Free EDID editor for monitors
Custom Resolution Utility, or CRU, is a free EDID editor that lets you work on the software aspects of your computer’s hardware to change the resolution and other attributes. You’ll create custom resolutions that aren’t available as default for your monitor. Other top applications that work with displays include Hotkey Resolution Changer, QuickGamma and Display Tuner.
The fundamentals of CRU is that you override the registry settings to create new resolutions for your monitor. Fortunately, it doesn’t change the hardware at all, so it’s safe to use. You can also edit any FreeSync settings that may be available.
CRU is a utility that lets you edit EDID to override the registry settings for your monitor. You’ll make changes directly to the driver configuration, which means you need to be careful how you make changes. In effect, you can add resolutions to active or secondary displays attached to your computer.
What Custom Resolution Utility does
If you didn’t make the correct edits and the display fails to work, you can hold the F8 button to enter recovery mode. Using Custom Resolution Utility, you’ll need to restore the previous settings or try a new configuration. Should your PC or graphics card crash, just restart and disable CRU until you can fix the issue.
Adding resolutions to CRU
Adding resolutions to Custom Resolution Utility is easy. Just open CRU and give it administrative permission to make changes to your registry. A window will appear with display options, and then you can change the configuration as desired. You can copy and paste instructions from the top panel for specific commands.
Forcing custom resolutions on Windows
Forcing Windows 10 or 11 to enter custom resolutions will differ depending on your graphics card, specifically for AMD and NVIDIA. As a general rule, you can right-click on your desktop to pull up the menu and select your custom resolution from the display or appearance panel. If that doesn’t work, you may need to reconfigure the CRU.
Change your monitor resolution
Custom Resolution Utility is an excellent way to add custom resolutions for your Windows monitor. While standard PC users may not need it, it comes in handy in other industries, such as game development.
Even if you make an error, there are failsafe ways to restore your PC to normal settings. You can also use shortcuts on the desktop to quickly access one of the resolutions you created.
