How to make CrossFire Fullscreen and Fix Black Screen [Solved]

As CrossFire by Smilegate Entertainment enters the lineup of Battle Royales, more players are finding themselves returning to the game. Given its age, it’s no surprise to run into a few bugs in this combat veteran of a game.

No one wants to play a first person shooter in Windowed mode, so in this guide, we’ll teach you 5 simple ways to start making CrossFire fullscreen on PC, as well as solving the black screen issue.

Solution 1: Run CrossFire in Compatibility Mode first, then adjust settings for fullscreen

Make no mistake, CrossFire is certainly an old game. It was first released in 2007, making it a game originally on Windows 7. As CrossFire is most optimal for older Window PC versions, we recommend turning on Compatibility Mode for Windows 8 / 7 / Vista to stabilize the game.

Here’s how:

1. Find CrossFire’s application file in your installed locations. Installed from Z8Games: Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\CrossFire
2. Right click on the application file: “Crossfire” and select [Properties].
3. Under compatibility mode, tick on “Run this program in compatibility mode for”.
4. Select Windows 8.
5. If the method did not work, try again with Windows 7, Vista, or Service XP pack 2.

For some players, you may notice CrossFire starts in Windowed mode in the lobby area. This is normal and in matches CrossFire will usually load in fullscreen. To make sure this happens, set your in-game settings to fullscreen by following solution 2.

Solution 2: Use in-game settings to go Fullscreen in CrossFire

This solution is best paired with the compatibility mode tweak we mentioned above. Remember to activate compatibility mode first before trying this method.

Now that you’ve opened up CrossFire and are in the lobby, head to your in-game options to edit your graphics:

1. Open your [Options] menu.
2. Find the [Graphics] tab and locate [Select Screen].
3. Choose [Full Screen] and make sure the rightmost option says [Screen Center].
4. Close to save the settings.

If CrossFire is immediately fullscreen, congratulations!

If your game client is still in windowed mode, that is completely fine as well. Similarly to League of Legends, CrossFire’s lobby area can start in windowed mode, but goes fullscreen whenever you enter a match. Try visiting the gun shop and entering the [Shooting Range] first to double check if your fullscreen settings will activate in a real match.

How to avoid the Black Loading Screen issue in CrossFire

Aside from applying compatibility mode, you should make sure your [Resolution] settings are set to 1920 x 1080 or your native / recommended resolution on your PC. This will reduce how blurry CrossFire looks in fullscreen, as well as fix the black screen bug.

If you don’t know what your best settings are, we threw in an extra little guide below.

How to check Your Recommended Resolution Settings

1. Right click an empty space on your desktop and select [Display settings].
2. Scroll down and find [Scale and layout].
3. Make sure you are using the recommended settings for scale.
4. Under that you will find [Display resolution], set it to your recommended settings. That will be the native resolution of your PC.

Voila! And now you have your recommended resolution settings. Remember to apply the same settings to your CrossFire in-game resolution.

Solution 3: Use Generic Keyboard Shortcuts to make CrossFire fullscreen

Before entering a match, you can enter the Shooting Range (Practice mode) to try out these commands. On Windows PC, there are generic keyboard shortcuts you can press to trigger almost any game to go fullscreen or exit it. Once in the shooting range, try either of these commands:

1. [Alt] + [Enter] key together.
2. [F11] key.
3. [Fn] + [F11] key together. This is only if your device is using the [Fn] function key for commands.

Solution 4: Update Your Graphic Drivers in Device Manager

After all your tries at solutions above, if CrossFire still starts in Windowed Mode it may actually be caused by your graphics driver software. We can update it through Device Manager, which is a native software in Microsoft Windows. To open it, simply search for it from your start bar.

Steps to update / check your graphic drivers:

1. Search for [Device Manager] in your start bar and open it.
2. Navigate to [Display adapters], double click to expand it, then select your driver.
3. Double click to open your driver’s [Properties].
4. Navigate to [Driver] and click on [Update Driver].
5. A menu will pop up asking you a question, select the first option to do an auto update.

If no update suggestions appear, then you are on the latest version available for your device. Troubleshoot our backup solutions below and see if they resolve your fullscreen issue.

Solution 5: Turn off your GPU Scaling in AMD Radeon or Nvidia Control Panel

Before you turn off your GPU Scaling on your graphic cards, make sure that your drivers are up to date.

Instructions for NVIDIA Control Panel

If your PC uses an Nvidia graphics card, try configuring your NVIDIA Control Panel. First, right click on an empty space on your desktop and select [NVIDIA Control Panel].

High Performance Mode

1. After opening the NVIDIA Control Panel, select [3D Settings].
2. Under [Manage 3D Settings], click on the [Global Settings] tab.
3. Make your preferred Graphics Processor [High-performance NVIDIA processor].
4. Start Among Us and apply fullscreen with Menu settings or use Alt Enter.

Adjust Scaling

1. Under [Display] on the left bar, find [Adjust desktop size and position].
2. After selecting it, take note of settings in the right bar. Set scaling to [No scaling].
3. Start Among Us and apply fullscreen with Menu settings or use Alt Enter

Instructions for AMD Radeon Software

For devices running on AMD graphics, right click your desktop and select [AMD Radeon Software] from the menu. From there, an interface will pop up. Follow these 3 steps:

1. Click on the gear icon on the top right, then navigate to the [Display] tab.
2. Once at the Display tab, click on GPU Scaling node to turn it off.
3. Start the game and try going fullscreen again, it should work this time.

There you have it, more than 5 ways to configure CrossFire on Windows PC to go fullscreen. Given the game’s age, there is still more you can do to improve your experience of the game. Check out how to reduce high PING in CrossFire here, and how to improve FPS performance in CrossFire here.

For other guides similar to this, perhaps you’d like to check out our guide on how to fix the fullscreen issues in Elden Ring. In any case, we hope this guide has resolved your enquiries for going fullscreen in CrossFire.