How to use Playnite fullscreen themes

While you can have fun using a console to play your favorite games on Playnite, you can do it seamlessly on a PC or TV. What’s more, you can also use Playnite themes in fullscreen mode.

Gaming consoles are indeed fun, and so are the PC screens that enlarge the video output to a larger extent. However, sometimes, you may want to double the entertainment by projecting your game on a TV screen. Isn’t that a great idea? Moreover, navigating through a smaller screen may be uncomfortable either. Hence, you can use a Playnite theme in its Fullscreen Mode and enjoy the content in a much broader view. However, if using a joypad, you can only select and launch games in this mode.

How to use Playnite fullscreen themes?

Whether you want to add simple colors or restyle the unified interface thoroughly, Playnite is a video game manager that allows you to customize its look using the built-in themes fully. This post will explain how to download Playnite themes and change to fullscreen.

Download Fullscreen themes

Playnite offers two options to download themes, such as, via the built-in themes and the third-party ones. It’s pretty easy to use the Playnite themes in Fullscreen mode. To enable Fullscreen mode for the built-in themes, click on the Playnite icon on the top left and select Switch to Fullscreen Mode. Or, you can hit the F11 key to switch to Fullscreen mode.

Alternatively, you can install third-party themes. For this, click on the Playnite menu on the upper left and select Add-ons. Or, you can hit the F9 key to pull up the Add-ons window. Next, from the Add-ons window, go to Browse and select Themes Fullscreen. Now, select a theme on the right and click on Install.

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Customize the Fullscreen Mode

Did you download the Playnite themes? Now, you can also customize these themes to suit your requirements. If using a joystick to navigate through Playnite themes in Fullscreen Mode, click on the three parallel lines (menu) on the top right of the screen. Next, select Settings to open the options.

The General category contains different options; for example, if you have multiple monitors connected to the PC, you can choose to select the display you want to be set as primary. You can also choose to Show the Battery Status, Battery Percentage, display the Clock, Minimize after starting the game, and more.

Under the Visuals category, you can change the visual settings for the game, for example, whether or not you want to Darken not installed games or Show Background Image on Main Screen. You can also adjust the Font Size, Blur/Darken Background, etc.

To fix an issue like if the joypad is not working properly, you can visit the Input section, and enable XInput Device Support. You can also play with options like Inverted X/A main view button binding or Swap confirmation/cancelation button binding for imported games.

Under Layout, you can choose to enable/disable Smooth scrolling and Horizontal Scrolling, adjust the number of Rows or Columns, and/or adjust the Item spacing value.

To customize the sound options, you can visit the Audio section.

Autostart in Fullscreen Mode

Do you want Playnite to launch in Fullscreen Mode automatically whenever you try to run it? Here’s what you can do.

On Playnite’s home page, click on Menu on the top left, select Settings, or press F4.

Now, while you are on the General page, go to the right, select Launch in Fullscreen Mode and Launch Playnite when you start computer. Press Save to apply the changes.

Read: How to move a Fullscreen game window to another monitor

What is the difference between desktop and fullscreen Playnite?

You can play your favorite games on Playnight using either of the two different modes – Standard Desktop mode or Fullscreen mode. If you prefer using the keyboard and mouse to play games, you can use the Standard Desktop mode, and for the gamepad users, it’s the Fullscreen mode. Since both the modes are completely different in all aspects, the themes are also entirely different.

How do you make a theme on Playnite?

To create a Playnite theme, it’s recommended to use the Toolbox utility to create a fresh copy of the theme files. If you try to edit the default theme files, it may damage the files and Playnite may fail to start. Therefore, it’s suggested not to edit the theme files to avoid damage, thus, ensuring a seamless theme creation process.