Counter-Strike Guides

Fix Slow Alt-Tab when playing CS2

There is nothing more irritating then when you are playing Counter-Strike 2 and when you press alt-tab key and it takes a long time to minimize the game and swap to something else on your computer. I know when I first had this issue it took me a while to fix but over the years I’ve helped many other people fix this issue in the middle of a CS2 game or on different forums.

A slow alt-tab means you need to wait multiple seconds until your screen changes from the game to the desktop screen. Many people with this issue report having to wait between 5 to 10 seconds before they are able to use their computer and the screen changes as it should.

Why CS2 Is Slow You Alt-tab

When your computer or CS2 is slow to alt-tab it is because your computer is trying to adjust your screen settings from the resolution you use in CS2 to the resolution you used when on your Desktop or other program. This can be easily fixed one of two ways, I would highly recommend using the first option as it only involves changing a single game setting and you will be ready to play and alt-tab almost instantly.

Game frozen when alt-tab is pressed, making it slow to change

Option 1: Play In Fullscreen Windowed Display Mode

Doing option 1 to change your display settings for CS2 to Fullscreen Windowed will allow you to play your game as if you are playing it in fullscreen but it will actually be in a window that has been resized to fill the entire screen in the resolution which you operating system is set up as.

  1. Open Counter-Strike 2.
  2. Left click the setting clog on the left hand side.
  3. Select the “Video” tab up the top of the screen.
  4. A new tab will appear where you can select the text “Advanced Video” at the top.
  5. Find “Display Mode” option and change it to “Fullscreen Windowed”.

The most common resolution at the moment is: 1920 x 1080. Use the image below as a guide on how to

Image of the CS2 settings with the instructions highlighted red for your reference

Option 2: Change Your Computer or Game Resolution to Match Each Other

Under the Advanced video tab in your settings (Same steps as option 1) there is a Resolution option. When your Display Mode is on Fullscreen you are able to change this resolution to different sizes. Get the resolution of your desktop by right clicking on your desktop background in Windows 10 and selecting “Display Settings”. Scroll down and review what Display Resolution is being used. If you have a different version of Windows same method can be used to change your resolution but the graphical user interface will look different.

Windows Display Resolution

These two methods will solve your problem with the alt-tab being slow in CS2. Now that you can swap between the game and anything else on your computer fast why not check out our best CS2 trading website, you will find weapons way cheaper than on the steam store as you do not have to pay the Valve or CS2 Marketplace tax which equals an extra 15% price for the seller.

One thought on “Fix Slow Alt-Tab when playing CS2

  • The funny thing is actually worked but I found the option somewhere outside of advanced video.

    Reply

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