fullscreen

Fullscreen is a display mode in which an application requests to occupy the entire screen, concealing most or all other user interface elements provided by the operating system or the web browser. In fullscreen, the drawing surface is mapped to the display with minimal chrome, often resulting in higher perceived focus and reduced distraction.

There are two common implementations. Exclusive fullscreen refers to a mode where the application receives exclusive access to the display, typically used by video games on desktop systems. Borderless fullscreen windowed mode runs the application in a maximized, borderless window that covers the screen but remains managed by the window manager; it is more compatible with multitasking and task switching. On the web, the HTML5 Fullscreen API provides programmatic control for web pages. A page element can requestFullscreen(); document.exitFullscreen() exits it. The global property document.fullscreenElement reports the currently active fullscreen element. Vendor prefixes were previously used (for example, webkitRequestFullscreen, mozRequestFullScreen, msRequestFullscreen). An onfullscreenchange event signals transitions.

Entering and exiting fullscreen is commonly triggered by user interaction, such as a dedicated fullscreen button or pressing F11 in many browsers, while Escape often exits fullscreen. Mobile devices typically offer on-screen controls for video and games.

Applications of fullscreen include video playback, gaming, presentations, and immersive reading or simulations. While it enhances immersion, fullscreen can disrupt multitasking, accessibility tools, and system-wide shortcuts, and may consume more power on portable devices.