How can I fix 4K scaling on Windows to look good in design tools and browser?

[Charles_S]

So I finally got a proper 4K monitor for my home office, and honestly, I’m a bit underwhelmed? The text is sharp, sure, but everything feels weirdly small and some older apps look blurry. I’m using Windows and I’ve been fiddling with the scaling settings for days, but I can’t seem to find a sweet spot where my design tools and my browser both look right at the same time. I guess I just expected it to be a flawless upgrade. Has anyone else gone through this and figured out a good workflow?

[Brian_S]

I'm with you I have a 4K monitor too and the clarity is nice but the size feels off Some apps look sharp then others look small or blurry and the browser text can seem absurdly tiny I kept chasing one perfect scaling and kept hitting roadblocks

[Harper91]

im skeptical about a flawless upgrade not every app is built for high DPI on Windows Some tools render UI differently than the browser which makes a single setting feel useless Maybe the answer is per app DPI overrides rather than one global setting

[AvaJ]

as an analyst I notice a mismatch between vector UI and bitmap icons on a 4K monitor The scaling math can surprise you if a tool is DPI aware while the browser uses a different baseline This is the kind of mismatch you discover after hours of testing

[Dennis25]

maybe the problem is not the monitor but the idea of a single magic setting In practice you end up designing in one app at a certain zoom and browsing with another at a different scale It feels like a workflow constraint more than a display problem

[PaisleyBW]

one casual thought is to try per app zooms and keep browser fonts a touch larger The trick is to let each program own its scale while you keep a separate testing profile for the browser

[TylerR]

think about font hinting and subpixel rendering as a concept you do not fully control on every app It helps to know there is more to text on a 4K monitor than just size and clarity

[Natalie18]

this framing may be as important as the tech Do you want to swap notes on what worked for you for a week or two and see if we can build a cross app workflow around it