How to Play League of Legends in Windowed Mode

Last Updated: May 18, 2021

Most people play League of Legends on full screen because it optimizes performance, but windowed mode can be better under some circumstances. It's easier to access other windows and apps while playing, and it can also improve performance a bit, because sometimes switching from game to desktop hurts the CPU usage.^{[1]
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Research source} Switching to windowed mode is very straightforward.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Changing Modes In-Game

1
Start the game. Press “Esc” to bring up the Settings window.
2
Click the “Video” tab. Select “Windowed” rather than “Fullscreen” or “Borderless.”

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3
Resume play. You can toggle between fullscreen and windowed modes while playing by using the shortcut Alt+Enter.^{[2]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Changing the Configuration File

1
Open the League of Legends folder on your computer. The default location is C:\Riot Games\League of Legends.
2
Open the “Configuration” folder. Open Game.cfg in Notepad.
3
Find where it says, “WindowMode=1.” Change the 0 to 1. Save the file.
4
Start up the game. It should be in windowed mode. Adjust the screen resolution to make the window smaller.
- You may have to restart the game to apply these changes.

Community Q&A

Question

How can I hide League of Legends quickly using taskbar hide?

Community Answer

Alt+F4 is your best option. Be aware that if you do this for a long period of time, you could be disconnected from the game and get an AFK penalty from the LeaverBuster system, so only start a League of Legends game if you are absolutely certain you won't be interrupted.