Drop-down menus, Tooltip and floating windows appear off-screen or contain blurry text in 3ds Max

Autodesk Support

Feb 11, 2025

Products and versions covered

Issue:

When using 3ds Max on 4K monitors issues may occur with the User Interface (UI).
Examples of unwanted scaling behaviours include, but are not limited to:

  • Blurry or fuzzy UI text.
  • Drop-down or floating menus appear in unwanted locations.
  • Dialogue windows appear off-screen.
  • Toolbar Icons are not highlighted.
  • Tooltips are offsetted from original location.

Environment:

  • Windows 10 Creators Update (1703)
  • Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (1709)
  • Windows 10 April Update (1803)
  • Windows 10 October Update (1809)
  • Windows 10 May Update (1903)
  • Windows 10 November Update (1909)

Causes:

New updates added to the Windows 10 Operating System (OS). 

Solution:

The solution may require one, or a combination of the following:


Use the Windows Cascade feature

Use the "Cascade Windows" feature of the Windows toolbar to resize all open menus on the PC and center them on the primary monitor.


Reset 3ds Max preferences

Change the 3ds Max menu positions back to their default launching positions by resetting the 3ds Max user preferences. 

Configure the Display scaling

  1. Set the "Scale and Layout setting" for both Displays to the same scaling value
Windows display "Scale and Layout setting"


Configure the scaling in the 3dsmax.exe properties

  1. With 3ds Max closed, right-click on the Windows Desktop.
  2. Choose Display Settings.
  3. In the Display Settings windows, ensure that Windows is set to use 150% scaling (or the preferred scaling level used previously).
  4. Go to the 3ds Max root folder location: 

    C:\Program Files\Autodesk\<3ds Max version>
     
  5. Select the file 3dsmax.exe.
  6. Right-click the file and choose Properties.
  7. Select the Compatibility tab.
  8. Check the box for "Override high DPI scaling behavior."
  9. Under "Scaling performed by", click the drop-down menu and change 3ds Max to one of the following options.
Toggle through the options should one not help with the preferred display changes:
  • Application. (Recommended)
  • System.
  • System (Enhanced).
​​Override High DPI
  1. Click Apply.
  2. Click OK.
  3. Reboot the system and test 3ds Max.

Products:

3ds Max;

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