Almost every PC game offers three display modes: exclusive fullscreen, borderless windowed, and plain windowed. The choice quietly affects your frame rate, input latency, alt-tab behavior, and whether features like variable refresh and screen recording work correctly. Understanding the trade-offs lets you pick the right mode per game instead of leaving it on whatever the game defaulted to.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.
Our Top Picks
GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3050 WINDFORCE OC V2 6GStandard7.5 x 4.4 x 0.1 Inches0.88 poundsCheck on Amazon
ASUS SFF-Ready Prime NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 GraphicsRTX507012 x 5 x 2 Inches3.3 poundsCheck on Amazon
Top 3 picks at a glance
What Each Mode Does
Exclusive fullscreen gives the game total control of the display output, bypassing the Windows desktop compositor. Borderless windowed runs the game as a maximized, border-free window that the compositor still manages. Windowed is the same but with a visible title bar and borders. The key divide is compositor involvement: exclusive fullscreen skips it, the other two do not.
| Factor | Exclusive fullscreen | Borderless windowed |
|---|---|---|
| Raw latency | Lowest | Slightly higher |
| Alt-tab speed | Slow, can flicker | Instant |
| Multi-monitor use | Awkward | Seamless |
| Screen recording/streaming | Sometimes fails | Reliable |
| Per-game resolution | Yes | Locked to desktop |
The Case for Exclusive Fullscreen
Because it bypasses the compositor, exclusive fullscreen delivers the lowest input latency and lets you run the game at a resolution different from your desktop, which is essential for driver-level upscalers like RSR. Competitive players chasing every millisecond and the smoothest possible frame delivery often prefer it. It is also required for certain older games and some variable-refresh implementations to behave exactly as intended.
Its Downsides
Alt-tabbing out is slow and can cause the screen to flash black or crash fragile games. Notifications and second-monitor content are harder to reach, and screen capture tools sometimes record a black frame. On modern Windows the latency advantage has also shrunk considerably.
The Case for Borderless Windowed
Borderless windowed is the convenience champion. Alt-tabbing is instant, you can glance at Discord or a guide on a second monitor without the game hiccuping, and screen sharing and recording just work. On current Windows, thanks to compositor improvements, its latency penalty over exclusive fullscreen is usually small, so most single-player and casual players lose almost nothing while gaining a lot of comfort.
Its Downsides
It cannot render at a resolution other than your desktop, so it does not play nicely with certain upscaling tricks, and in a few games it adds a hair more latency or blocks true variable refresh. For the most latency-sensitive competitive play, that small difference can matter.
How to Choose
Use borderless windowed for single-player games, streaming, recording, and anything where you alt-tab often, which covers most people most of the time. Use exclusive fullscreen for competitive shooters where you want minimum latency, for driver-level upscaling that needs a sub-native resolution, and for old games that misbehave in windowed modes. There is no universally correct answer; match the mode to the game.
Test the Difference on Your Own System
General advice only goes so far, because the gap between these modes depends on your Windows version, GPU, and the specific game engine. The honest way to choose is to measure. Pick a repeatable scene, run it in exclusive fullscreen while noting average and 1% low frame rates, then repeat in borderless windowed. On most modern systems the difference is within a few percent, small enough that convenience wins; on older setups or certain engines it can be larger.
Also test the features you actually use. If you rely on a driver-level upscaler that needs a sub-native render resolution, exclusive fullscreen is required. If you stream, record, or alt-tab constantly to Discord and guides, borderless windowed removes friction that a tiny frame-rate edge cannot justify. There is no universal winner, so set the mode per game based on your own numbers and habits rather than a blanket rule you read online.
FAQ
Does borderless windowed lower my FPS?
On modern Windows the frame-rate difference is usually negligible, often within a few percent. Older systems and specific games can show a larger gap. If you suspect a hit, benchmark the same scene in both modes and compare; most people will not notice a meaningful difference.
Which mode is best for streaming and recording?
Borderless windowed, without question. Capture software reliably records a bordered-free window, while exclusive fullscreen sometimes produces a black recording. If you stream or record, default to borderless windowed for every game.
Bottom Line
Pick borderless windowed for convenience, streaming, multi-monitor use, and the vast majority of single-player games, since its modern latency penalty is tiny. Reserve exclusive fullscreen for competitive latency-critical play, driver-level upscaling that needs a lower render resolution, and stubborn old titles. Set it per game rather than assuming one mode wins everywhere.
