[SOLVED] Skyrim stuck in windowed mode, CTD

[FransTheFox]

I used to play Skyrim Special Edition on this PC with no problems, but I uninstalled it because it used up too much space on my SSD (not all space, but a lot) with many graphics mods, and I wanted to play something new. Now I reinstalled Skyrim SE because I wanted to play it again.

But I have a problem where I can't make Skyrim go full screen. Even if I go to options, set the resolution to my screen resolution, and uncheck the windowed mode, it stays in windowed mode, and it's only about a quarter of my screen.

I went to the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, and I made sure that it looks like this:

bBorderless=1
bFull Screen=1
iSize H=1440
iSize W=2560

However, it is still in windowed mode, and the size did not change either.

Not only that, but after I tried starting a new game (wanted to start fresh with a new playthrough), it just immediately crashes to desktop. Even without any mods, it just crashes.

I tried playing the LE version, and it seems to be working, but it has the same windowed screen issue, with an even smaller window.

Also, when my character jumped off the carriage, I got the "Autosaving" message in the corner. But when I quit, and tried to continue, the Load in the main menu was greyed out, implying that it either didn't save, or failed to load.

I want to be able to play at least one of them properly.

What should I do?

[Vlad 254]

Not sure if you're using mods that might be changing those settings but...

First you should be editing the SkyrimPrefs.ini located in your Documents \ My Games folder located here (not the one in your game directory):
C:\Users\Owner\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition

But there should be no need to mess with those.

When you launch your game from your Steam Library a small settings window pops up and you can remove the check mark from "Windowed Mode" under the Detail settings

[FransTheFox]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Not sure if you're using mods that might be changing those settings but...

First you should be editing the SkyrimPrefs.ini located in your Documents \ My Games folder located here (not the one in your game directory):
C:\Users\Owner\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition

But there should be no need to mess with those.

When you launch your game from your Steam Library a small settings window pops up and you can remove the check mark from "Windowed Mode" under the Detail settings

I know, and that's exactly what I did, hence theart: "and uncheck the windowed mode". By uncheck, I mean removed the check mark.

And the ini file I edited is not in the Users/Owner directory.

First, I used mods. Then I disabled all of them. Then I reinstalled the game itself, and tried running it in vanilla. Still same issue.

[Vlad 254]

Originally posted by FransTheFox:

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Not sure if you're using mods that might be changing those settings but...

First you should be editing the SkyrimPrefs.ini located in your Documents \ My Games folder located here (not the one in your game directory):
C:\Users\Owner\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition

But there should be no need to mess with those.

When you launch your game from your Steam Library a small settings window pops up and you can remove the check mark from "Windowed Mode" under the Detail settings

I know, and that's exactly what I did, hence theart: "and uncheck the windowed mode". By uncheck, I mean removed the check mark.

And the ini file I edited is not in the Users/Owner directory.

First, I used mods. Then I disabled all of them. Then I reinstalled the game itself, and tried running it in vanilla. Still same issue.

Was not in the "Documents" folder?? That's the one you edit!

btw "Owner" is simply another way of saying "your name" or whatever you name you gave it. By default Skyrim places the 2 important .ini files (and saves folder) in your C: drive inside the Documents folder regardless of which drive you install your game on. So the file path is usually:
C:\Users\YOUR NAME\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition
and we are looking for the SkyrimPrefs.ini which you open in Notepad or Notepad++
if you can not see the .ini make sure you can view File Name extensions.

There are ini files in your game directory but you should not be editing those

[FransTheFox]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Originally posted by FransTheFox:

I know, and that's exactly what I did, hence theart: "and uncheck the windowed mode". By uncheck, I mean removed the check mark.

And the ini file I edited is not in the Users/Owner directory.

First, I used mods. Then I disabled all of them. Then I reinstalled the game itself, and tried running it in vanilla. Still same issue.

Was not in the "Documents" folder?? That's the one you edit!

btw "Owner" is simply another way of saying "your name" or whatever you name you gave it. By default Skyrim places the 2 important .ini files (and saves folder) in your C: drive inside the Documents folder regardless of which drive you install your game on. So the file path is usually:
C:\Users\YOUR NAME\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition
and we are looking for the SkyrimPrefs.ini which you open in Notepad or Notepad++
if you can not see the .ini make sure you can view File Name extensions.

There are ini files in your game directory but you should not be editing those

Yes, I know what you meant by Owner. My username.

And yes, I also edited that ini file. Nothing changed.

And my Documents folder in my username is empty. It was always empty, and I never had issues playing games.

[Vlad 254]

Originally posted by FransTheFox:

And yes, I also edited that ini file. Nothing changed.

And my Documents folder in my username is empty. It was always empty, and I never had issues playing games.

OK but - How could you edit that ini file if nothing is in there?

And what do you mean by "I also edit that ini file" - where was the other ini located that you "also" edited?

And finally I would ask you what are the file paths where your ini's are located?

[FransTheFox]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

Originally posted by FransTheFox:

And yes, I also edited that ini file. Nothing changed.

And my Documents folder in my username is empty. It was always empty, and I never had issues playing games.

OK but - How could you edit that ini file if nothing is in there?

And what do you mean by "I also edit that ini file" - where was the other ini located that you "also" edited?

And finally I would ask you what are the file paths where your ini's are located?

My bad, I don't know why I said I edited that. Kind of confused myself there.

I edited the ini file from both the game folder, and the one located in Users\username\OneDrive\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition.

None works.

[cheshirm]

been playing skyrim se since oct 2016

game has never created folders/files/written/read from folder
c:\Users\username\OneDrive\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition.

the ONLY folder the game writes to/reads from is
c:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition


turn off one drive
or stop synching the skyrim se folder
then see if game works

game cannot read ini file because one drive moves it from where it is supposed to be.

[FransTheFox]

Originally posted by cheshirm:

been playing skyrim se since oct 2016

game has never created folders/files/written/read from folder
c:\Users\username\OneDrive\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition.

the ONLY folder the game writes to/reads from is
c:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition


turn off one drive
or stop synching the skyrim se folder
then see if game works

game cannot read ini file because one drive moves it from where it is supposed to be.

No use. Even if I tell it to stop syncing the Skyrim folder, or even tell it to pause syncing, it just syncs it anyway.

I delete the Skyrim folder on OneDrive, turn off sync, and launch Skyrim again, the folder just goes into One Drive again.

[cheshirm]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

to see if it is the issue, try turning one drive off temporarily or try the pause synch. should be able to stop the one drive service at least. if the game works with one drive off, someone with more knowledge of one drive will have to tell you how to tweak one drive. you cannot be the only player of the 30 million copies sold who is using one drive. (I do not use it so have no first hand knowledge to fix things)

[FransTheFox]

Originally posted by cheshirm:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

to see if it is the issue, try turning one drive off temporarily or try the pause synch. should be able to stop the one drive service at least. if the game works with one drive off, someone with more knowledge of one drive will have to tell you how to tweak one drive. you cannot be the only player of the 30 million copies sold who is using one drive. (I do not use it so have no first hand knowledge to fix things)

Thank you, but I just found a solution, and everything seems fine now!

I just followed these instructions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/2263565217515804221/

The problem was that the default Documents folder was in OneDrive. And I changed it to \username\Documents.

All is fine now!

[Vlad 254]

Originally posted by FransTheFox:

Originally posted by cheshirm:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

to see if it is the issue, try turning one drive off temporarily or try the pause synch. should be able to stop the one drive service at least. if the game works with one drive off, someone with more knowledge of one drive will have to tell you how to tweak one drive. you cannot be the only player of the 30 million copies sold who is using one drive. (I do not use it so have no first hand knowledge to fix things)

Thank you, but I just found a solution, and everything seems fine now!

I just followed these instructions: https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/2263565217515804221/

The problem was that the default Documents folder was in OneDrive. And I changed it to \username\Documents.

All is fine now!

Ah yes, now that makes sense. Wish I had known you were working from there (OneDrive) to begin with. The most important thing is you fixed it. Kudos to you. Have fun.