HDMI Settings on Windows? There Is No Such Page

You went looking for HDMI settings and could not find them. That is not you missing something. Windows has no page called that, and it never has.

The things you want are real, and they are spread across three different places. I want to give you a way to find out what you are actually plugged into. That decides which of the three you need.

One command does it, and no competing page seems to use it.

One command tells you which port each screen is on

Open PowerShell from Start and run this:

Get-CimInstance -Namespace root\wmi -ClassName WmiMonitorConnectionParams | Select-Object InstanceName, VideoOutputTechnology

You get one row per display and a number in the second column.

Ours, and read off a laptop with three screens attached. It returned `2147483648` for the built-in panel, `5` for one external monitor and `10` for the other.

⭐ That is the answer people go hunting through menus for. Five is HDMI. Ten is DisplayPort. The big number is the internal laptop screen.

⚡ It needs no administrator rights and it changes nothing. It is a read.

What the numbers mean, from Microsoft's own list

Those values are not invented. Microsoft documents them in its display driver reference, and here are the ones you will actually see:

| Value | Connector | |—|—| | 0 | HD15, which is VGA | | 4 | DVI | | 5 | HDMI | | 10 | DisplayPort, external | | 11 | DisplayPort, embedded | | 15 | Miracast, so a wireless display | | 2147483648 | Internal, the built-in laptop panel |

Microsoft's own description of the enumeration: it "indicates the type of connector a video output device (on the display adapter) uses to connect to an external display device."

⚠️ Value 10 covers USB-C carrying DisplayPort as well. A monitor on a USB-C cable usually reports as DisplayPort external, because that is what is travelling down it.

⭐ A value of minus one means Other. Microsoft defines that as a connector outside the listed types. On a dock or an adapter chain it is common, and not a fault.

If you are on HDMI and something is capped

This is the commonest reason you would go looking for HDMI settings at all. The resolution or the refresh rate will not go as high as it should.

Ours, measured on the same machine. The built-in panel was running 1920 by 1080 at 144 Hz. The external 4K display was at 3840 by 2160 at 60 Hz. Both correct, and limited by different things.

Go to Settings, System, Display, then Advanced display.

Documented by Microsoft on its refresh rate page: "Select the rate you want next to Choose a refresh rate."

⭐ And the detail that explains most disappointment: "The refresh rate dropdown list shows an asterisk (*) next to refresh rates that don't support your current resolution."

Microsoft is equally plain about why your list is short: "The refresh rates that appear depend on your display and what it supports."

⚠️ The cable and the port are part of that. An older HDMI port cannot carry 4K at 120 Hz. No setting in Windows adds bandwidth that is not there.

If you are on DisplayPort, or could be

Worth knowing before you buy anything.

Say your monitor and your PC both have DisplayPort and you are on HDMI. Moving the cable is free, and it often lifts the ceiling.

⭐ Ours, and marked as ours: run the command above, note the number, move the cable, run it again. If it changes from 5 to 10 you have proved the swap took effect, which beats guessing.

⚡ Then check Advanced display again. A refresh rate that was not offered before may appear, and that is the whole point of the exercise.

⚠️ A dock or an adapter can undo it. Everything downstream of the weakest link is limited by that link, whatever the ports at either end can do.

Where the picture settings actually live

Three places, and none of them says HDMI on it.

Settings, System, Display holds resolution, scale and which screen is which. This is the page most people want.

Settings, System, Display, Advanced display holds refresh rate. Also the dynamic refresh rate toggle where the hardware supports it, and a read-out of what each display is doing.

⚡ Your graphics maker has a fourth panel, from AMD, Intel or NVIDIA, and it can override scaling and color range. If the picture on a TV looks washed out or crushed, that panel is where the range setting lives.

⛔ Nothing here is HDMI-specific. Windows treats every connector the same and exposes what the hardware reports. That is why there is no page named after the cable.

Where the sound settings live, because they are somewhere else entirely

Plugging in HDMI adds an audio device, and Windows may or may not switch to it.

Click the speaker icon on the taskbar and use the arrow beside the slider to pick the output. Your TV or monitor will be listed by its own name.

⭐ Ours: a monitor with no speakers still appears in that list. Selecting it is a common way to end up with a PC that has gone completely silent.

⚠️ If nothing plays at all after plugging in HDMI, the output device list is where to look. It is a two click fix.

The multi-monitor trap Microsoft documents and nobody quotes

Small sentence, real consequence, and it belongs here.

Microsoft, on its video playback page: "Different refresh rates on multiple monitors can cause your video display to malfunction."

⛔ A 144 Hz laptop panel next to a 60 Hz external screen is a supported setup. It can still make video stutter. Nothing is broken and no driver will fix it.

⭐ Ours: if video misbehaves only when the second screen is attached, match the refresh rates in Advanced display first. Drivers come after that.

⚡ And check whether video plays properly on each screen alone. That splits a display problem from a video playback problem in about a minute.

HDMI ARC, which is a television thing

Worth a paragraph because it comes up constantly and it is not about your PC.

ARC stands for audio return channel. It lets a TV send sound back down the HDMI cable to a soundbar or amplifier. Only on the port marked ARC or eARC.

⭐ Your PC does not use it. A PC sends picture and sound to the display. ARC runs the other way, from the TV to an audio device.

⚠️ So plugging a PC into the ARC port is fine but buys you nothing. Choosing a TV port for a PC? Pick whichever one the manual lists as supporting the highest refresh rate.

When the display is not detected at all

Different problem, and the command at the top of this page is the wrong tool for it.

⛔ A screen that never appears has nothing to report a connector for. That has its own list, and the first step takes two keystrokes.

⚡ And if the picture arrives but flickers, Microsoft documents a test for that. It splits the driver from an app.

Status: measured and written 23 August 2026. The connector value list is quoted from Microsoft's display driver reference, and the Advanced display route, the Choose a refresh rate control, the asterisk meaning and the multiple monitor refresh rate note are all from Microsoft support pages. The three connector values came from a Windows 11 laptop here with two external screens attached.

Where are HDMI settings in Windows 11?

There is no page with that name. Resolution and scale sit in Settings, System, Display. Refresh rate sits under Advanced display on the same page. Sound over HDMI is chosen from the speaker icon on the taskbar. Your graphics maker's own panel holds color range.

How do I tell whether my monitor is on HDMI or DisplayPort?

Run Get-CimInstance on the WmiMonitorConnectionParams class in PowerShell and read the VideoOutputTechnology column. Microsoft documents 5 as HDMI and 10 as external DisplayPort, with 2147483648 meaning the internal laptop panel.

Why can I not select a higher refresh rate?

Because the list only offers what the display, the port and the cable can carry. Microsoft states that the rates shown depend on your display. An asterisk marks any rate that will not work at your current resolution.

Does HDMI ARC do anything for a PC?

No. ARC carries sound from a television back to a soundbar or amplifier. That is the opposite direction to what a PC needs. Plugging a PC into an ARC port does no harm and gains nothing.

The Short Version

• Windows has no page called HDMI settings. The controls are in three separate places.
• One PowerShell command names the connector each screen is using, with no admin rights needed.
• Microsoft documents 5 as HDMI, 10 as external DisplayPort and 2147483648 as the internal panel.
• Resolution and scale are in Settings, System, Display. Refresh rate is under Advanced display.
• An asterisk beside a refresh rate means it will not work at your current resolution.
• Sound over HDMI is a separate choice, made from the speaker icon on the taskbar.
• Microsoft warns that mismatched refresh rates across monitors can make video malfunction.
• HDMI ARC sends sound from a TV to a soundbar. It does nothing for a PC.

Where to Next

Run the command at the top and note what each screen reports. It takes ten seconds and it turns a vague question about cables into a fact you can act on.

If something is capped, open Advanced display next and look for the asterisks. They tell you exactly which combinations your hardware will refuse.

If the second screen is not appearing at all, start from the two keystroke check instead. It settles a large share on the spot.

And if your machine reports a connector value I have not listed, drop it below with the make of monitor. I would like a fuller table than Microsoft's reference gives on its own.