Microsoft Surface Tablet screens are a feast of colorful Tiles. Some are Live Tiles with information loops to keep you informed about the news or what your friends are up to. Some Tiles are static. Regardless, when you open the lid or launch a Surface Tablet, you’ll see the Tiles you’ve edited facing you. If you have many Apps installed, you may need to swipe the screen horizontally to the left to reach a particular Tile. However, this is the standard resolution for the Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2 out of the box. If you want to see more Tiles on your screen, there are ways to do it.
The Surface 2’s screen has been upgraded from the original and now displays your content in 1080p. 1920 x 1080 resolution looks clear and sharp when viewing video, text or Tiles. The Surface Pro 2 screen also has the same 1920 x 1080 resolution and is no different from the original model released a year ago.
If you want to see more Tiles on both displays (or any Windows 8.1 high resolution display for that matter), here’s how to adjust the settings.
Depending on your preference, you can make one or both of the two settings.
The first method is the simplest. Swipe right and select . You will then be presented with a menu with a toggle that says You.
Show More Tiles
If you want to see more Tiles on your start screen, simply toggle the switch. (Default is No.)
When you return to your start screen you will see more tiles but they will be smaller.
Here’s a picture of my Start screen before I switch.
Before Choosing More Tiles
And then.
Note that in Windows 8.1 there are four sizes of Tiles to choose from: . So you can customize each Tile individually as you see fit. You can do this by selecting a Tile by tapping and holding on it. A Menu Bar opens from the bottom of the screen with options including:
After selecting, you can choose from the available options.
You can also use the second method if you have great vision and want more tiles on your screen. (This method will also give you a new capture option, which I’ll discuss below.)
Swipe in from the Charms menu and select below the dropdown title that lists it as Default. Select the down arrow and select . Then type the size. You will be presented with a number of options. To choose .
The next screen will bring you with a list of options. You must be in the option. In the right pane, you will see the following description You have two options in the drop-down menu. To choose
Back on your Start Screen, you’ll see pretty much, if not all, of your Tiles representing installed Apps on a single screen.
After choosing both methods
Again, what you see on your screen is a matter of personal preference and how sharp your vision is. for me the smaller text selected in the second of the two methods is too small to read effectively while working. Also note that this option will change the size of the icons on the Desktop and will also affect some touch targets there.
Desktop icons before changes
I think most of these Desktop touch targets are too small to be activated by touch.
Desktop icons after changes
But you can use a keyboard or mouse and that’s fine with you. Again, personal preference. In the meantime, if you choose to forego this method, you will need to reboot or reboot your Surface for the Desktop icons to return to their Default size.
I mentioned earlier that this second method will save you, and I added a bonus. You are probably familiar with the Snap feature in Windows 8.1 that lets you have two apps running side by side. By choosing to make things smaller with this second method, you can now have three apps side by side on your screen if you want.
Note that these display options on your Surface can also be mirrored on a larger monitor if you have one connected to your Surface.