Black bars on ultrawide: why, and what to do
Not all black bars are alike. Some are fixed in three clicks, others can't be fixed at all.
You've just plugged in an ultrawide monitor and part of the image is still black. Before you go looking for a fix, you need to work out which of the four possible causes applies — because three of them have a solution, and the fourth has none.
Cause 1: the resolution is wrong
This is the simplest case and, by far, the most common right after buying. The system or the game is still set to a 16:9 resolution and the monitor is displaying that image in the center. Check the resolution in your system display settings (it should be 3440×1440 or 5120×1440 depending on the monitor), then in the game's graphics options, where the setting is independent.
Think about the display mode as well: in borderless windowed, some games follow the window and behave correctly, whereas in exclusive fullscreen they impose their own list of resolutions. Try both.
Cause 2: the game doesn't support the aspect ratio
The engine locks the aspect ratio and refuses anything wider than 16:9. Across our 217 games, that applies to a minority — 7 are rated "Avoid" at 32:9 — but it affects some very popular titles.
There's often a solution: the widescreen community publishes fixes for many locked games. In our database, 65 games out of 217 become fully usable thanks to a mod or a patch. The usual sources are the WSGF (Widescreen Gaming Forum), PCGamingWiki, Flawless Widescreen, the fixes Lyall publishes on GitHub, and Nexus Mods pages.
Cause 3: only the cutscenes are affected
Gameplay fills the whole screen, but every story scene shrinks back to 16:9. This isn't a missed setting: those cutscenes are video files pre-rendered at a fixed aspect ratio. No in-game option can widen them, because the extra image simply doesn't exist in the file.
Some fixes offer to zoom the video to fill the width, at the cost of losing the top and bottom of the image. That's a compromise, not a correction. The 76 games whose cutscenes are natively full screen are listed in our dedicated selection.
Cause 4: it's a movie, and it's normal
A film's aspect ratio is locked in at the shoot. If it was shot at 1.85:1, it will never occupy more than 77% of the width of a 21:9 screen, and about 52% of a 32:9. There is no setting, no mod and no update that can change any of it — the extra image was never filmed.
The only option players and TVs offer is zoom: blowing the image up until it fills the width, which cuts the top and bottom. On a carefully composed film, that amounts to reframing every shot in place of the cinematographer. Best avoided.
The decision table
| Bars on both sides, in every game | System resolution or cable. Check your display settings. |
|---|---|
| Bars in a single game | Game resolution, or an unsupported aspect ratio. Look for a community fix. |
| Bars only during scenes | Pre-rendered cutscenes. No clean fix possible. |
| Bars on a movie | The film's original aspect ratio. Normal, and permanent. |
| Bars at the top and bottom of a widescreen game | Vert- behavior: the game crops instead of widening. See whether a field of view option exists. |
Frequently asked questions
How do I remove the black bars in a game at 21:9?
First check that the game's resolution is set to your monitor's, and try borderless windowed mode. If the game stays locked, look for a community fix on PCGamingWiki or the WSGF — but avoid any modification on an online game protected by anti-cheat.
Can you remove the black bars from a movie?
No, not without degrading the image. A film's aspect ratio is locked in at the shoot: the image outside the frame doesn't exist. The zoom function on players fills the width by cutting the top and bottom, which amounts to reframing every shot.
Why do cutscenes stay in 16:9 when the game is in 21:9?
Because they're pre-rendered videos recorded at a fixed aspect ratio, while the rest of the game is rendered in real time and adapts to the screen. No option can create the missing image.
Can an ultrawide mod get you banned from an online game?
Yes, that's a real risk in games protected by anti-cheat, because these fixes modify the game's memory or files. WideBase entries carry a warning whenever that's the case.