Share via

My new Surface Laptop won't output properly to my ultrawide screen

Sarah Threlfall 0 Reputation points
2025-12-04T10:07:53.2166667+00:00

My old Surface Book displays perfectly on my Ultrawide screen with the recommended resolution 3440 x 1440 and at 100%. However, when I switch to my brand new Surface Laptop 7th Edition the recommended resolution produces a very stretched display with black space above and below.

I have tried all resolutions, it fills the screen at 3840 x 2160 but is still stretched.

I have tried to change the actual ratio on the screen itself but none of the settings improve the situation.

I am very annoyed that my £1,000 brand new laptop appears to be less functional than the one that's over 5 years old with smaller SSD and less RAM!

Does anyone have any advice on how I can make my new laptop work with the ultrawide screen??

Surface | Surface Laptop | Display and screen
0 comments

1 answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Lychee-Ng 10,660 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-04T14:37:10.4633333+00:00

    Hi Sarah Threlfall,

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

    I'm sorry to hear of the unwanted mismatch between your Surface Laptop 7 and Ultrawide monitor, especially when it's a new device and the display worked with your old Surface Book.

    I can see that you already tried most possible solutions, still, I want to check everything one more time just to make sure. Re-confirm your setup is correct following this guide: Supported external display resolution and refresh rates for Surface - Microsoft Support

    User's image

    • Remember to choose the right display before making changes
    • Refresh rate: 60 Hz (in Settings > Display > Advanced display)
      • Try setting the same rate for both your laptop and monitor
      • You can lower the refresh rate of the Ultraview to test its behavior
    • Resolution: choose the Recommended option
      • Or check with each resolution if needed.
    • Set correct aspect ratio for your monitor:
      • Choose 21:9 as 3440 x 1440 previously worked
      • If there's a Reset Display option, select it
      • Disable Zoom or Fit to Screen (if any)

    If the issue still persists after trying everything, it'd be helpful if you can share the connector you're using. Because based some reports from other users with similar problems, DisplayPort might be better for output than HDMI. So, if you're using a HDMI cable, consider checking out other 60Hz supported DisplayPort connectors.

    We look forward to hearing from you and reviewing the information. Thank you for your time.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.