then verify the listed behavior: unchanged 1080p, per-display updates across monitors, preserved manual zoom, reset support, and unchanged macOS behavior.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- electron, typescript
- Domain
- desktop
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100