How to Increase Screen Size or Resolution in Virtualbox for Ubuntu or Linux
When a new Virtual Machine, or Virtual PC, is setup in Virtualbox for Ubuntu, or another Linux flavor, the screen size and screen resolution may be fixed smaller than your maximum resolution setting. This problem can be fixed by installing Guest Additions.
Guest Additions comes with Virtualbox, but is installed after you setup your Virtual Machine, or Guest OS, to add features such as increased screen size or screen resolution. On the test PC for this example the maximum resolution is 1280 x 1024. After loading Ubuntu under Virtualbox bring up the Display Preference by going into System -> Preferences -> Display. The maximum resolution option listed is 800 x 600.
Installing Guest Additions from Gnome Desktop
To get a bigger screen resolution we will need to install Guest Additions. On the Virtualbox File Menu click on Devices -> Install Guest Additions.
You should now see a vboxadditions_x file now located on your Ubuntu desktop.
To open the vboxadditions file either double click on the file, or right-click and then click Open.
Now double click the autorun.sh file. The vboxadditions file contains installation choices for a few different Linux versions including both 32 bit and 64 bit versions. By using the autorun.sh file you allow the script to automatically detect, and install the right software for your OS.
Now click Run.
The autorun.sh will open a Shell window and begin installing the files.
Once the autorun.sh file has completed installing the Guest Additions software all you have to do is hit Enter to close the Window.
Now reboot Ubuntu for the new files to load properly.
After you return to the Ubuntu desktop click System -> Preferences -> Display.
Under Display Preferences you will see the resolution is at 1152 x 864, which is still not the maximum resolution.
On the Virtualbox File Menu click on Machine -> Fullscreen Mode.
Once in Fullscreen Mode go to System -> Preferences -> Display again, and you will now see the maximum screen resolution is 1280 x 1024.
Installing Guest Additions from the Command Line Terminal Window
To install Guest Addtions from the Terminal window Command Line in Ubuntu click Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal.
At the Bash prompt ($) type:
cd /media/cdrom0
Hit Enter.
Now type:
dir
Hit Enter. This will give you a listing of all the files in the vboxadditions file directory. We want to run the autorun.sh so that script can install the right files for us.
Type:
sudo sh autorun.sh
Hit Enter.
The autorun.sh file should automatically change the proper permissions to run and install the vboxadditions file that will work on your OS.
The autorun.sh will open a Shell window and begin installing the files. Once the autorun.sh file has completed installing the Guest Additions software all you have to do is hit Enter to close the Window.
30 comments on “How to Increase Screen Size or Resolution in Virtualbox for Ubuntu or Linux”
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This was the only tutorial I found that worked. It was also one of the only ones that made sense. Thanks!!!
Thanks Nerdgrind. Clear and effective.
Very clear and very helpful!
Thanks!
I tried this one but it didnt work for me, help! It didnt add anymore screen resolutions.
Yea it didn’t add any new resolutions for me either. I seem to have the problem more often on laptop video cards. Not sure why.
Thank you for the clear instruction! Screen size went right after step “On the Virtualbox File Menu click on Machine -> Fullscreen Mode.”
Thanks for this post, it helped me get my screen size bigger.
@Mark , If you don’t get extra screen resolution options, go to Machine -> Auto-Resize Guest Display and then choose Full Screen Mode.
Made programing in Java on netbeans so much eaiser
for those that say it didn’t work. For that matter anybody. After rebooting there is no need to go back to the Display app. Because if your window is still at the 800×600 then the display app will not reflect any new resolution sizes and you be have been deceived into believing the steps outlined here didn’t work for you. So just skip that part and turn on auto resize then resize your window with your mouse or just full screen it. Hope that helps.
Great tutorial!
This is only solution published that actually works.
Keep up the good work
Thanks :)
How to remove ou uninstall this package.
Because i have a ati9600xt and this bot work.
I get to start with low resolution option for this section.
How i do to uninstall, plese help.
Such a helpful tutorial.Worked exactly what I wanted
Thank you
Aah! The trick was to be in full screen mode and then go to display settings!
It worked for me. Fantastic!
Fantastic post! Thank you so much.
Thanks a lot, worked for me !!!
Thanks, this was a big help. This made Ubuntu 10.04 LTS display correctly. However, it did require a restart. Note: The display is now set in System->Preferences->Monitors.
I tried this for a Fedora 13 guest OS (in a Ubuntu host OS) with VirtualBox 3.2.6. The VirtualBox guest additions gave me trouble, the autorun refusing to run. After manually invoking the correct .run script, the VirtualBox window spontaneously grew to 1024×768. But switching to full screen and rebooting the virtual machine did not allow me to get any higher.
I now suspect this was because I had not completed the preparatory steps (preparing the guest to build external kernel modules) which are well-hidden in VirtualBox’s help…I’ll try that later today.
Hello, this was a very useful tutorial.
I was almost frustrated to find how to increase the screen size of the window.
By the way, you can also select the “Adjust the Screen size” in the left most menu option.
Thank u very much!!!
Thanks for this! It enabled me to get Ubuntu 10.04 running under VirtualBox on a Windows 7 laptop.
The only small change I have is that in Ubuntu 10.04, System –> Preferences –> Display has become System –> Preferences –> Monitors.
After performing the procedure, Ubuntu 10.04 automatically set the display to fit my laptop display.
Cheers & thanks ‘gain!
Very nice.
I still cannot get higher resolution after implemented your procedure. The VBOXADDITIONS_3.2.8_64453 has been mounted and run the autorun.sh. I have restart the system after install the package. But the resolution can still only set to at most 800 x 600 (4:3). Am I missing something?
The same thing happens to me as my highest resolution is 1024×768 and I cannot increase it beyond this – whether I have virtualbox in fullscreen mode or not.
Worked in Ubuntu….and i loved that….but not in fedora….
I don’t know whats happenning,…..the autorun.sh is not working atall….
Works smoothly.
Thank you.
I just installed Ubuntu 10.10 on windows XP and in fullscreen mode I still dont have options higher than 1024×768. I installed the guest additions long ago.
I have seen other posts referencing changes to X11 config, but I’m hoping to avoid manually changing those files.
I spent close to 5 days trying to get this screen resolution working but with your explanation it was breeze. Everything is working really. Thank you a million for your help.
Thanks a lot man. Works well..
Thanks. This worked perfectly.
Thanks a million. all three of my linux distros and my windows 7 have this problem. I’m on MBP running os x lion and snow leopard, win 7 x86 dualbooted. I liked having it VM, but being small screen I did not so much, so I set it to dualboot.
Using VirtualBox 4.1.4 on OSX Lion 10.7.2 (Mac Mini mid-2011 2.3Ghz Intel i5 8GB RAM Intel HD Graphics 3000):-
1) Installed Ubuntu Natty from .iso, then upgraded in place to Oneiric 11.10
2) With VM running, go Devices/Install Guest Additions.
3) Then restart the VM and open System Settings / Displays.
4) Now the display is VBX instead of Unknown.
5) Drag the VM’s window as big as I want it and hit Keep Configuration.
6) Settings are retained on reboot.
Display settings for the VM are: 128MB and Enable 3D acceleration.